Final week, I posed the query: Ought to I get a second canine? I recommended 5 inquiries to ask your self earlier than making a closing choice.
This week, I’m going to imagine your reply is YES and discover how to decide on a second canine for your loved ones–since you wish to be sure you discover the proper match!
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How do you select the proper second pup for your loved ones?
So, you’ve determined you may have the time, area, capability, and funds so as to add one other pup to your loved ones.
Congratulations! How thrilling!
Thrilling, and perhaps a bit of overwhelming, too. The place to look? How outdated ought to the canine be? Does breed matter? Or gender?
Let’s dig in, lets?
Listed below are two questions to contemplate when selecting a second pup:
1. What kind of companion can be most fulfilling to your present canine?
Take into consideration your canine’s persona. What traits or traits in a second canine can be most complementary?
For instance, you probably have a high-energy canine who likes to play, it may not be in his or her finest curiosity so as to add a sofa potato to the household. (I say may not as a result of, nicely, it would. See query 2.)
In case your canine snarls and growls and lunges at each huge canine you cross in your every day stroll, nicely, an enormous canine in all probability shouldn’t be in your record of potential playmates.
Generally this query could be laborious to reply as a result of you possibly can’t discuss it by way of together with your canine. What you are able to do is observe your pup and his or her preferences and reactions. You may give your canine plenty of time to satisfy different canine (like at adoption occasions or by way of short-term fostering) to evaluate what’s the proper match.
In our case, Penny is a relaxed, mild canine. She likes to stroll however not run. She ADORES almost each canine she meets and tries to skitter with them on trails and sidewalks and at our neighborhood bus cease. As a result of she’s so easy-going, it looks like we’ve extra choices, which I suppose we do, however it additionally means we must be further cautious in order that we don’t get a canine who walks throughout her or pushes her round. So, that implies that I’m in search of a pet–and I’m NOT a fan of puppies! I might a lot somewhat undertake an grownup canine, however, once more, the companion who can be most fulfilling to Penny might be a youthful canine.
2. What kind of pup most closely fits your loved ones’s life-style as it’s–or as you need it to be?
Take an trustworthy have a look at your loved ones’s life-style AND at your loved ones’s life-style targets. Do you wish to spend extra time exterior? Are you taking on working this yr? Do you hope to beat Tears of the Kingdom earlier than summer time? Planning plenty of airplane journeys–and also you wish to deliver your pup alongside?
It’d assist to seize a scrap of paper and write out what your life-style is like proper now and what, if something, you propose to alter.
For frequent fliers, a tiny canine that matches in a TSA-approved provider ought to rise to the highest of your record.
For those who’ve been a sofa potato however wish to take up working, an lively canine is perhaps the important thing to your motivation. (It’s true.)
For those who’re going to get to 100% on Tears of the Kingdom, that’s one thing like 200+ hours in entrance of a display, so a high-energy canine wouldn’t be the perfect match for you. Until you wish to steadiness the sofa time with working, during which case you gotta take that into consideration, too.
There’s no judgement right here, however you do must be trustworthy with your self!
Now, let’s take into account a pair extra components when selecting your second canine:
Don’t worry about gender!
This is without doubt one of the greatest myths on the market, full of heaps and many anecdotes however no precise scientific information. So, right here goes: Aggression in canine, no matter gender, is advanced and multi-factorial.
Listed below are some points that matter greater than gender:
- Early socialization: Canines correctly socialized throughout puppyhood are much less more likely to develop aggression later. Is that this at all times true? After all not. However there’s a TON of precise analysis to again this one up.
- Particular person temperament: As an illustration, some canine are naturally extra liable to guarding assets or territory. And a few of these points come from early socialization (or lack thereof).
- Coaching: Constant, science-based coaching reduces the chance of aggression.
- Atmosphere: A steady surroundings with a canine saved inside the house (versus exterior on a sequence) reduces the chance of aggression.
- Underlying well being issues: Ache, illness, or discomfort could make canine extra reactive. Aren’t all of us after we really feel crappy?
- Intercourse hormones can play a task, however it’s not the entire story. Nonetheless, spay or neuter your canine AND the canine you wish to undertake. It’ll scale back the chance of any hormone-driven aggression.
Give attention to particular person canine, not simply gender. These generalizations could be harmful and might preserve you from assembly a very nice canine. For those who work with a shelter or rescue, they’ll make it easier to fastidiously assess canine and assist match the proper buddy in your pup.
Undertake or Store?
I’ve spoken with so many individuals not too long ago who’ve mentioned that they’re afraid to undertake as a result of “you don’t know what you’ll get.”
I hate to interrupt it to them/you/anybody else that, even if you buy a canine from a breeder, there are not any ensures.
That mentioned, in case you are dedicated to a particular breed or wish to present your canine or have an curiosity in that world, do your analysis. Discover a good, stable, respected breeder. Verify his or her references. Speak to individuals who have bought canine from them earlier than. Dig as deep as you possibly can. The variety of unhinged doodles dwelling in a three-mile radius of my home is, sure, purely anecdotal, however reminder that simply because some expenses a fortune for a cute pet doesn’t imply you’re promised something about that canine.
For us, we’re an adoption-only household. For those who’re thinking about adopting a canine, there are such a lot of paths to take, however all ought to lead again to at least one factor: Make certain your canine will get an opportunity to spend time with the potential pup previous to adoption.
Listed below are just a few avenues you possibly can strive:
- Animal shelters
- Breed- or condition-specific rescues, like a senior canine rescue or a Golden Retriever rescue
- Foster canine by way of shelters, humane societies, or rescues, which is a good way to get to know a canine nicely earlier than you commit!
- A foster-based rescue the place the canine are all in foster properties awaiting adoption, which is a unbelievable alternative to get to know loads a couple of canine and their habits and routines earlier than adoption with out having to decide to fostering
- Adoption occasions hosted by pet shops or neighborhood occasions
Congrats on including a second canine to your loved ones!
A number of canine could be a lot enjoyable. They are often playful, foolish, cuddly, and the perfect of associates! After all, selecting the second canine is just the 1st step. Subsequent up is introducing and integrating one other canine to create a harmonious multi-dog family.
(Would a publish on that be useful? Let me know within the feedback, in that case!)
When you have a multi-dog family, how did you discover your subsequent pup? For those who’re trying, what standards are you utilizing? Tell us within the feedback how your loved ones got here collectively!
As for us, keep tuned on Instagram… we would simply have some information coming fairly quickly… (;
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