i don't think 2 is easier than one if one is a puppy. i have a 2 1/2 year old lab mix and i'm watching an 8 month old hound mix this week. maybe it would be easier with pugs?

 

I think even number dogs are great. When I had my moms dog here I loved not feeling bad about leaving one at home. 3 is so awkward when you only have 2 hands.

 

I think it depends on the breed. Three toy breeds are okay.

 

I firmly believe two is easier than one. Seriously. I feel like two is half the work of one... BUT... and this is important: double the expenses. Double the food, double the vet bills, double the supplies, double the everything.
I DON'T think two puppies is easy. I have no regrets, BUT will never get puppies so close together ever, ever again. That said, your girl is two, if her training is at a place that satisfies you, then I'd say when your situation allows it, go for it! I don't mean anything by this to people with one dog, and I know every owner on here is AWESOME, but I actually sometimes feel bad for single dogs in the average pet home. I love that when I leave, if I can't take them, they have each other to play with.

 

I don't mean anything by this to people with one dog, and I know every owner on here is AWESOME, but I actually sometimes feel bad for single dogs in the average pet home. I love that when I leave, if I can't take them, they have each other to play with.

i think it depend on the dog. my dog loves to play with other dogs but he still responds to me, looks for my attention, and needs his space when resting/sleeping when another dog is around. He also plays really well by himself and lives for retrieving even with another dog around. Maybe it's his breed composition, maybe it's because I work from home, but he never seems lonely. I wonder if he would like to have a second dog long term. He's a good host to other dogs but I don't think it's something that he requires.

 

I also believe that having two is easier than one. Sophia was so lonely when Dutchess passed.
I was so glad when Goliath came along, Sophia was too.

 

i wanna get cesar a sister very very badly as well! he gets so bored being an only dog now its driving me bonkers hes mopey without another dog around.

 

having two dogs isn't a problem for me because they are both older and were old when I got them.

But when we added Parker it seemed like we added several more dogs - going out in the yard used to be pick up Snorkels, open the gate, let Rebel out, carry Snorkels down.

Now it's pick up Snorkels, head Parker off at the pass, open the gate, try to get Rebel squeezed out, beat Parker back with a big stick, close gate, get Snorkels out, open gate, pick up Parker, carry Parker down.

We really need a second dog ramp.

 

My BC does not like my Lab so here at my place there is no playing. Emma tries to play with her and she just growls and snaps at her. Never has hurt the lab, but Em thinks she is playing and then just continues to bother her. I realise that Patches is trying to put Emma in her place but it is almost like Emma laughs in her face. Patch should be a one family dog again, but it's not like she is completly unhappy. She mopes on purpose I think especially when we go home and visit mom and dad. I think the reason she doesn't like another dog in the house is because she was an only dog for 6 years. I feel bad like maybe my family deprived her of canine companionship. I wish so much that my two girls would play together and have fun.

 

That's too bad that Patch doesnt want to play with Emma. I got a second cat for my first cat after my first dog passed away (my first cat was totally attached to my dog). So I got a 6 month old kitten for her when she was 4 years old. They never became best friends or anything, but they do enjoy each others company, unless he bothers her too much then she slaps him and runs off lol. He's 3 and she's 7, so it is a big age gap for cats I think.

I know there is always the possibility of them not getting along, but I want to do what my friend did and bring Ruby to the breeder to meet the puppy (whenever that might finally be) and see how she interacts with them. She still has very much that happy fun loving puppy playful spirit, so I think she would love to have a puppy running around. Hopefully one of these days I can convince my mom that getting another one is a good thing. Because it does break my heart to leave Ruby home alone when I leave for work. Just seeing her lay down in her chair in the living room watching me leave sucks.

Thanks for all the replies, Ill try and make my mom read this thread and see if I can nudge her any closer to saying yes

 

Yeah it is a real bummer. I have to take them to the ball fields to play fetch seperatly otherwise Emma tried to play with Patch in a little rougish way and Patch just keeps biting at her. They go around and around in circles and don't pay attention to the ball. Then if Patch takes off running after the ball Emma runs up on her and either rolls her or bumps her hard. Now I can not take them swimming together either!! Last time I did Emma like drowned Patch three times. Idk what exaclty she was trying to do, but she pushed her under three times.
I am not saying that would happen to you if you got a new pup I am sure Ruby would be just fine. I think my two have to big of a difference in size.
She didn't get along with my boy Bolt either, but he didn't bother her as much as Emma does.
RIP BOLT

I can't wait to have two dogs together that love each other and play all the time. I doubt Wes and I will ever have three at one time though so just have to wait.
Oh and Patches seems to like to chill with the cat. LOL

 

Most of the dogs in my life have been multiples. I always thought they were much happier with buddies.

