Are You Better Off With One Dog or Two

A question I get asked a lot is if having two dogs is twice as difficult as having one? My answer is almost always no. If you’re already feeding, watering, walking, and playing with one dog, adding a second to the mix isn’t generally going to take up any more of your time.

In fact, getting a second dog can often be a help to busy families.  Dogs are social creatures and don’t enjoy being home alone all day. In busy pet families where both pet parents’ work outside of the home, getting a second dog as a companion for your pooch is an excellent idea. Having a playmate around can mean less loneliness and boredom, which translates into less destruction of whatever you may have left lying around!

Obviously, it’s important to make sure your current dog will get long with the second dog and some dogs do better than others at making friends. Many shelters have visiting rooms where you may bring your current dog for a “meet and greet” with the new one. If everything goes well at the shelter, chances are they’ll be fine at home. 

Now, even though you brought home dog number two as a friend for your dog, don’t expect your resident pet to welcome the new animal with open paws. A little jealousy is absolutely normal. But most dogs are social and they’ll probably work out their petty differences (“No, that’s MY squeaky toy!”) within a month. To help the process along, make sure you pay as much attention if not a little bit more to your current dog than the new dog. That way he’s assured of his status and doesn’t feel like he’s being pushed aside for the new pet. 

For example, all too often a new pet comes in and gets all the attention. This creates resentment from the resident pet. Before bringing a new pet home, try easing back-gently-on the attention you regularly give your pet. Then when the new pet comes in, give your old pet that favorite treat they haven’t gotten in two weeks as they’re introduced to the new pet. This helps them associate good things with the new animal.

By the way, cats may also make lovely companions for dogs and-contrary to myth-cats and dogs generally get along pretty well. Eventually. Dogs may chase cats at first, but the cats usually end up outsmarting them.

We not only have four dogs at home, we have four cats too. And everybody gets along just fine. In fact, sometimes I think the animals get along better than the people do! Just one more lesson we can learn from our animals...

Article by Dr. Jeff Werber, DVM