I’m looking for thoughts and experiences on owning more than one dog.
How does it change the family dynamic?
How do you interact and manage them on a daily basis (play, feed, walks, work etc)?
When you leave them, do you separate them?
Is it better for them when kennelled (e.g. For a family hol)
Benefits?
Pitfalls?
Should we get the same sex or not?
Would you do it again etc?

We’ve a 2+ year old Dobe who’s well trained, socialised and a joy to be around. I like the idea of another because I love dogs and think it will be interesting and fun.

We’ve had two before. Always seemed to work that we’d have one very mellow dog and one hyper one. Laid back Labrador (the chubby square kind) and Border Collie then Newfoundland and Springer. Had to feed Leo (Lab) in a different room or he’d just eat Megan (Collies) food too. In return she’d demolish his toys. Bella (Newfoundland) is basically a cuddly sentient rug.

In both instances they got on with each other though and just doubled the fun. Both instances were one of each sex. Never went on holiday without them and left them together when out.

Sorry I can’t be of more use.

We’ve always had 2 dogs – they keep each other company and it’s easier to leave the house without them howling / trashing the place. They also provide great entertainment with their playing etc. We always walk, take them out as a pair.
We’ve had dog/dog and bitch/dog and never really a problem once you know they’re compatible – we previously had to separate / rehome one of a pair of dogs because one was basically a schizo – it’s pretty obvious if they don’t get on. If you bring a another dog into an established doggy household they soon work out ‘pack order’ We currently have a choccy lab bitch and basset hound dog – he’s the hyper one and apart from feeding them in different rooms, there’s never any friction and we’d never separate them. If we did kennel them, it would be as a pair

Interesting thread – had two dogs until one died last year. Now down to one, but looking at getting another one.

Realising that of the two we had, one of them did all the dog stuff, the one that’s left just sat about looking cute. We’re now missing the one who did the dog stuff – security, front of house, keeping kitchen worktops free of food etc etc.

Also, our remaining dog seems a bit forlorn and switched-off, although it’s hard to know if that’s us projecting our emotions on to him.

Our previous dog, who died, was a rescue pointer cross who was brought from Ireland by a local dog rescue charity, and he was great.

The missus has been trawling “adopt a dog from abroad” sites on Facebook, which find homes in the UK for the many dogs which become surplus to the requirements of hunters in places like Spain and Cyprus.

I’d be interested to hear if anyone has any experience of doing similar.

Do you speak dog?

I don’t but both my dogs do.

They keep other company, have distinct personalities and interact with other dogs very well.

Personally I think that it’s better to have 2, especially if they are left alone or have go into kennels. Mine don’t get left for longer than an hour or 2.

We had 2 labs, the increase in mess was enormous as was the food bill! When one sadly died it was surprising how much easier it was around the house, half the hair to Hoover up, one less dog to dry when coming back from rainy walks etc etc
Yes it’s lovely walking 2 dogs but now we’re down to 1 border terrier who’s a doddle to look after I doubt we’d go for 2 again.

I have two dogs (spaniels) and they were both mad when they were younger. Having two is really not that much worse than having one, so was not too much of a pain.

However… Girlfriend has two dogs as well, so I am getting used to having four in the house. Hers do like to come upstairs (Maltese Terriers) which mine never did, but they are really zero problem at home and out on walks (unless the younger of the two sees a black lab).

Get a second if you think your first dog and the family can cope. Just remember that puppies are only puppies for a while and you’ll need to have your head on a swivel on walks with two+ dogs.

We have two dogs. For me the benefits and pitfalls come down to their behaviour and interaction. A dog in a house with no other dog will interact with the people a certain amount and may or may not be relaxed in its own company (ours was when we only had one, YMMV). A dog with the same family but with another dog there as well will by definition interact with the other dog to some (probably large) extent and therefore the people less.

Is the dog happier for this? I guess it would depend on the dog. I don’t honestly think it made ours either more or less happy, just different.

