help please!decision to be made

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This will be long so sorry in advance!my boyfriend and I have a5.5 year old Jack Russell/beagle/lab/anything else around that size!:-) she rules the roost and I know alot of you would cringe at the way we manage her but it works for us and she is a very happy girl!! Have had her from a pup,she is a'house dog' normally she goes in the garden during the day but because of an increase in dog burglaries we have been keeping her in and my bf comes home on his lunch to let her out for a pee. she is fully house trained and seems more than happy with this arrangement. She has the full run of the house bar any doors that we shut. she is walked daily and is very fit and healthy. She loves to be in the middle of everything,lies between us on the sofa,Was on my kneetonight when we were sorting holiday clothes(she doesn't realise her size!)Basically she is like a child to us and she knows it.she also has a bed of her own(giant pillow) in most roomsand sleeps at the end of our bed in her bed but is known to get up beside us. I know this isn't how ur meant to keep a dog but it works for us. The question is,would it break Her heart if we got another dog and she had to share all this?my bfs brother has an 8 to neutered male golden retriever which he can no longer keep. He had only had it for a week but he's moving back in with his parents at short notice.the dog Was previously ownedby a polish man from a pup but he is away back to Poland. Is breaking my heart thinking that that poor dog Was probably as happy and loved as our dog and now look how it's ended upfor him. I hate the thought of him being passed around our falling into the wrong hands and he is the nicest dog you could ever imagine. I'm considering getting him. Does this sound mad?wat about our existing dog,could she adapt?how would it work when we are out,could we trust them together?has anyone any experience of introducing a new dog into a routine that's been the same for 5 yrs with a dog who knows she is the Queen of the house. I don't particularly want another dog I just feel so sorry for this one
 
If you are seriously considering it, I would start to change her routine now and be very firm and consistent about it, don't just whack a new dog into the mix and change the picture she's known for five years.

I love my dog to bits too, he just doesn't sleep on the bed because it is my bed, he doesn't rule the roost because I do (not slagging anyone who has their dog on the bed...it's just trying to explain the mindset!!). Dogs are happier when we are in charge, very few of them like to be in positions of 'responsibility'.

Until they are settled together it should not be too difficult to keep them separately when they are out using crates, stair gates etc. I would not trust them together initially alone, no. Always allow both dogs a 'time out' or place to get away and chill out.

It would not 'break her heart' but if she is used to getting her own way, being the centre of attention and is in an elevated position in your household it will probably put her nose out of joint.

No shared food/mealtimes, no shared bones or toys, that's the trigger for most fights. Also be aware of entry and exit points to rooms, that's also where a lot of scraps break out.
If you do anticipate argy bargy, put a light/short house line on the collar of one or both so you don't have to wade in with your hands.
Don't let one pester the other - your house, your rules.

Having said that they might get on like a house of fire!!
 
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Good thing is they are a dog and a bitch, and in general the bitch still rules, at that age the dog would hopefully be laid back.
Try them out on a walk and offer to look after him for a weekend before decision making, to me, dogs adapt and even if her nose is slightly put out in the beginning she will adapt and he will get a lovely home.
To your question, yes we take in dogs to rescue who have lived a solitary life and we bring them into a million dogs and go onto to rehome them with dogs, it can work if you go about it the right way.
We also place foster dogs in with dogs who have lived a life alone and they have adapted well, as CC said, keep safely in mind till the 2 are accepting of one another and all should be ok.
 
Thanks for ur replies. What do u mean change her routine?I simply couldn't change her sleeping arrangement she would hate it!sounds like a good idea to try it over a weekend. We don't have a crate and I doubt my dog would take kindly to going into one.when would I know they were safe to leave together? in an ideal world id find someone to take him who I could trust to keep and look after him for the rest of his life.
 
Sounds as if you don't really want this other dog. I think my advice would be to not get involved further than helping to rehome.
 
OK, well you can do one of two things.

You can throw a new dog into the mix and expect her to deal with it, and if she doesn't deal with it, then change things later or you can make a few small changes now to better prepare her for what might be coming, IE not being at the centre of everything any more.

The crate could be for the younger dog. Or as mentioned you can use stair gates or keep them in different rooms.

As for when you would know if it was safe to leave them together, no one can answer that as we don't know the dogs involved and all dogs are different. Some dogs will bump along their whole lives together and get on, which might happen with any luck, others will scrap/will take longer to settle together and the advice I was giving was to prepare you for the latter.

I would probably say if you are not prepared to make any sort of change in order to prepare for the new dog, then you should probably try really hard to get him a nice home with someone else.
 
We did it.

We got given a two year old lab from a friend of a friend. She acted like she had always been with us from the moment she walked in. She adores me for some reason. Two years later we decided to take another dog. We took another lab from a rescue. He was a 14 month whirlwind. She initially wasn't impressed, but he has a "play play play" mode and he just kept bugging her to run with him, so in the end she did. We bought him his own new bed (one for the lounge and one for the kitchen where they sleep) but she insisted on having the new ones, despite it being smaller than her own bed.

You have to make sure that she gets lots of attention. Ours is very cunning, and if the male lab is getting a fuss (especially from me) she will go and get his favourite toy and parade round with it so that his "play play play" over-rules the cuddle and he dashes off. On Sundays they are allowed on the bed when we have a lie in, and she lies right on top of me and bats him away with her paw if he comes near me. Fortunately he adores my husband, so doesn't care and it works well!

They are like kids, they have the odd squabble to start with, you just have to be firm but fair with them both. Do lots of fun things that they both will enjoy - long walks, ball throwing, in our case it was swimming that they both loved.. With ours it greatly helped that I was off work following an operation, so around 24/7 for three months. Perhaps try and do it when you have a week off?

