Looking at getting a second dog... opinions?

[Homebrewer]

Something to be said for all sizes and breeds of dogs.

When my parents retired they got a Yorkie to "guard" their Huntington Beach home. That dog and I fell in love.

My visits there were semi annual..

My Mom would tell him I was coming, and he would go sit at the window waiting for me to show up.

He would totally freak out and scream in joy...and try frantically to break into my suitcase to find out what I brought him.

I befriended him as a tiny puppy and he never forgot who I was. Whenever I was at my folks house, he never let me out of his sight. he went with me to visit friends, and at night he slept right next to my head.

I literately cried for a week when he died, and he wasn't even my dog.

 

Cats suck, dogs are awesome.

[Homebrewer]

I have an Australian shepherd. Great dogs. He's 60 LBs, but he's a bit chubby, they usually run 35-50 LBs. He's very loyal and it was pretty easy house training him using a crate. He's had zero accidents in the house, and he's usually alone for 8-10 hours on days I work. He does need daily walks, but doesn't have a high activity maintainence level. Gets along well with other dogs, and he's great with food. No possession or aggressiveness at all.

they're a short hair breed though, being from California. I think the winters might not agree with them, where you live.

I worked and lived on ocean going boats for many years.

Aussies make great boat dogs.

[Lou]

I'd suggest getting a fence

[Lou]

My family recently got a goldendoodle, and it's amazing.

I have one of those.

[nate]

@Brandon, don't lie, you are jealous.

 

I don't plan on spending $25k on a fence.  Also, don't want to fence in the yard, then we would miss out on all the deer and other wildlife that we currently get.

[Lou]

Damn, I forget u live in cankleland

[Spirit]

@Brandon, don't lie, you are jealous.

 

I don't plan on spending $25k on a fence.  Also, don't want to fence in the yard, then we would miss out on all the deer and other wildlife that we currently get.

 

 

Have you thought about an electric fence?  Much cheaper and as effective. 

 

Also, get a St. Bernard.  Best dogs ever.  They're big, but super laid back and mellow. 

[nate]

If it becomes an issue we will get an electric fence.  I would rather have that as a backup than a solution.

[Jason]

My family recently got a goldendoodle, and it's amazing.

My parents have a goldendoodle and he is great. I've owned a Boxer, pug and currently have an English Bulldog. The pug was the best. I still miss her.

[1nutkruk]

We almost adopted a border collie mix yesterday at our vet's open house.  We currently have a border collie mix and I put a halt to the adoption because of my dog's temperament towards other dogs.

[Adam]

We've got two. We needed to get a second one because our first has/had major separation anxiety issues. We tried everything, including spending a pretty penny on a trainer. Didn't work. We didn't want to do meds. Vet told us to get a second dog. Voila! It worked. We've had 2 for 4 years now. They're awesome. Although, we brought the second one into a tough environment. He gets raped by our first dog a dozen or so times a day.

[Lou]

Who knows, maybe your first dog likes ruff sex

[Lou]

Yes I did

[Docwaukee]

Bigamy is illegal.  

 

Yes, even in Wisconsin.  

[Brandon]

Something to be said for all sizes and breeds of dogs.

When my parents retired they got a Yorkie to "guard" their Huntington Beach home. That dog and I fell in love.

My visits there were semi annual..

My Mom would tell him I was coming, and he would go sit at the window waiting for me to show up.

He would totally freak out and scream in joy...and try frantically to break into my suitcase to find out what I brought him.

I befriended him as a tiny puppy and he never forgot who I was. Whenever I was at my folks house, he never let me out of his sight. he went with me to visit friends, and at night he slept right next to my head.

I literately cried for a week when he died, and he wasn't even my dog.

 

Cats suck, dogs are awesome.

 

Pretty much what happened with me. I actually didn't want a dog, but this puppy was homeless living under a relatives neighbor car in a box and the neighbor wanted to do something with the dog. The girlfriend had just brought him home with the womanly, "I just couldn't...."

