Am I mad to even consider it ?

Hello

A beautiful bitch has come into rescue and I have fallen in love a little, .......

I am tempted to let Bruno meet up with her to see if they would get on. However I need to have some opinions on whether I am insane to even contemplate it and also some pointers for difference between 2 dogs to 1...

Bruno as you know is not good with other dogs and has only tolerated a few in his time with us - all bitches, but those that he has he has been fine with, we have never tried him with another dog in the home, and we have only ever had a bitch in our garden with him and he was fine although just wanted to hump her.

so what do you think ?? am i insane to even consider it.

I have a toddler too who I need to consider - walking two dogs rather than one. This dog is great with other dogs however she has no recall so cant be let off - but then neither can Bruno unless in the fields with nothing else around - so i am not too worried about that aspect??

Also from the other point of view if they did get on and Bruno accepted her, would he eventually pass on his bad habits to her - ie: barking and growling at other dogs and thus end up with two maniac dogs >?

advice please as I am in love !!!

I`ve got 4 dogs so I`m biased but I found that 2 was better than one, one more made little difference and the 4th you didn`t really notice....
If you want to give this girl a good home, go for it. It will be hard at first. Then one day it`ll be like she`s always been there.

Not able to give any advice but I wish you luck with whatever you decide to do.

Oh what a toughy for you. I would say yournot mad to consider it but you have to be 100% sure - butI know you know that!!

You can only take it a step at a time, Bruno mightmeet her on neutral territory and hate her - problem solved (in one way!) but he might love her and then its about trying them in "his home" and then there is how she gets on with Luca, and with your life.

You know it might even do Bruno the world ofgood and he might mellow

Good luck I know you'll do right by Bruno Luca and of course the wee girl. Keep us posted and hope to meet a new Dogsey dog soon!!!!

I've never owned two dogs at once so couldn't advise. It's easy to say go for it but you are the one who has to put in all the hard work. I suppose there's only one way to find out. Can you maybe bring Bruno to the rescue first and see if that goes well and then maybe offer to foster her for a while with a view to adopting if all goes well? Best of luck xx

My one and only dog aggressive gsd accepted a puppy into our home, and I also looked after a friend's gsd when she went on holiday, again he came to our home, and although my dog ignored him, she didn't go for him, but she'd have any dog when out on a walk, just like Bruno probably would! All I can say is Dani, because she's a bitch the dog you're thinking about, they usually wear the trousers, so she could be unsubmissive to Bruno and he might back down, but then again, he might not. Then you could look at it the other way, maybe SHE might be the submissive one and Bruno might be happy with that?

The only concern I would have in your shoes, is the walking. Depending on whether you "car" it to dog walking spots or whether you have to walk to get there, 2 dogs will certainly be a lot more strain with a pushchair. Although I've got two dogs again, give me one anyday for handling reasons. That's the most important thing to think about I reckon Dani. Same with the vets, two dogs, or leave one at home whilst you take the other, etc. Don't worry too much about the lack of recall, coz I had that initially with Georgie, but after a couple of weeks, I could let him off because I knew he knew me and Cassie and wouldn't leave us anyway (but he did! Lol!).

Good luck, whatever your heart tells you I suppose, but you do have to think of certain problems that might arise. Try imagining you have two already when you go about your daily business, that'll soon tell you whether you could cope or not!

I think you need to let Bruno meet her at least

Having 2 dogs doesnt make a huge difference to having 1, for me anyway, in fact mine get on so well they amuse each other, as for passing on bad habits, I thought this might happen when we got Amy, Diesel has a few "deaf" moments when he spots another dog and will insist on charging up to them (he's getting better) and I thought Amy would start doing the same but she hasnt, she's not at all bothered by other dogs and her recall (so far) has been 100% so, I think it really depends on the dog.

No harm in going to meet her and then take it from there

I've always though having two dogs was easier than one, for me anyway..... who now has three lol.... and I did think I was mad to consider brining a rescue pup into my home with my two but it all worked out fine.
Have to say though, the meeting on neutral territory was a disaster.

I walk my two little ones together and the big on seperately, unless we go out in the car for the big run at the beach etc.... though am having to walk the little ones seperately as now on crutches lol.

I wish you luck whatever you decide

Ooh Dani - how exciting What breed is the girlie you are thinking of?

Obviously the first issue is what Bruno thinks of her. Can you take him down to the rescue so they can meet on neutral ground initially? If that goes okay, would the rescue be happy with you bringing her home for a weekend to see how they get on together. My first GSD could be a bit dog aggressive, but she never was with the dogs she lived with - so it can definitely work.

The second issue, if all goes well, is whether you can handle the two dogs and Luca's pushchair? Does this girlie walk nicely on lead? If you did rehome her, would it be feasible to drive the dogs for their walks to somewhere safe so they could both be off-lead or so you could have them off lead individually?

What does hubby think? Is the little girlie child friendly too?

I look forward to hearing what you decide

Thanks guys, thats the thing its not just if Bruno would accept her - its the extra costs for everything, however it works with Bruno, and I suppose it would work with another....

The handling issues are a big one, as Bruno isnt brilliant at walking to heel so we tend to fastwalk everywhere - he walks much better beside the buggy, but as you say H trying to do two with the buggy is alot harder although the bitch walks well onlead....

My other thought is the possibility of us having another baby too...... Its alot to consider, and i dont know whether or not to just not let Bruno even meet her incase he does get on with her.....

She isnt in rescue as yet she is still in the home, and the owner is devastated at havign to give her up and wants the best possible home, she has already been in rescue with us previously so it will be her 3rd home in 3 years - almost identical to bruno's situation, she has been living with kids, and is great in every other way for our situation.. What makes it worse is I have a home in mind for her that i homechecked in the week but I have fallen for her and now not sure what to do !!!!

thanks for the honest opinions,.. much appreciated