I think it is clear though that each dog will get a bit less human interaction when there are two.

Is the second dog easier to train/bring up in a two dog house? To some extent maybe a dog copies its mate so teaching it that “sit” means “put your arse on the floor” is maybe easier, but then it isn’t that hard anyway. The harder side of training is teaching it that you’re the boss and that your instructions are to be followed always, and I think this is a bit harder in a two dog house where the dog is also influenced by the other one. The second dog needs a lot of time with you without the older dog there.

Ours bounce around, play, generally enjoy themselves and can at times be a handful. I think ours are more inclined to bark at the door/scare the postman etc but whether this has anything to do with there being two of them I don’t know – it’s perhaps entirely a failure of the owners.

So while I love both of our dogs and have no regrets at all, I would be quite happy, given the same situation again, to stick with one.

Always had two plus dogs in the house and as above keep each other company and become inseparable etc. Big thing to look out for you though is breed and space!

Dobes are brilliant dogs but if yours is male I wouldn’t get another male as they can be same sex aggressive in territorial environments.
Also two big dogs together when young are like a tornado as they will play for hours and the attention will disappear from the family. Nothing wrong with it as it stimulates intelligent dogs like Dobermans but having the space is a bonus!

StefMcdef – Have seen quite a few rescue working dogs coming in from central and eastern Europe such as GSP’s, Viz etc.

If looking at a HPR breed just be aware that the prey drive will be through the roof due to there upbringing (European training methods can be quite full on!!) and have seen people get into difficulties with them if they have little experience of trained working dogs. The charities are normally pretty good at helping you though.

@StefMcDef – good mates just adopted a pointer from Spain – I can put you in touch if you want? email in profile…

On the N+1, I’ve had various from 1 – 3 dogs, and I prefer multiple. They’re better together as they’re pack animals. Yes, a bit more work in hoovering / feeding etc but 2 dogs certainly isn’t twice as much hassle! Maybe and extra 30% per dog??!

Assuming they get on of course – always had working labradors and never had a problem with them bonding, although it can take a bit of time. 10 week old puppy has been here 2 weeks and one of our still hasn’t properly accepted it yet!

We had one then got another when she was two. Dog #1 never really got on with #2.
Having two dogs is not really any more hassle than one but you do have to contend with twice as many paw prints, mess, etc.

When dogs #1 and #2 died 6 years ago we got another so went back to one dog which was fine. I would have stayed that way but we had a litter of pups with her at Xmas and I was talked into keeping one [very lovely]. Luckily mum gets on very well with her daughter but we are back to double the mess etc 🙄

I think having two is good for each other and gives them doggy company, but beware, with just a two year gap you will end up with two old dogs at roughly the same time which is not so good.

Thanks for the feedback all 🙂

My initial thinking is to get a girly dog. I’m not overly worried about aggression but think one of each is a more natural fit.

We are lucky we have the space at home and local walks etc for big dogs. I’m a huge fan of Dobes so it’ll have to be another 🙂

Realistically, it’ll be another 6-12 months before we get another as it will take a while to get one from the same breeder we got the first (we put a lot of effort into finding a good breeder).

We’ve two Staffies. The Sith Hound was VERY put out when “she” arrived, and spent two weeks grumbling at the excitable small thing and generally looking like he was sucking on a whole crate of lemons.

Now he wouldn’t be without her.

He has been relegated to the role of “scabby old brindle” as everyone ignores him in favour of the blue, that has doe eyes and melts peoples hearts at 100 paces.

Good thread, i’ve been looking to rescue a Pointer from Spain or Vizsla to keep my GSP/Vizsla cross company. My dog is still an 8 month old pup would anybody think it a bad idea to do this?

The in laws live in Spain and strays are quite common sadly. 😯

If you have one happy, trained, well balanced dog then you can get as many as you like and it doesn’t really get much harder.
The only time I ever had trouble was keeping two siblings from the same litter. They had way more fun together than I could ever compete with so I had to separate them during exercise and training for about 2 months. They still lived together but only had unfettered freedom on my terms.
Then they were perfect once trained.

