Wondering if two is better than one????

[Toddanne]

I used to have two boxers (siblings) and they lived 10.5 years, but when we had to put the girl down her seemingly healthy brother died of heart failure 13 days later! Very hard on us to lose both that close together! Now we have a cane corso boy and I feel guilty that he doesn't have a playmate! I do,however, feel like he is more well behaved since I feel like the boxers instigated one another! Do you think a dog is happier if he has a playmate? I am also scared that the same thing will happen if they get too attached to each other!

 

[STEVSH]

After the weekend I had, I would say no. But other days I would say yes My mastiff mix decided to become possessive of her bones (she's almost two) out of nowhere with my catahoula and they got into "scuffles" twice yesterday. The catahoula won, and now Topaz has a small gouge out of her nose that I have her on antibiotics for. They have been best of friends up until this weekend and still went outside and played with each other yesterday afternoon. I just had to throw out every bone/antler we have in the house now. Only KONGS from here on out because my catahoula doesn't like them and Topaz loves them. I've always had two female dogs throughout my life and never had a problem until now. Ugh.....
So, you're call! How much refereeing do you want to do?

 

[BlackShadowCaneCorso]

I think it depends on the dogs. Siblings you are for sure going to have more problems. We had 2 rottie brothers and by the grace of god I still have one and it has been almost 2 years since his brother has passed.

For dogs that aren't siblings I think it is easier. We always have a break between our dogs now and they are used to at least one new one every year or 2 so while there are pods of ones that are closer they aren't so bonded to each other that I think they will give up if we lose one.

I know the brothers used to instigate things but because we trained them separately and made sure they both had one on one time and were in different classes and the boyfriend and I switched dogs weekly during training we didn't have any huge issues with starting trouble. Over all they were both sweet boys

 

[voidecho]

We debated getting two siblings at the same time (so they would have each other while we were away at work during the day) and in the end decided (thankfully) to just get one. It's a personal choice and there's really nothing wrong with getting two at the same time and I know quite a few friends who have done it, but personally for us it wasn't the right decision.

The main reasons we didn't were because of training and bonding. Training two dogs is twice the work and it sounds like you need to separate them to do it the best. I've also read and seen in my friends dogs that when you get two at the same time they can bond more to each other than to you. They can become inseperable later on in life. My sister in law has two labs. She can't take one to the vet and leave the other at home because the one at home will go absolutely insane. I have no doubts that when one of them passes, the other either won't be long after or will never be the same dog. If you want to avoid that with two dogs, it sounds like you need to seperate them a lot when they're younger, which can be accomplished by seperate training sessions. Just sounded like it was more work than we were looking for.

I still think we'll get another dog, but we'll wait a year or so and get Lincoln a little brother.

 

[neona]

My wholly untrained, un-knowledgeable answer is, it depends. I see rescue ads all the time that say the dog will do better being the only dog in the household. Our experience (so far) is that our dog seems kinda lonely. When we take her on walks she seems almost desperate to make the acquaintance of every dog we pass. Obviously I am putting human emotions on her and I can't know that that is what is going on, but we're working on getting a 2nd dog that she can hang with. We've had her for a year and she was guessed at 2 when we got her.

 

[Smokeycat]

I agree that it depends on the dog. Jiggers, my first dog, loved to have other dogs come over and regardless of how long they were there he was upset when they went home. He loves having another dog in the house. My parents dog however has a time limit for how long she enjoys being around other dogs. After about 4 hours her patience is gone. Could she live in a home with another dog? Probably but she wouldn't be as happy as being the only dog.

 

[m0rg4n]

My parents now get all their animals in pairs from the same litter, cats and dogs. While the dogs are certainly better behaved when they don't have their sibling rivalries keeping them from listening, they're still really good dogs. For us it's mostly a matter of how long it takes them to bring the stick or ball back during fetch because they're too busy playing keep away. We like to pretend it makes them less destructive as puppies because they aren't as bored. There's always a sibling to eat instead of the couch.

 

[Robtouw]

I honestly think they are happier in a pair. When I adopted german shepherd years ago he was an ok pup, after I added another pup three months later there was a huge difference! He became a fantastically happy pup. They did everything together and I think learned quicker together. Buddy was always happy spending time with my friends dog and I always wondered about getting a second one. But due to size we didn't. There is a female at daycare that Cruiser loves or at least did when he was able to go. No daycare with the broken leg. In early Nov he will be boarded at the pet resort where she stays and we will have the two spend the week together. I may end up driving home two dogs instead of one. She is just a brown mutt, I can't really tell what is in her, possibly a little boxer or akita. She is med build, brown with a little white, no particular markings but has a great disposition and is a good influence on my boy.

 

[m0rg4n]

Nice girls are always good influences on us boys.

 

[Robtouw]

Cruiser has weird taste in women. There was a beautiful neo puppy and a GD puppy in his class but he was attracted to the mutt and english bulldog with a serious underbite. My hubby needs to have a chat with him! LOL

 

[bellareea320]

I would love another cc but with the cost of theses vets in NY. I am afraid I couldn't afford to give them the best care in the event of an emergency. I just took Luna for a UTI and just the medicine cost $91 not including blood and office and urine. Maybe in a few years.

 

[Toddanne]

Funny that your cc name is Luna, that is the name my son picked if we got a female cc! Our boy is Luca! I remember the cost of vet and food for the two boxers, kinda enjoying only dealing with one! He's so good that I'm afraid I shouldn't push my luck! Maybe just take him on play dates with friends dogs!

 

[bellareea320]

Funny that your cc name is Luna, that is the name my son picked if we got a female cc! Our boy is Luca! I remember the cost of vet and food for the two boxers, kinda enjoying only dealing with one! He's so good that I'm afraid I shouldn't push my luck! Maybe just take him on play dates with friends dogs!

My husband named her. That's too funny. I would love for her to be able to play with another cc but there aren't any around my home that I know of.

 

[Robtouw]

I would love a second OEM, but I too think the cost is a bit much. We already feed horses, chickens, cats, Cruiser and of course, my husband's LandCruiser fettish. My feed bills and vet bills are already outrageous! I would however, consider keeping the next large stray that shows up on our farm. Occasionally someone drops off dogs in our area. We unfortunately live within 4 miles of the local animal shelter. People drive down the main road connected to our private road and see all of the horse farms and usually end up dumping their dogs thinking one of us will take care of it. Problem is we usually find it a home. Last Dec, I came home to find a beautiful Boxer female just laying in the hay in my barn, happy as could be! She was well behaved, clean and very sweet. A coworker was looking for a boxer female pup and met her at my place, Jennie fell in love with Bella in the first 5 min and they have been family ever since! Now if a GD, Mastiff, or other large breed shows up and gets along with my group, it would probably become a permanent addition!