Bringing another dog into a one-dog family

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Anyone have any sage advice for me? A little background:

I have a female Golden Retriever named Chloe. She's my baby and has lived with us her whole life. She'll be five in July. She's never shared her home with another animal, except for a hamster that she thought was walking food.

During Hurrican Rita, we housed some of our Beaumont relatives and they had a male Golden, but he had to stay outside, since he wasn't housetrained. Whenever Chloe went out, they were fine together. Then again, he's... well, a he. I'm partial to female dogs.

Is it always a bad idea to put two females together? Would it better to get a female puppy, versus an adult (spayed) rescue? Or should I stick to males, regardless? I read one experts advice, and he recommends not putting two females together.

What about food issues? How do you keep them from fighting?

The only other thing I'm worried about, is upsetting Chloe. One of the reasons I want another puppy, is so that she has a companion. The last thing I want to do, is make her uphappy, or jealous. I know what to do to keep her the "superior" dog in the house, as far as the new one would go, to avoid any fighting.

All I'm waiting on, is to get my Disney trip behind me, and then I plan on seriously starting the dog search. I just want to be as prepared as I possibly can for any potential problems.

 

[golfgal]

I don't have any advice but can you bring your dog over to my house so my new puppy that turns into Cujo at the site of another dog gets used to other dogs.

From the little I know, you might be better off with 2 females then a male and a female. Your now dog is the "alpha" dog and bringing in a male might change that. With another female she could more likely stay the "alpha". Again, I am not sure about that but it seems logical to my mind.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I don't have any advice but can you bring your dog over to my house so my new puppy that turns into Cujo at the site of another dog gets used to other dogs.

LOL... oh, no thanks. I'll pass on that one! I once had a Beagle that was mauled by a pit bull. One dog fight is enough for my lifetime!

From the little I know, you might be better off with 2 females then a male and a female. Your now dog is the "alpha" dog and bringing in a male might change that. With another female she could more likely stay the "alpha". Again, I am not sure about that but it seems logical to my mind.

That definitely makes sense. Good food for thought.

 

[The Mystery Machine]

A male will try and be an Alpha, kind of the natural order of things.

The ideal way is for you to be the Alpha. We have male/female puppies, 9 months old. They constantly battle but they know we are top dog. The male tried to be the alpha and we set him straight. He is a happy dog now.

 

[golfgal]

LOL... oh, no thanks. I'll pass on that one! I once had a Beagle that was mauled by a pit bull. One dog fight is enough for my lifetime! QUOTE]


My dog is a 12 week old Rat Terrier, she weighs 5 lbs.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

A male will try and be an Alpha, kind of the natural order of things.

The ideal way is for you to be the Alpha. We have male/female puppies, 9 months old. They constantly battle but they know we are top dog. The male tried to be the alpha and we set him straight. He is a happy dog now.

Funny that you say that, because I erased a sentence in my last response, saying that my DH was the alpha dog, followed by me. My daughters are low on the totem pole.

Just recently she's started getting crotchity at night with them. If she's sleeping and they pet her, she'll let out this low growl that sounds almost like a purr. She won't even open up her eyes. I always get on to her and she'll start licking them, like, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean it!".

We've been working on them feeding her and making her wait for them to pass through the door first. I don't know what started it, or when she decided she was higher in the pack than they are, but I don't like it.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

LOL... oh, no thanks. I'll pass on that one! I once had a Beagle that was mauled by a pit bull. One dog fight is enough for my lifetime! QUOTE]

My dog is a 12 week old Rat Terrier, she weighs 5 lbs.

Food!

My mom has a 5lb Yorkie and she terrifies Chloe! Chloe is a HUGE sissy anyway, but Tracie (the Yorkie) is very food possessive and she nips at Chloe's legs and hovers over her bowl when we visit!

 

[Crankyshank]

We got a 2nd dog when our female was 2 out of hopes it would alleviate her separation anxiety. It's actually worked out great. The best advice I would give is to introduce them on neutral territory and allow them to play together before bringing them home (like a park or a friend's house). Also reinforce your current dog's place in the pack by feeding her first and giving her treats first.

My female is passively the alpha dog. She lets my male think he's the alpha and will go along with it because she's very laid back, but if he annoys her or oversteps his bounds, she will put him in his place very quickly.

 

[puffkin]

No sage advise here, since we only have a dog and cat.

However, I will tell you that we worried a lot about how our dog would be when we introduced the cat (since he was our baby and used to all the attention). We just brought her in and that was it, we let them fight it out on their own (of course we kept an eye on them so no one got injured). It really turned out to be a nonissue, they were fine within a few days and best of buds now.

Anyway, my philosophy is that the dog will probably just get over it and adapt if she is anything like our dog.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

We got a second dog about 2 1/2 years ago. Our older dog was about 9-10 years old at the time. We hadn't really planned on a second dog, but my sister needed a home for her dog, so we took her. Turns out it was a wonderful thing for our older dog. He loved having a playmate and it really seemed to take years off his life. Sheena, the new dog, did become the alpha dog, but that was fine with Magic. I felt bad for him at first, but he was happy and I knew it was a good thing for him.

On our case we have a male and a female. Not sure about 2 females. I know that can be an issue to a certain degree with cats, but not sure about dogs.

