getting a second dog
Hello, it's me again. I'm going to try to update my blog more often than I have lately. I'm going to try and keep it up once per week.
We just addopted another Golden/lab pics here Now there are a few things to concider when getting a second dog. You should not get one if you want a dog just to keep the other dog company. You should not get a second dog if you think it will change the behavior of the first dog. It might help calm the fist dog down but don't addopt a second dog if that is the only reason. Don't get a second dog if you barely have time for the first. Realize that everything will double. Double the food, double the vet bills, double the time you spend with the dogs. Probably going to be an extra five hours per week. Now my wife and I did a lot of research before getting a second dog. We had to tak our resident dog's personality in to concideration. We know she does not like little dogs. She only gets along with bigger dogs. Other goldens, labs, etc. She does not like hiper dogs. We looked at one dog who is a three month old black lab and is named Gee Wiz at Pet Projects in Grand Ridge Illinois but he was just to hyper. We decided the best dog would be another Golden Lab and we decided on a male. We asked Pet Projects to keep an eye out for a male golden lab about six months old. Maggie was six months old when we addopted her from the same shelter and it seemd to be the righ age to get another dog. She is no three. Our new dog Luke is six months.
Now how to handle the introductions. The best thing to have is a fenced in back yard. Especially when making the introductions. We had Maggie inside the fence off leach. Luke was outside the fence on leash. We let them invesitgate each other sniff, bark, etc. Then we put Maggie on her leash and brought Luke in to the yard on his leash. Let them check each other out. Immideately corrected any agressive behavior in Maggie. Some growling and barking is ok. but you don't want any fighting. They can do that later.
I then had to leave for work but by the end of the evening my wife had them both sitting on the couch together off leash. They seem to be getting along real good. Only had a couple of growlings and barkings at each other. You want to let them do bark and growl. They are establishing their order amongst themselves. If they start wrestling, let them continue. dogs when they play make a lot of noise and as long as not blood is shed and no one gets hurt let them wrestle. That is one way they establish their pack order. I've even told both dogs to sort it out amongst themselves. Both dogs have looked at me when they are having a disagreement and I've said, "sort it out yourselves." As long as both dogs know you're the boss and have final say.
Also don't feel guilty about giving yourselves a break from your dogs. Set a certain time for them to go to bed so you and you're partner can have some time to yourselves. Or if you're single. You can have some time to yourself. Training should also start from day one. Begin teaching your new dog from the very first day. Luke already responds to his name and sits. We are working on Stay and he is starting to catch on. I'm thinking he sees Maggie doing it so he is mimicking her behavior. That's all for now . More doggy updates to come
We just addopted another Golden/lab pics here Now there are a few things to concider when getting a second dog. You should not get one if you want a dog just to keep the other dog company. You should not get a second dog if you think it will change the behavior of the first dog. It might help calm the fist dog down but don't addopt a second dog if that is the only reason. Don't get a second dog if you barely have time for the first. Realize that everything will double. Double the food, double the vet bills, double the time you spend with the dogs. Probably going to be an extra five hours per week. Now my wife and I did a lot of research before getting a second dog. We had to tak our resident dog's personality in to concideration. We know she does not like little dogs. She only gets along with bigger dogs. Other goldens, labs, etc. She does not like hiper dogs. We looked at one dog who is a three month old black lab and is named Gee Wiz at Pet Projects in Grand Ridge Illinois but he was just to hyper. We decided the best dog would be another Golden Lab and we decided on a male. We asked Pet Projects to keep an eye out for a male golden lab about six months old. Maggie was six months old when we addopted her from the same shelter and it seemd to be the righ age to get another dog. She is no three. Our new dog Luke is six months.
Now how to handle the introductions. The best thing to have is a fenced in back yard. Especially when making the introductions. We had Maggie inside the fence off leach. Luke was outside the fence on leash. We let them invesitgate each other sniff, bark, etc. Then we put Maggie on her leash and brought Luke in to the yard on his leash. Let them check each other out. Immideately corrected any agressive behavior in Maggie. Some growling and barking is ok. but you don't want any fighting. They can do that later.
I then had to leave for work but by the end of the evening my wife had them both sitting on the couch together off leash. They seem to be getting along real good. Only had a couple of growlings and barkings at each other. You want to let them do bark and growl. They are establishing their order amongst themselves. If they start wrestling, let them continue. dogs when they play make a lot of noise and as long as not blood is shed and no one gets hurt let them wrestle. That is one way they establish their pack order. I've even told both dogs to sort it out amongst themselves. Both dogs have looked at me when they are having a disagreement and I've said, "sort it out yourselves." As long as both dogs know you're the boss and have final say.
Also don't feel guilty about giving yourselves a break from your dogs. Set a certain time for them to go to bed so you and you're partner can have some time to yourselves. Or if you're single. You can have some time to yourself. Training should also start from day one. Begin teaching your new dog from the very first day. Luke already responds to his name and sits. We are working on Stay and he is starting to catch on. I'm thinking he sees Maggie doing it so he is mimicking her behavior. That's all for now . More doggy updates to come
posted by zman977 at 10:29 AM
0 Comments:
Post a Comment
<< Home