Help! Disadvantages and advantages of getting another dog?

Can anyone help?

I have a sibe who is 16 months and really would like another puppy. the thing is my partner believes that Zuki will be unhappy because she will have to share our attention. I think she will enjoy the company of another dog because she always wants to play with dogs when we are out and we visit a friend with two dogs and it is difficult to get Zuki to leave. What I really need is a list of disadvantages and advantages to getting a second dog. So I have something to persuade my partner with.

Thanks and licks,
Donna & Zuki

I don't think Zuki would mind sharing your love if it meant having a buddy to play with and have doggie company all day long!

Two dogs do give each other company and they always have a friend to play with so stops boredom.

Downside to owning two dogs are the cost is more expensive 2 x vet bills/feeding bills/kennelling etc. Twice as much fur to hoover, poop to pick up!

You will have to set time aside to individually train both dogs as it is useless trying to do it at the same time, they will need one to one training. Two dogs can egg each other on to misbehave, pack mentality can kick in. ie: if you are in the park you can keep your eye on one dog much easier than two and if one takes off the other will usually follow!!

Until Ozzy we always had two together, but I have got to the frame of mind now that I only want one. It's horses for courses.

Lots of people and Dogsey members here have more than one dog and wouldn't have it any other way, so the good aspects must outweigh the bad!

I agree with Ozzys mom on everything she's said

I was going to get another pup this year my babe is 12 mths old but have decided to wait, she's still got a few bad habits, i think 16mths would still be a bit young for us but if your willing to put all your time and effort in to training two dogs then go for it chick

Ozzy Mum very wise. I made huge error of buying two pups of same age, main reason being told it would be another 2 years before anyone breeding again any JSpitz, however its been fun, they are now 8 months old, helps cos I am at home all day, I love two dogs and have always had two dogs although of dissimilar ages not like at present. I find they keep each other company can help if one of them is a bit fussy over food, encourages them to eat cos the other one will eat theirs too!m Advantages in both but I love dogs so the more the merrier for me, I would like even more but OH very mean!

i had one dog for 5 years,she seemed really down and depressed,i got another pup and she is a different dog,it is the best thing i ever did you need to consider can you afford to keep 2 dogs,can you walk 2 dogs and does your dog react well around other dogs?? good luck

Sibes are very much pack dogs so I think she would welcome another pack member.

The biggest advantage is that they keep each other company and give each other a canine playmate who understands doggy behaviour far better than we do. Also, as long as your older girl is well trained and well mannered, she will help shape the younger ones behaviour to an extent.

I can't say I have experienced any downsides as such but the extra expense hurts a little as we now need two of everything (in the largest size too, in our case ) However, perhaps if I were to spoil them a little less then my pocket wouldn't feel it quite so much

On the convincing front you could always do what I did, get him along to visit the litter and then see if he can say no

Very true, I was thinking the same thing.

Personally the only downside to having 2 has already been mentioned - cost.

I would never go back to having 1 dog again, having two (or three now in my case!) means they keep each other occupied and when you leave them you don't feel quite so guilty!
But you do have to put in some extra effort to train them separately to get the most out of them. Walking spearately to begin with can be a good idea too, so the little one learns how to cope without the older one once in a while.
Good luck with the convincing!

well, from experience of having 3 dogs at one time, my opinion is this:

When i got a second dog, this is when i had indie already, she was approx 18 months i think. I found she got really possessive, she didnt like sharing our attention one bit and got quite aggressive. She also got possessive over toys and bones and these had to be removed permanently, which wasnt a nice option.
I also found it more difficult to pay attention to both equally, and walking two was a challenge for sure,lol. esp when one went one way and the other went the other! I did enjoy having more than one dog to walk, although they didnt want to play on walks really. I couldnt play frisby games with them as indie got possessive.
You need to make sure u are ok financially, as the cost of food, vet bills, toys etc doubles big time.
I did find having 2 dogs helped indie to actually eat as she didnt want the other dog to have her food, and they did play together alot, so it was nice to see them rough and tumble.

I think it depends on ur dogs personality, i can never have another dog with indie... and i had to rehome one due to fights over possession of things and our attention, and couldnt take on another which was a pet within the family who i would have liked to rehome with us.

Of course lots of dogs do get on fine, but ive equally seen stories where its gone horribly wrong.

Indie loves playing with other dogs when out and will happily play with a dog that comes round. but if its here to stay, she wont have any of it! definetely an only dog.

I'm new to this so apologies if I'm supposed to start a new thread (also please let me know) but you've got me thinking... Jake is a rescue dog and we've had him since November always with the intention of getting a second for company(I totally agree with all the thoughts re company etc) - does anybody have experience of adding a second rescue dog to the first? I can't have a puppy as I'm at work in the day.

Ok, I hate to bring the downers to this thread, but I have to tell you about what I'm going through at the mo. I have two dalmatians, one 10 yr old (Tara) and one 10 week old (Blue). Ok..... Blue is a lovely lovely puppy, very cheeky, but very very good! Tara is a lovely dog, an absolute angel.....so I didn't think I'd have any probs with introducing a new pup, but I was wrong. Tara hates Blue, she hasn't hurt her, and I can leave them together, but if Blue gets too close for comfort then Tara barks and growls. She's not impressed by Blue at all! But, she's a lot better two weeks down the line than she was initially.

I'm not saying, don't get another pup, as I love it, I really really really love it!!!! But just think carefully about whether your dog is good with other dogs or not, if Zuki is, then you shouldn't have any problems at all, although I do find that if I stroke or fuss Blue then I have to fuss Tara straight away.....and respecting the hiarachy that they set out has helped a lot!!!

Sorry if that doesn't help at all! Just thought I'd give an opinion!

Lorna.