We did get up to 13 once which was still no harder than about 3 😆

We have 8 right now and a sheepdog on order waiting to be old enough for us to collect it.

These were the two monkeys who needed divide and conquer treatment 😉

N+1= 4xWork!

Oops double post!

I’ve got three because why stop at two. It’s no harder really.

These two left us last year after 16 years, wouldn’t have missed a minute. Have one now but planning the second!

Westie and Scottie. They’ve worked out their roles between them. The Westie (oldest) guards mrs flap_jack and the Scottie guards the front of house. They both stand down when I’m around.

One thing just sprung to mind – what about bones etc?

Some of you have mentioned the need to feed in separate rooms. Can you give one each a bone or do they need be separated for that too?

I’d never give bones when they are together unsupervised. It can be ok whilst you are around but even then, it only has to go wrong once….

Ok, thanks crosshair.

I often give him a bone if I’m going out. If there’s two then they could do without and I wouldn’t want to do it unsupervised anyway.

I’d read that some even separate the dogs when they go out, I see that as defeating th object somewhat though as they’re supposed to be mates.

what about toys? Same as bones?

Yes for 2 dogs, definitely. Then they’ll get older and you will need 3. 😉

But the most important consideration, have you got space in front of the log burner?

[url=https://flic.kr/p/SbNzsS]Pups Friday chilling.[/url] by Evil Goat, on Flickr

[url=https://flic.kr/p/Bk9nvX]IMG_20151120_185959[/url] by Evil Goat, on Flickr

Today is the 2nd anniversary of bringing our last rescue dog home, she’s a bullmastiff we picked as company for our now eight year old dobe. They get on great. It’s no harder than having one big dog, but I think dog and bitch (provided they’re spayed/neutered) is the best as bitches normally are a little more chilled and will normally accept male dominance so you can leave them alone, feed together etc..
Besides I’ve got a dog to stand guard over both bikes now. Probably need another dog soon as I’m looking at fat bikes.
Seriously though, the food bill doubled, but mine eat from the butchers so already pretty expensive, and we had to buy another sofa as we didn’t all fit. The main benefit was my dobe was a bit reserved and aloof and since we got him a pal he seems to enjoy play a lot more.
Do it.

Had our second dog for a year today (or so the wife tells me). It’s been interesting but generally positive. We went to get an older dog to teach our young Rottie some sense but ended up with an 8 week old staffie-cross bitch.

She’s totally devoted to him and they play like crazy all the time. He’s dead protective of her which can be a pain as she sometimes starts fights with other dogs in the sure and certain knowledge that her big rottie brother is going to finish them. She sits on him when she’s feeling unsure and can get a bit anxious on her own.

We have to train them apart as they just want to play/fight if you try training together. Individually they’re brilliant off-lead but if you let them off together pack instincts kick in and they just go completely crazy – it’s the one big downside for us.

If they’re being left for any time they get crated separately, mainly to give the rottie some peace. Short leaves they get turned out in the living room and left to their own devices. I’ve not so far had any disasters.

We don’t feed ours separately, they don’t steal each others food or fight. Raw bones we feed outside and she tends to run off with hers to the end of the garden. He will sometimes bully her off hers and hoard both both I’m always around and I’m boss enough that he meekly accepts a telling off and the bone being returned.

I certainly wouldn’t be without the two of them now.

No photos linkable but plenty on my instagram, including some of their idea of ‘play’.

We bit the bullet towards the end of last year – bought another Bedlington to join Stanley, our 6 year old. TBH he was a bit put out by the terror that was a 10 week old Digby tearing around the place but they’re tight friends now. Not really much to add to what’s come before – insurance and food is more expensive, they need to be trained separately, the older dog needs quiet time, be rigorous about discipline etc. I think we might have done it a year or so ago but Stanleys still young enough to be happy hooning around the garden playing silly beggars with the pup.