Is two better than one...?

[jak3]

Hi everyone just wanting to get peoples opinions and experiences Alfie is 10months and already I'm getting puppy broody again lol however wont be getting him a furry friend at the moment but when he a bit older and better behaved  would love another, Iv heard conflicting opinions

1-two is better as they can play with each other and use there energy out on each other rather than you, learn from each other etc.. and
2- double the work double the energy required double the stress lol

or is it a bit of both lol, those that have two or more would you recommend it?

Thanks everyone!

[7733lily]

well I have three and on a good day wouldn't rule out having another 
It is a lot of hard working having more than one with cleaning, training, quality time for each etc....however this is weighed up with the fact that they all get on well, are company for each other, playmates etc
I suppose apart from the extra cleaning, training, costs which will always be a consideration, as long as they get on then great, but there is always that chance that by getting another they may not get on and then you have potentially ruined what you had
No-one can really make the decision for you obviously, but from my point of view, more than one was definitely a good idea 

[Nicola]

I have 3 and although Tilly and Caoimhe don't get on particularly well it's a good number for me. I don't know if having more than one dog is 'better' - it depends on the dogs and your situation. Personally for me it is and I wouldn't have just one dog although there are definitely benefits to that - it's easier to go places with one and easier to get one dog looked after etc. Mine do play together but not really all that much, although they are older now at 8, 5 and 3, so they don't tire each other out but they are great company for each other and they definitely do get a lot out of being together - as do I from watching their interactions. Rodaidh and Tilly in particular are very close, he's spent his entire life with her, they do look out for each other and when they do play it's brilliant to watch, they're hilarious

You should be prepared though for them not to necessarily be best mates, as I said before Tilly and Caoimhe don't really like each other, they don't ever fight but Caoimhe, who is very much the boss dog, would bully Tills a bit if she got the chance (which I make sure she doesn't) and Tilly generally mostly stays out of her way so really I'd say they tolerate each other (or Caoimhe tolerates Tills). It doesn't bother me that they're not pally pally, as long as they're all happy then I'm happy to let them sort themselves out as they wish, but I know some people get dogs and expect them to be snuggle buddies and mine definitely aren't.  

Other than dog manners, which is important, I wouldn't say mine have really learned much from each other apart from Tilly teaching them to bark at the doorbell and to sit and stare at me when I'm cooking/eating  but I do pretty much all individual walks and training with new pups until they're at a stage where I can take them out on shoots so that's quite a long time - Ro was pushing 18 months before I started walking him regularly with the other dogs and still now at over 3 Caoimhe always walks/trains on her own when I have her here because of her field trialling. I don't really want the dogs teaching pups anything other than manners in their own interactions, the rest of it is my job!

I wouldn't say two dogs is always double the work of one - it is at the beginning if you do individual walks/training etc. (in fact I find it more than double the work at that stage) - but not so much once they're fully grown, you're mostly doing stuff then you'd be doing with one dog anyway. One thing that does increase though is the cost and that is important, it costs me an awful lot to insure 3 dogs (although I also have to pay for extra working insurance for Ro and Caoimhe) and sometimes it feels like there's always one of them at the vet for something or other. Three lots of titre testing/boosters adds up and one £35 pack of Advocate also only lasts me one month!

Overall I would definitely recommend having more than one if you think it suits your existing dog and your situation, but do be aware of the costs, the fact they may not love each other, and also that it definitely does impact your relationship with your existing dog - not always badly by any means, but it does change and sometimes I feel guilty that Tills got pushed out a bit by Rodaidh and then by Caoimhe, and that Ro's nose was put out of joint a bit by Caoimhe coming along. They do adapt though and overall I think they benefit from having each other around  even if they wouldn't always necessarily agree

[elaine.e]

The only answer to "is two better than one" is that you don't know until you try it.

I've had 2 twice (if you see what I mean) and both times I've ended up with 2 Cockers who tolerate each other but aren't best friends.

William was absolutely horrified when Louis appeared and 3 years later I'm sure he's still hoping that Louis will move out and never return. Louis has a different view and would love to be William's best friend and play with him and share a bed with him, but William just walks away. So as far as relationships go, you just don't know. Many will become best friends quickly, some will take longer, some will just tolerate each other and in a few cases it just won't work at all.

If you have 2 that will play together then yes that can help both to use up some energy, but they could also be getting up to twice as much mischief together. How much fun could they have playing tug of war with a cushion or jointly digging a trench in the garden

Puppies don't always learn good behaviour from an existing dog. Louis has definitely been a bad influence on William who now copies some of his little brother's bad habits.

I can honestly say that life for both me and William was more relaxed and that we had more time together before Louis arrived. Don't get me wrong, I love Louis dearly and he's here to stay, but on balance I was happier before he came and so was William.

[black taz]

i wouldnt be without 2 dogs now.  My first experience of two was an 11 year old collie cross and Taz as a puppy (until he a 2 1/2).  Taz learnt indoor behaviour from Kelly, learned to settle (he loved to cuddle up with her etc), but they never really played but they never had a cross word and Taz adored Kelly.

When Kelly died, i got Kira (then 11 weeks - labrador) and she and Taz are inseparable to the extent when competing at agility i have to make sure that one is in the car rather than at the side of the ring otherwise they run out of the ring to the other one.  Not sure how much Kira has learned from Taz though (fortunately not the rubbish recall he had) but i love to see them playing together.  Its rare they wander off to play with other dogs and if they do its only for about 30 seconds.