 

[crz4mm2]

I have a 2 1/2 yo Jack Russel. She is very much the alpha. She growls, at times, at all of us. We are constantly putting her in her place. I tried to introduce a rescue dog last year and it went horribly. I ended up taking the rescue to a friend's house. Dot would not let the rescue even stay in the house. It was brutal. If I had a muzzle I might have gotten away with it. SHe is horrid when it comes to other dogs. I would love to have another, but there is just no way.
WE just lost our big outdoor loving lab. He was here long before Dot arrived, so she was ok with him. We are thinking of getting another one in the spring, but since it would be an outdoor dog I don't think it would pose the problems bringing a house pet inside would.
Good luck to you. I don't have any good advice for you.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping to get more encouragement than advice, to be honest with you.

You want to hear something really stupid? Chloe, being a Golden, always has something in her mouth. She carries around her babies all the time. When we come home, she's desperately looking around for one, to greet us. Sometimes it's a shoe!

Anyway, I worry about another Golden - because that's definitely what I want - taking her babies from her. I fostered a rescue when she was around one and the rescue was alpha thru and thru. She'd go over and literally take them out of her mouth and then do nothing with them. I used to hate that!

I'm not sure if this is allowed, but here's a link to some photos of her: http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/smbnobles/my_photos

I don't know how to put a photo in the body of my threads. I tried and I got a lovely X.

 

[Tigger&Belle]

When Sheena came into our lives she went and took all Magic's toys and put them in a plie and wouldn't let Magic near them. It was pretty sad for sure, but it bothered us a lot more than it bothered him. He's a dog, as sweet as he is, and he was overjoyed to have a canine buddy. I bet that your dog will adjust, whether she stays alpha or not. I knew before ever getting Sheena that Magic would not be alpha since he has a very submissive personality. I never really knew how much fun 2 dogs could have with each other and when we no longer have Magic I will more than likely get a 2nd dog.

 

[crz4mm2]

Thanks for the responses. I was hoping to get more encouragement than advice, to be honest with you.

You want to hear something really stupid? Chloe, being a Golden, always has something in her mouth. She carries around her babies all the time. When we come home, she's desperately looking around for one, to greet us. Sometimes it's a shoe!

Anyway, I worry about another Golden - because that's definitely what I want - taking her babies from her. I fostered a rescue when she was around one and the rescue was alpha thru and thru. She'd go over and literally take them out of her mouth and then do nothing with them. I used to hate that!

Your dog sounds like an easy going one.She would probably do very well with a pal. I don't know about the taking away of her 'babies'. If you had a puppy come in, it might not be an issue. How did she act when the other dog took them away from her? Maybe it bothered you more than her???? Does she want to share her babies with you? It sounds like she does. How sweet.
I have never had a Golden, but have lots of friends that do and they are generally lovely dogs.
Best of luck to you. I would go for it

 

[LuvTigger]

BF's family has had at least 2 (at times 3) female dogs together over the past 13 years, and I can count on one hand the number of times they've fought during that time. They've always done well on their own to figure out who is "alpha" (always the older one). There've even been times when they'd babysit other dogs, mostly girls, but a couple of boys, and they've always gotten along.

Personally, I think the gender should be your preference, and I've heard different things about who gets along or doesn't get along with who, but I really think it depends on the owners and how the animals are trained. I've seen two boys get along, two girls, and a mix of both.

Good luck, you sound like a great doggy parent!

 

[L107ANGEL]

I don't know if this is true in most cases, but our Lab, Shadow, seemed to help train our Bowman, (eskimo spitz I think). It was a great decision for our family and good luck to yours.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

Your dog sounds like an easy going one.She would probably do very well with a pal. I don't know about the taking away of her 'babies'. If you had a puppy come in, it might not be an issue. How did she act when the other dog took them away from her? Maybe it bothered you more than her???? Does she want to share her babies with you? It sounds like she does. How sweet.
I have never had a Golden, but have lots of friends that do and they are generally lovely dogs.
Best of luck to you. I would go for it

No, you're right! I think it did bother me a lot more than it bothered her. She acted like she couldn't care less.

When she meets a dog when we're out for a walk, she'll get in the down position, so I know she's got some submissive qualities to her. She didn't do this with the male that stayed here. I never saw any alpha posturing either.

Who knows! Now I just have to decide whether I want to get another puppy, or a rescue. Of course, I'd love to rescue one, but I think the probability of issues would be greater. With a puppy, she can put it in its place and teach it the ropes.

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

I don't know if this is true in most cases, but our Lab, Shadow, seemed to help train our Bowman, (eskimo spitz I think). It was a great decision for our family and good luck to yours.

Did you get Bowman as a puppy? That combo sounds like it'd make a beautiful dog!

 

[crz4mm2]

I had to chime in one more time. At one time, we had three dogs in the house. Two females and one male. All were 'fixed'. The oldest female was the alpha but they all got along just fine. There were never any huge fights. The oldest female was only in the house about a year before we got the other two, and they came in two months apart. Our oldest at that time wasn't a bit mean (unless you woke her up out of a deep sleep- then she would snap at you) and she got along right away with the new comers.
I think it is all in how you raise them.
(unless you have a really alpha dog like the one I have now )

 

[Am_I_There_Yet]

There are sooo many Beagle/hound owners on here! I crack up every time I see the picture of the Beagle and the cat. The look on its face!

I used to have a Beagle named Jasmine. They're great dogs and such clowns!