Adopting A Second Dog
Monday, April 19th, 2010 Subscribe To Our Feed
If you are a dog lover, you may feel that one dog is not enough.However, before you add a second dog to your household, there are a few important points you should consider.
The temperament of your pet should be your first consideration.If your beloved pet is a bit of a bully and the new dog isn’t submissive, there are going to be some major battles before they sort out which dog is in charge.Sometimes, two dogs are equally dominant and these battles flare up again and again. If your dog is very submissive, you may also have problems, as the new dog could bully your first dog and make his life miserable.Hopefully, you have a dog that does not lean too far in either direction.
Next, you should consider your current dog’s size.If you have a Yorkshire Terrier, you may not want to buy a Boxer puppy.A large dog can easily hurt a small dog.If your dog is one of the larger breeds then you should only ever add a smaller dog to the home if you are certain that your dog has a gentle nature.
You then need to considerer gender. Two un-neutered females are unlikely to get on with each other. It would be wise to neuter your female dog before adding another girl to the home. After neutering a female can still be aggressive to another female so a male puppy may be a wider choice.(Of course if you do pair a male dog with a female you need to make sure one of them is neutered or it won’t be long before a new litter of puppies arrives!)
If you have an older dog, you may want to reconsider buying a puppy.Your older dog may be less active than when he was a pup himself and may not be interested in playing with a puppy.Instead, you may want to consider adding a more settled and mature dog to the family.
Breed is your next consideration because whilst some dog breeds do get on others certainly do not.Small, toy dog breeds can be spoiled, jealous and excitable. Smaller dogs will be unhappy about you introducing a puppy to the home.If you have a larger, more dominant dog like a Rottweiler then you may not be able to introduce any new dog into the home.Happily, there are many dog breeds out there that mix well, so do some research first and you should be able to find a suitable partner for your pooch.
Your last consideration is financial, so make sure you can actually afford a second dog.A responsible owner will make sure they can afford to feed their dog a good quality dog food, plus pay for all medical expenses and dog related accessories.
