Convincing the OH that we should get another dog

Hi, does anyone else find there is an inbalance with you and your OH in terms of how animal crazy you are?

My oh is animal friendly, had 2 cats before i met him and grew up with many (working) dogs. I grew up with 1 dog 1 cat and accidentally due to a pet shop (i didnt know any better!) mis-sexing about 50 mice......

currently he works full time and i am at home full time, we have 2 young kids and no near by family to babysit so its not in the pipeline for me to work again, which tbh was a big thing for me to adapt to. My animals keep me sane, im sure a lot of you understand this.

We have 3 cats, an 11month pup, 4 ex battery hens and 7 domestic rats. Motley is walked every day and usually sees his social group, though not always, and i really think he could benefit for having a live in friend, the cats are not interested in him and the kids from jan will be in full time school.

We can afford another dog, and we always rescue, so the thought of a dog being in rescue when it could be with us breaks my heart. The OH has said he wont even consider getting another dog in 2011, whereas I think march ish time is ideally when id like to start looking.

So, has anyone overcome something like this? Its not like he does anything with our animals, its all me really, which suits me fine tbh!

thanks in advance for any replies

I'm sure someone else will be along to add their opinion, but as your current dog is still a puppy, adding another probably isn't the best idea at the moment. Your boy needs to mature both mentally and physically first, which will take until around 2 years, and all the time and training you can give him til he reaches that stage.

He is not yet finished with the 'teenage' stage and that does need al ot of time and patience - also, as dogs mature, aspects of their character may appear later rather than sooner.... for instance, the chase drive in my dog didn't fully appear until he was 2 years old, when suddenly and almost overnight, he started barking "aggressively" and trying to nip at anyone on a bicycle especially if they were cycling on the pavement.

Other dogs may be fine with meeting dogs, then one day begin to be aggressive with others. Until you know your boy inside out, I think it's best to wait.

Of course your dog may be nothing like this and may not have any latent working drives or issues ready to surface (you haven't said his breed!), although if your boy is a rescue, it's even more prudent to wait until he's mature as you will have no idea of his parentage and/or early life.

Do you know this is such a hard thing to get right, i think it is one of those questions where you ask a thousand people the question of when is a good time to get a second dog and you will get ten thousand different answers as to when is a good time.

I would ask him for his reasons, let him know yours and try for a compromise, his reasons may make sense, on the other hand he may take all of what you say and agree the actual effect on him is not high so could give you what you want.

I am by no means an expert on my own dog (5month pup owned for 3 months) but know quite a few people with dogs and differing age gaps etc, and I have no idea, some people say wait until your dog is 2 because of this, that or other, but conversely if you get your second dog earlier then the first dog will quite possibly turn out different!

I guess whatever timescale or age you introduce a second dog you need to be sure you can give the time needed to each one individually as you would a single dog, this is such a personal thing that again it depends on home life, work life, dogs involved and how much you can and are prepared to deal with.

And a great deal of the unknown and unpredictable and no one will ever be able to say for sure whether it is better to wait or not really, and none of us have the benefit of hindsight before the event!

With that in mind we are thinking of a second dog when ours is about 1 year old but again we love the idea of a second one, and think we are prepared to deal with whatever it brings, there will be people think we are right/wrong/stupid etc and maybe we need to be to make it work!

Good luck with getting the right outcome!

Well you are home full time and you can afford the cost of another dog but I do think Merlins Mum has made some interesting comments. When we got Bara it was immediately clear she was a very intelligent dog and it seemed to me that she was often bored. We thought another dog would give her someone to play with and keep her occupied so we got a Newfie puppy but sadly it didn't work out how we planned. Bara is a dominant dog and she very rarely plays with Rianna, they get on OK but only because Rianna has accpeted the junior role and let's Bara to be the boss and they don't sleep close to each other or play or keep each other amused. But I must say that they do 'look out' for each other, on a walk if one goes running into the forrest the other will always stop and wait for her to come back so they are 'buddies' sort of.

What I am saying is that when you've persuaded your OH that another dog would be a good idea, make sure that they have met in a neutral location and they do get on really well. You may find your current dog sees himself as the leader and any newcommer will need careful introduction and should ideally be female and of the submissive nature.

You know that's exactly what our labrador of many years ago did She was about five when all of a sudden she decided she would chase people on bikes, had never shown the slightest interest in bikes before then

It sounds as if Motleys OH will need a bit of persuading and lots female cunning to bring him around in the meantime trainning current dog to be a sociable and well mannered creature will make it so much easier when she does get a second dog. Thank God she is looking at another rescue, we need more people like her.

Thanks for the replies. I think we would go for an older dog (ie not a puppy) and we would get her from the same rescue Motley came from.

They like the existing dog to come and meet any potential new dog a few times before you take the new dog home, they also said that the existing dog will choose lol

Motley has exhibited some chase, mostly for lorries, we are fixing it, and he is responding to the training very well he is a very bright dog.

He is mixed breed, the mum was staffy cross but more like a staffy than anything else, the dad was unknown. Motley is much bigger than a staffy, with very long legs, he almost has a collie type head until he gets hot then his head morphs into staffy head lol its rather amusing!

Obviously I have to do what is best for Motley, but i guess its impossible to know for sure anything that might arise in the future, otherwise id be buying lottery tickets too!

It's funny to think about but actually I agree 100% with what the rescue centre told you, dogs (just like people) have their likes and dislikes. When the time comes and you go there I'm sure Motley will 'tell' you who he likes, ah love.........isn't it great

If I could tell the future I'd be buying lottery tickets too

I personally think getting a dog should be something you BOTH want, not just one of you. It could lead to problems later on.

I`ve always found that the right dog will find you. Take your time and let Fate do her thing.

This is exactly what I was going to say!

Especially a rescue... Just keep your eyes open, if it is meant to be, a dog will find you, there are so many with just a week left to live...these ones usually do best at finding their right homes pretty swiftly

You sound like you have the perfect home for one to find you, good luck and keep us updated!

I agree with this. Don't want it to cause arguments at a later date if it doesn't work out as you anticipate.

My husband is not a "doggy person" but knows how much I love dogs and I was very fortunate in that when I was on the waiting list for a Kerry Blue rehome there were 2 that came up together and he said I could have them both!

He is worse than I am how he spoils them (tucking them up at night with a blanket and a cuddly toy under their paw!)but he still sometimes calls them my dogs!