 

I figured I would tolerate him, but now he's my little dude. He waits by the door as soon as he hears my car alarm or my girlfriend sends me picks of him waiting by the door when I leave until I come back. Taking him from the environment he was in is also rewarding. I've spent a lot of time with him and got him trained in many aspects (with a therapist girlfriend, she says you kind of have to work with animals like autistic kids or higher need education kids), so he's totally house broken.....even rings a bell when he has to go outside to poop or pee.

 

He used to have bad separation anxiety....real bad to where he wouldn't eat, liquid poop, and just really unhappy. But we work different schedules, so no one is ever gone too long or if we are gone awhile he isn't as bad anymore.

 

Needless to say, this little test with our house guest hasn't worked out and the guest took her dog to her parents for the rest of the trip. We may end up staying with one dog, but would probably ultimately like another.

[Blarg]

@Brandon, don't lie, you are jealous.

I don't plan on spending $25k on a fence. Also, don't want to fence in the yard, then we would miss out on all the deer and other wildlife that we currently get.

Dude, you would have to be the dumbest Californian to move to Wisconsin to pay $25K on a fence. Edited June 30, 2014 by Eric Notti

[nate]

Lol, yeah.  Definitely no plans on a fence.

[sneaky_flute]

Get a Greyhound or Irish Wolfhound. Both are very easygoing and fun to play with. 

[2002_halos_II]

A greyhound with critters around and no fence. Good advice.

[Blarg]

Lol, yeah.  Definitely no plans on a fence.

 

Think dog run. Doesn't take much money and not much of the yard but gives them access outside of the house to romp around. You can put in a weatherproof dog door and they can choose when they want to run out and scare a squirrel or two.

[sneaky_flute]

A greyhound with critters around and no fence. Good advice.

Dogs are indoor animals (supposed to be anyway) so I'm not sure where a fence comes into play. They need to be walked like any other dog and the only real caveat with Greyhounds is that they can be considerably harder to retrieve if they break away from a leash.  

[nate]

Yeah we are thinking of am electric fence and one of those chain link portable fences. Really though it will just be an indoor dog with supervised exercise.

Had to postpone looking at the lab mix because of severe storms this evening. Not safe for the foster person to travel in

[Vegas Halo Fan]

I have an Australian shepherd. Great dogs. He's 60 LBs, but he's a bit chubby, they usually run 35-50 LBs. He's very loyal and it was pretty easy house training him using a crate. He's had zero accidents in the house, and he's usually alone for 8-10 hours on days I work. He does need daily walks, but doesn't have a high activity maintainence level. Gets along well with other dogs, and he's great with food. No possession or aggressiveness at all.

they're a short hair breed though, being from California. I think the winters might not agree with them, where you live.

 

We had an Aussie until about three years ago. He developed an odd gastrointestinal problem (I suspect that it was cancer) and we had to have him put down at about five years of age. Odd dog, got him from a breeder in a rural area about 60 miles from Las Vegas. He always cowered around me as if he expected me to hit him, which I never did. If I tried to pet him, he ducked his head. Made me wonder what happened to him in the litter to make him afraid of men. He was a constant companion for one of our cats. The two of them were inseparable in the back yard. She looked for him for probably two weeks after we had him euthanized.

 

Current dog is a miniature pinscher mix, adopted from the local pound, removed from an abusive home by animal control. Other than a tendency to run off when the front door is opened (and to run farther away the more you call him) overall not a bad dog. Looks forward to going out in the back yard with me for my evening cigar every night probably more than anything else. The same cat that hung around with our Aussie now hangs around with this guy.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Vegas Halo Fan

[Vegas Halo Fan]

Dogs are indoor animals (supposed to be anyway) so I'm not sure where a fence comes into play. They need to be walked like any other dog and the only real caveat with Greyhounds is that they can be considerably harder to retrieve if they break away from a leash.  

 

A friend who has three greyhounds (former racing dogs) said that you also have to watch what you leave out on your kitchen counters. The dogs are notorious counter surfers, and they can reach pretty much anything they can smell.

Edited July 1, 2014 by Vegas Halo Fan

[nate]

They are also famously very difficult to keep happy, extremely expensive, suffer from many debilitating hereditary diseases, and oh yeah, if they decide to run off I would never catch it.