But do be sure. Its bad enough that your brother has only had him a week and is getting rid, he really doesn't deserve it again. If not let him go to a specialist rescue (retriever) that would find him the right home.
 
Basically ditto the advice that CaveCanem, Cayla and Honey08 have given, but e.g. I thought that simply making sure that they're somewhat calm, before giving them separate food bowls, that is put down with lots of space between them, would in general be enough for feeding times, even when you have a new addition in the house (but on the other hand, I don't allow my bitches to try and steal each others food). I agree about being careful with gnaw bones and such, personally when I get a new dog/puppy, I either make sure that my bitches have so many gnaw bones, so that there is not much point for one of them to try to hoard all the bones for herself/guard "her" bones against the other bitches, or I put away their gnaw bones when I'm not with them.

I didn't notice that you've said anything about how she is with other dogs, is she well socialised? If the answer is yes, I think it depends mostly on how you and your BF handle the situation and the dogs, if you can successfully add the new dog to your family or not.

You say that she "is like a child to us", well, some people have children that makes me want to run screaming for the hills and others have children that I think is delightful, so that your dog is like a child to you can either be a problem or not.

You asked "would it break Her heart if we got another dog and she had to share all this?" My answer is No, but I'm sure that you and she can convince you about the otherwise.

I can't really decide what I think about that you say "I don't particularly want another dog I just feel so sorry for this one", it would probably be easier if you already wanted another dog, but it doesn't have to mean that it would be a bad idea to get another dog.

Personally, I decide who lives in my home, not my three bitches (or my two cats). If I so came home with an elephant and said that from now on, they have to share everything with Miss Elephant, at the most I expect their first reaction to be "Oh my Good!, an Elephant!", but then I expect what I've taught them to be remembered, so that their next reaction would be more along "Oh, it is staying, oh, hm, okay then, Welcome to our family Miss Elephant."


To give you two examples of my experiences with new family additions, when I bought my first puppy 1990, we had 3 adult cats, none of them was used to dogs, they were neither impressed nor thought that we needed a puppy in the family, but we gave them all space, didn't force her on them and after (as I recall) about 6 weeks they had all accepted that she was part of the family. I've also came home with a new puppy to two older dog ladies, (if I remember and calculate it correctly) one of them was about 10 years old and she loved the puppy at first sight, the other one was about 12 years old, grumpy and would gladly have returned the puppy to were it came from as soon as she realised that it wasn't just here for a visit, but I didn't allow her to say anything about it, so she basically tried her best to happily pretend that the puppy wasn't there and at her age, I thought that was up to her, so I did my best to ensure that the puppy didn't disturb her daydreams (both these two old ladies are now sadly dead).

So I've introduced a new puppy into a routine that had been the same for about 10 years, but the two old ladies were well socialised, I gave them all space, making sure that they had places that they could retreat to if they wanted to be left alone (= not forcing them on another), I didn't have any expectations on that they should become best friends (if they did - great, if not - okay, they don't have to love my decisions, only accept that it is I who makes them and if the new puppy/dog wants to play, I play with them) and I would say that it worked out without a problem, getting my family's cats to accept sharing a house with my first puppy, all those years ago, was much more difficult.
 
OP, give it a go.

Our dog rules the roost too (well to a degree). Sleeps on the pillow above my head, and very, very loved.

Would I get another dog? Hell yes. Would love one.
 
Thanks for all ur replies. Definitely food for thought!will talk about it again with OH tonight and very him to read this. If only I could talk about it with my dog. .. ha ha
she is well socialised but doesn't really bother with other dogs!she prefers us or her ball!she is terrible when we meet other dogs and she's on the lead but 100%fine when off I think that may be a defensive/insecurity thing.
eta by terrible I mean she growls/barks. I don't think she would actually bite but obv have never tested it!
 
amymay said:
OP, give it a go.

Our dog rules the roost too (well to a degree). Sleeps on the pillow above my head, and very, very loved.

Would I get another dog? Hell yes. Would love one.
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^^6
this. same here would love another puppy in a couple of years time.
however OP be prepared to keep them separate when you are not home incase they dont get on. we are having to dothis with our cat and dog. we dont give either full run of the house overnight or when we are out.
 
I have got a little jrt type dog who is kept pretty much the same as yours. Rules the roost, sleeps in our bed etc etc. A few years ago when my little dog was 5 my other half decided he wanted a gun dog. I was really worried as my dog was spoilt rotten and always had our full attention and was worried how she would react. I didn't really want another dog but home came Fern. Fern has her own set of rules, and we carry on with the little jrt as we always did as we didn't think it was fair after 5 years to change jrt routine. Both dogs are well behaved, spoilt rotten and happyas Larry, although jrt still has the last word!
 
We did this and introduced a new baby brother foxhound cross collie to our little patterdale rescue. She was traumatised at first (not as much as when the cat arrived:eek:), lots of mum and dad what have you done looks but now loves him and nannys him if he is slow to come to call or respond to our commands or anything really:D He adores her and just loves her to bits.
 
googol said:
Thanks for all ur replies. Definitely food for thought!will talk about it again with OH tonight and very him to read this. If only I could talk about it with my dog. .. ha ha
she is well socialised but doesn't really bother with other dogs!she prefers us or her ball!she is terrible when we meet other dogs and she's on the lead but 100%fine when off I think that may be a defensive/insecurity thing.
eta by terrible I mean she growls/barks. I don't think she would actually bite but obv have never tested it!
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My dog is like this - fine off lead but on lead she's a ratbag. Nervous aggression essentially as she can't escape when on the lead. I am amazed actually how many dogs suffer with this. She is the first dog I have ever experienced myself. Once she knows a dog and is settled with them she is great though.
 
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