I think dogs are social but they can make people their pack - if there is one dog and the owner spends alot of time with them maybe they don't need another dog. But if they are home by themselves alot then I think it's better if they do. It's lonesome all by yourself.

None of my dogs seem very friendly with each other. No sleeping together or playing. But they are usually somewhere close to each other.

 

When I had two dogs I did activities that brought them closer together. Kind of like team building but with dogs. I firmly believe 2 dogs are easier than one which is why I've been doing my hardest to get a second dog.

Here is my problem which may be different from yours. Getting a puppy is not going to help me. I will have to give that pup a lot more 1 on 1 time. I'd have to walk the puppy slowly through everything. I have the time for 2 dogs from 1-3years old. But I'd have to drop something to take on another puppy. Besides, a puppy cant' be Bridget's friend until the puppy grows up.

 

I am of the same page as Linsey but only if the dogs are close in age. Some older dogs do well with a pup but Dude and Buck are 7 years apart and Dude pretty much just ignores him. If Dude was a few years younger I think he would adore Buck.

That said, some older dogs are overjoyed when a second dog is brought into the family. Either way, two is definitely easier.

 

I don't think that 2 have been as easy for me as one would be! Of course that may be because Lola was not yet 7 months old when I brought little 8 week old Buster home. Now he is 5 months old and she is 10 months old and it isn't much easier!! I think that it will get better as they grow out of the puppy stage though. Having said that it hasn't been horrible having them both just some adjustments to how I do things. They get along really well and will play together. They do have little spats over toys and bones but they don't get ugly. I do prefer having 2 dogs.

 

I have 2 labs, Java & Moka, both females. They are 7 months apart in age. Java is now 3, Moka is 2 1/2.
I'm glad that I have 2...looking to add #3 next spring (a male this time).

But with 2 crazy young labs my house is like WWE Smackdown 24/7. (I'm guessing pugs wouldn't be quite as much of a handful as my 2)
Here are a couple of videos of the girls....

[video]http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy344/zackadam/?action=view&current=0327121616.mp4[/video]

[video]http://s806.photobucket.com/albums/yy344/zackadam/?action=view&current=0327121615.mp4[/video]

 

Puppies in general are not easy (why I prefer to always adopt adults) but multiple dogs are definitely easier than one IMO. I think going from having one dog to 2 though has a learning curve. After that it gets easier every time. (That's coming from the crazy lady with 10 dogs....:wink
I have a friend that had a single dog for years because she was dog aggressive so she just wasn't used to seeing dogs interacting. She would have 100 freakouts every time she'd come to my house worrying that the dogs were going to get in a fight. Even if 2 of mine would start playing she'd be on high alert. Drove me crazy!
As far as 2 of the same sex, if your current dog is good with other dogs and you bring in a puppy, you're most likely good to go. I don't know how or why I've been so lucky but I've had a multi dog home for years with lots of different dogs coming through as fosters and have had one problem dog out of the bunch that I had to keep separate. Eight of my dogs are female and they all get along so I say beg your mom and get a friend for Ruby! Don't tell your mom I said that though....:heh:

 

I had a male dog first, then got a female pup a year later and they get along great.. I'd never again have just one. Bishop loves having a friend to play with. That being said, it is important to match age and energy levels- Willow is old and slow and Tess is young and speedy, with a tendency to annoy anything that is too slow to resist her- you can see how that works out! One annoyed Basset!

 

Even if she says no, you're moving out in a year so it won't be terribly long. I know how much waiting stinks, I want my dog sooooo badly while I'm in college but have to wait until senior year to move into an apartment or rent a house and finally bring him with me (if we can even find a place that with allow him and all the roommate agree). It's been two years so far and I hate not having him, but it's coming, slow and steady. Maybe find something special to do with Ruby in the mean time, some sort of goal. Ever thought about training for something like Rally-O? Or getting her a CGC? That way you have something fun to aim for to take your mind off of getting a puppy, plus it'll make your bond with Ruby even stronger.