You do have to think about the cost (insurance, food, training, etc).  I didnt really have a problem with training, i did loads of recall training before Kira was allowed out, and Taz joined in, as he did with any other training I did with her (which didnt cause me any problems).  I do train them separately for agility though (for the above reasons, apart from the fact then it is exhausting running two dogs in the same class).

In my opinion, two are definately better than one, and if OH would allow i would go for a 3rd.    

[Ruby Tuesday]

I am so glad we got our second dog, Jem. I'm not quite so sure if Ruby is! They are fine together, but not exactly best friends as I'd hoped.

It isn't twice the work, because you and your house will already be dog friendly, but it is more work. The older dog can help with training the pup, but can also hinder!

Oh, and .....Twice the number of dogs = ten times the amount of hair you have to hoover up

[Lily Freya]

I had two girls together....who were tolerant of each other, but not cosy together.
Now have two boys (only 4 months difference in age), who are great together.  Added a little girl recently, so now have three.  I'll let you know how that dynamic goes...   at the moment the boys get as high up as they can to avoid our little 'Nasher on four legs.'

Seriously though....love having multiple dogs.

[Countrygirl]

I have the best of both worlds, I have one cocker of my own but walk the cocker from next door every day, even weekends.  Ellie (mine) & Toffee love going for walks together and we are usually out for at least 3 hours a day, sometimes all day if we are out hiking, and Toffee is frequently in my house if they are out all day next door, so the 2 cockers are together a lot.  When we go away Toffee hangs over the wall looking for Ellie and when Toffee is away Ellie still tries to drag me up their drive to call for her.  When they see each other in the morning it is as if they have not seen each other for a month.  BUT I know that Ellie would not like Toffee to live here permanently, she is quite happy for her to go back home and to be an only dog.  The only time we have had problems is when Toffee got into Ellie's bed and then we had fisty cuffs at dawn big time.  Other than that they get on brilliantly but I don't think they would if Toffee moved in permanently.  I think some dogs like to be only dogs and some like others to be there all the time.  I suppose you don't know until you try it. 

[Ben's mum]

I love having two dogs and would love to have more, but I guess it would be too much for Ben who dosn't really like Harry very much at all. I love their completely chalk and cheese personalities, I adore Harry (3 yrs) which was a shock as Ben (9) is the love of my life and I was worried that I would struggle to love another dog as much, which I do , but just for different reasons.

The down sides are:
cost - two of everything and it does add up
time - I often feel guilty that I didn't do all the things with Harry as a pup that I did with Ben, but with walking them seperatly at first I could not find time to do other stuff like agility or training with Harry, whereas I spent hours and hours doing things with Ben.
I also do worry about how it has affected Ben, he is not overjoyed to have Harry living with us   
Having to make concious effort to keep them seperated at meal times or if I drop something while cooking it can cause a fight, whereas Ben just used to snaffle everything.  It sounds petty, but I do spend a lot of time making sure they are alright and not squaring up for a fight 

But on the whole two dogs is brilliant and I would reccomend it, but I do think you have to do it for yourself and not for what it might add to your exisiting dogs life.  Good luck with your decision.

[jak3]

Alot of points made actually that I had never thought of, u had just assumed It would be in Alfies best interest to have a little furry friend for company but thinking about it he likes his attention and gets a bit needy when I talk to another dog, I can't imagine loving another dog as much as I do Alfie, I guess you would thou! I would love to get another one I think they are quite addictive lol infectious personalitys lol, but will be giving it another year or so I think until I know fully what I'm doing as Alfie is first dog and a bit clueless still lol.

[Amanda463]

I got another puppy when Dizney was 10. For the first year Dizney seemed to hate the new pup Minney.
While Dizney was never aggressive to her, she always snubbed her and moved away whenever Minney came to lay by her.
At 10 Dizney was also starting to slow down quite a bit, but having Minney really bought Dizney out of herself and gave her a new lease of life.
Now they are pretty close and as we are about to lose Dizney to Lymphoma imminently, I am wondering what effect it will have on Minney and wether to get another dog a month or so after Dizney passes.
I have to say that my experiences of owning 2 dogs has been wonderful, as when Dizney finally accepted Minney they where a right double act together.
My advice would be go for 2 dogs  

[karen488]

2 has worked v well for me. We got Bingley when Darcey was 10 months. But Darcey was exceptionally laid back a nd a very easy puppy. They compliment each other beautifully but couldn't have got 2 so soon if Bingley had been 1st IYSWIM.

[Cockertime Blues]

Hi, maybe you could try fostering rescue dogs for a while to see how you get on and how Alfie takes to having another dog around?  That way it's not permanent right away.

We've always had 2 dogs for the past 30 odd years.  They've been different ages, so they've all been an only dog at some point but never for more than a few months, although I did have my old dalmatian on her own for about 7 or 8 years.  I think you're much closer to an only dog, but I think it's nicer for a dog to have a canine pal.  If they get on.  We've only once had 2 dogs not getting along, and that was from the word go.  Also it's 30 odd years since I had to train a puppy as we've gone the rescue/rehome route so we've not really done the separate training thing.  At the other end of life though, you have the separate walking if one is unable to go as far as the younger one.