Is It Time For Another Dog?

I had a lovely video appointment with a new client who lives in another state. She has a sweet, senior dog who is experiencing some dementia and a second dog who will be 5 years old in February. We were meeting not only to discuss what she can do to help her senior dog, but to discuss her next dog.  She asked if she'd "blown it already" by waiting too long.  She said she knew that pediatricians recommended 18-24 months between human children, and was wondering if it was similar in dogs! I truly got a kick out of this as that's probably not far off the mark really in terms of spacing with dogs, IF your goal is to have dogs that can really enjoy each other's company and learn from each other.  Is it too late if your dogs are 13 and 5 as my client's are?  Let's dive into this idea a little deeper.

First and foremost, the only reason to add a second (or third, or fourth!) dog to your family is because you, the human, really want to do so.  Adding canine family members should never be done for the benefit of the other resident dog(s).  While adding a younger dog or puppy may perk up your senior dog, for example, it's also a source of competition for a limited resource, namely you and your attention.  Not all dogs want to share their resources with other dogs; it's fine to share a ball at the dog park, but sharing toys, beds, and treats day in and day out is just stressful and unappealing for some dogs. While you may feel that you have enough time, attention, and treats for everyone, your resident dog(s) may feel differently about the new family member.  Dogs are competitive with each other, the family cat, and even human children.  Research has shown that the happiest dogs (as measured by cortisol levels in their blood) are those that live alone with no other dogs to compete with. I'm looking forward to the extension of this research where they look at other, non-canine family members and whether dogs would prefer you not have cats or kids either!

Having at least 18-24 months between your dogs does seem kind of ideal, though longer than that is okay too as long as you take the age gap into consideration when you think about those resources.  Dogs who are the same age (or very close in age) will have similar wants and desires.  Two puppies, for example, will need to be trained separately so that they don't bond more closely with each other than you.  And housetraining two dogs at the same time?  No fun, in my book.  If your dogs are two or more years apart, those resident dogs are already housetrained and cognizant of the house rules, meaning they can help you with the new arrival.  Observational learning is huge in dogs, so having calm, well-behaved, established dogs in your home when you add someone new can really help to get that newcomer off on the right paw. Just remember to keep the interactions monitored and appropriate, meaning play is okay as long as your resident dogs are up for it.  If they want to play for just a couple of minutes and that's it, then it's up to you to entertain that new, young dog.  And be sure to give your resident dogs priority in terms of resources and resource distribution; the new dog needs to know that they can't usurp the position of the resident dogs in your heart, or in your home.

There is a lot that goes into choosing a new dog for your family, everything from deciding on breed, age, and sex of that dog to how to make the transition to a multi-dog household successfully.  We've been thinking, quite seriously, about adding a new dog to our home.  Desi will be 13 this year and Ozzie turns 8 this week.  Yes, that's definitely more than a couple years of age difference between the dogs we already have and the new dog we'd potentially be adding.  We've enjoyed having Westley in our home when he visits, and he's now 4 years old.  Seems like it might simply be time for a new canine family member.  I'll keep you posted.  For now, it's just Desi and Ozzie, but don't be surprised if you see a new pup pop up in the next year or so.

And, as always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

Puppy Ozzie definitely drove Desi nuts, on occasion, 

but they were fast friends.  Desi was extremely indulgent with Ozzie, 

leaving us, the humans, to correct and redirect Ozzie.