 

I never had 2 dogs until Stewie the chihuahua showed up and never got claimed. We kept him becuase he was small and really liked Boomer. I mean the dog is 6lbs lol. It's still like only haveing one dog and another cat.

 

I had Maddie for almost 3 years before I got a second dog. She was a resource guarder and didn't play very well with other dogs (she feels the need to be the alpha, but didn't really know how to speak "dog") so I got a pup lol (I do not recommend doing that, by the way. I was very confident in her temperament and knew 110% that she wouldn't do anything to hurt another dog) and it was perfect. Moose LOVES to hear her growl, and eventually she got over her guarding once she realized he didn't want what she had, he just wanted to bug her lol. Then my roomies got Layla, who is a fairly dominant female (Maddie is alpha, she is beta), then recently I got Jack, and him and Moose have taken the bottom of the totem pole :tongue: I will never have less then 3 dogs ever again

 

I have owned everything from a dozen to singles. Imo, single "pups" are a lot more work than multiples. Two (or more) can keep each other active and entertained without much "outside" help, while a single usually needs something to get them "moving". I got 12 wk old Blaise when Dal was 15 yrs old, having a young pup around really perked the Old Man up. Of course, it helped that Dal adored puppies. Then a year later we got Scotty and that helped Blaise "burn off" some of his energy. The zoomies got a lot faster after Scotty got here. lol I admit I'm suffering from puppy fever as well. One thing I'm very careful of is that the pups' personalities compliment.

 

I have two girls who would love to be the only per - pampered queens of the house. My boys and other two girls seem to enjoy each other. They like their own space but also have a blast running and playing. Even the shelties now 10 months old can really run and play with my collies and even the oldest collies tolerate all sorts of nonsense form the shelties. They just love their little cousins. I can't remember only having one dog.

 

We always had only one dog growing up (boxers).

When our current boxer was 3 yrs old, we adopted Abbie, who was 4.5 months at the time. It was fabulous. They played and played and played (and would eventually nap together).

When Abbie was 8 months old, I got Murph, who was also 8 months old, because I knew I would be moving out, and Cooper would go with my mom, and I knew Abbie would be lonely without a canine friend.

Murph and Abbie are totally brother and sister, they get along perfectly. They don't do a whole lot of playing anymore, maybe once a month something will crawl up Murph's butt and he will actually play with her, but they sleep together all the time, and if Abbie is playing with other dogs and it's getting rowdy, Murph barges in and makes the other dog back off of Abbie.

As long as finances allow, I will always have a pair. I'd love to get a third someday, but I also hate to think of possibly messing up the energy and relationship between Murph & Abbie.

 

I've always had multiple dogs. I had one dog aggressive female in the bunch, but she was my only problem in 30 years of owning dogs and she just hated all dogs.

Age was never a problem when adding puppies. Chelsy loved puppies and other dogs and was still welcoming them at 12 years old when Shade came. I was worried about adding Shade, because Rocky was used to being the 'baby' and had never played with another big dog (or anything younger then Chelsy) but he and Shade are best buddies. They do everything together.

We are getting our third puppy in August and it will be a toy breed. The dogs will be ages 6 years, 4 years, and 9 weeks. I don't have any worries about adding a toy puppy to Rocky and Shade because they've both help raise a 1 pound Chihuahua puppy and they adore small dogs. I've always mixed giant, large, and small breeds without any problems at all.

I say mix and match whatever you want as long as you train them well (the biggie), have the time for them, and can afford to take care of them.

 

Keep these posts coming guys! Lol. Im literally going nuts with puppy fever. I know I can wait out until I move out, but the reason I wanted to get a puppy now instead of when it's just me is so someone is home when Im at work. And Ruby is still young and energetic. Of course, it will happen when it's meant to be with the right puppy, hopefully I can get one before she turns 3. And reading all these posts just makes me want one even more! Financially, I will be able to afford it. Since switching to raw, I have saved a buttload in vet bills. And, I will be starting to get my meat from a butcher down the street from my friends house, which is wayyyyy cheaper than the grocery store meat. Plus, small dogs dont eat a lot, Ruby only gets 8 ounces per day.

 

Aww, you will get your second puppy soon Kat .. move to Toronto!

 

Oh my gosh I was looking through Pet Finder to see if there are any young pugs out there, and this little guy sounds perfect <3 Petfinder Adoptable Dog | Pug | Toronto, ON | Teak and he is oh so cute! Looks a lot like Ruby actually lol