nwr- who has two (or more) dogs?

swimfast39 · February 2012

fi and i have a yellow lab (moose). well, right now he lives at my parent's house with me. he is 2 and a little hyper, but a sweetheart. we are moving into our new house in 2 weeks and he is coming with. a guy fi works with is moving and unable to take their 1 year old lab with them. we were thinking of adopting the dog.

everyone i have known with two dogs has said it makes things easier because they can kind of entertain each other. that would be ideal- the only thing i am worried about is that it is a brand new house. i know things are going to happen, but i don't want to make it worse by having two trouble maker dogs instead of just one! moose gets along really well with other dogs and LOVES playing. it actually seems to calm him down. i am hoping this would happen and he wouldn't be bored at home alone while we are both at work (someone is always around at my parent's house.. he is never alone so it could be an adjustment).

what are your experiences? does having two make it easier, or harder? do you think it'll calm my lab down, or make him more wild?

quiggels219 · February 2012

I have two and it is great! My fi was against it for the longest time because he said he thought it would be difficult, but then one day driving home I almost hit a lab mix puppy in the street (who had no tags or collar or chip and was in seriously bad shape) and fi had no more choice! He was ours

. It's really amazing to just see them together and see how much they love each other - they have a bff now and I can tell my first dog is just happier. I had only been out of grad school and working for one week at the time and so like you my first dog was alone all day for the first time. I think it helped a ton. Now they play and I come home and neither of them are too crazy. Sure if something gets left out I think maybe they egg each other on a little, but there hasn't been any situation where I thought oh that wouldn't have happened if I only had one - it's just been me leaving something out and maybe it's more spread over the house than if it was just regan - if that makes sense? I also don't feel as bad leaving during the day or on a trip because I know Regan has her friend. Fi was also worried it would be harder to find someone to babysit but so far that has not been an issue either. I feel like I'm maybe too peppy in this response but I just think it was such a good choice for us and wanted to pass those sentiments along.

emilyandjoeygetmarried · February 2012

is there a way that you could take the dog for a few days to see if they get along/don't cause trouble together?
I mean if they become besties then thats awesome but if it doesnt work maybe offer to "foster" the dog while your friend finds someone to take it for keeps

faerylvr27 · February 2012

In Response to <a href="http://forums.theknot.com/Sites/theknot/Pages/Main.aspx/wedding-club-boards_april-2012-weddings_nwr-who-has-two-or-more-dogs?plckFindPostKey=Cat:Wedding Club BoardsForum:05427f07-4ba2-44d6-9271-99a7af1ee5c0Discussion:13a1c84b-822f-4c32-9ba0-f6bd6e412681Post:c7d290c7-cd7e-4f17-bdde-b26df73900fe">Re: nwr- who has two (or more) dogs?</a>:
[QUOTE]is there a way that you could take the dog for a few days to see if they get along/don't cause trouble together? I mean if they become besties then thats awesome but if it doesnt work maybe offer to "foster" the dog while your friend finds someone to take it for keeps
Posted by emilyandjoeygetmarried[/QUOTE]

This sounds like a great idea :)

mybestfriend4eva · February 2012

Normally you can bring your current dog with you so that they can interact with the new dog you are possibly going to bring home. Also I can speak from experience as I live on land and actually have 4 yes thats right 4 labs! They are great and having more than one really does make it easier. They are friends and play with each other when we arent playing with them. They even sleep together in a big pile on their inside beds or in the dog house. I will say that from my experiences that it is easier to bring a puppy in than another adult dog. Sometimes bringing in a full grow dog can lead to fights or dominance issues with a puppy it will grow up knowing Moose is the dominant dog which will eliminate issues. GL

FutureMrsWright2012 · February 2012

We have three dogs that are all very different (yellow lab, boxer, and mini-mutt). The boxer is actually the super-hyper, destructive one (but also the most loving

. All of our dogs do great together, but are all also crate trained. We've tried letting them be free during the day when no one's home, but the boxer starts destroying something and the others join in. Thankfully, they are in the habit of going to their "beds", but I know it can be quite a chore crate training older dogs. That's my suggestion.

good luck!

swimfast39 · February 2012

thanks for all of your suggestions! moose is crate trained as well. he is just too wild to leave out by himself when we leave the house for long periods of time. we are going to meet the dog this weekend and we are bringing moose. still not sure if it will work out logistically (we just found out the guy is moving march 1, we don't move in until march 9) but hopefully if they get along we can figure something out. i hope they can be besties! thanks again your for insight

nwr- who has two (or more) dogs?

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