When did you know it was time to add a second dog?
I have been going back and forth for about 6 months now on whether or not to add another corgi to my family. I know all the pros and cons, have had 2 dogs almost my entire life (up until about last August) so know the added work of a second dog. The only thing holding me back is Franklin. How do I know if he wants a buddy? I would hate to add a second dog and have it really stress him out and/or upset him. He LOVES when I am petsitting my parents dog, he LOVES when my best friends dog comes to visit or when he goes over there, etc so I think he'd probably like to have a buddy. BUT when my friend brings her corgi pup to visit he plays with her for a while then he gets grumpy and growls at her and just wants to be left alone.
So, how did you know when it was time to get a second corgi/dog? How did your first corgi adjust?
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on
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As far as I'm concerned it's ALWAYS the right time :-) Joking aside, add another dog when your first one is trained, you're delighted with him/her and you can meet the needs of another dog.
As for Frannkin, dogs varie in their reactions to a new dog in the house, we've experienced the gamut, but eventually they all become good buddies and they all benefit from the interaction. I adopted our Corgi 6 months ago, I had a 12 yr.old dog who was like a bump on a log, it took her about a month to decide he was a new friend, now she runs around with him everywhere and it has put new life in her and new enthusiasm for everything from eating to chasing squirrels. My other one is a mini-doxie, she has found a playmate, as the older one did not really play with her, and quickly figured out, small as she is, that she can boss him around..... The three now race around the house and are inseparable. Having also done rescue for many years, I saw how dogs benefited from the interaction with their own kind. With some breeds there is more aggression and you need to be more careful, opposite sex is always a safe bet, but same sex can work just as well.
In my teens, I had a dog that I loved dearly, then he got sick and died. I was inconsolable for months and decided then I would never again have only one dog. Not because one feels the loss less, but because it's hard to make new attachments when you lose that beloved friend and I've had multiple dogs ever since.
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Permalink Reply by Yuki & Ellie on
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Yuki could probably have gone through his life, quite happily, being the only dog in our family. He was never lonely if we left him alone, even for 8 hours one day, and he loves playing and cuddling with the children. I, however, felt ready to have another dog.
Since Yuki was never around other dogs much, I decided to watch one of our friends' dogs once or twice during the week. This was, I felt, a very real test as the dog is an intact male. There were lots of dominance displays for the first two visits, but now they sleep together, play together and are great company for each other. I was happy with the results and, now, we have our little Ellie with us. :) Yuki lets her know when she's going to far with her play (she tries to herd him and he corrects her when he's had enough!), but he's very gentle and even lets her chew his tail. It's working out just great!
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I should add that you could always get an older dog. Rescues, pound pups or even retired show/breeding dogs could be a good option to avoid a pup that might get on his nerves. :)
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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on
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yes I definitely won't be getting a puppy. I'm done with the puppy thing. I'm just going to hang out and search petfinder every once in a while and see if any corgi's pop up! There generally aren't many in my area but I know when the time comes I'll find one!
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Permalink Reply by Edward and Gemima on
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When we went to pick out one Corgi we ended up with 2....they were the last of the litter and I couldn't stand leaving the other one behind....they are so like human kids...get a long one moment and fight the next......good luck with your decision.
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Permalink Reply by Melvin Brock on
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My girls are about 14 months apart in age. They are always together or atleast within eyesight. They flap, play hide and pounce, chase, tagteam for snacks and sleep within paws reach. The only problem with having two Corgi's is not having more of them.
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Permalink Reply by Bax & Zigs & Rosie on
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I knew I always wanted a second corgi, however I wanted it to be from the same breeder and hopefully the same mom and dad as our first. When I was on facebook awhile back I noticed that Baxter's mom had puppies. I was really sad to find out that she passed away shortly after. I knew then that I needed to get one of puppies.
Baxter has always been very friendly with other dogs. He loves to herd dogs at the dog park and sometimes play but not too much. He does, however, -love- to play with puppies. When we got Ziggy it took Baxter a little while to realize that Ziggy was going to be around forever. In five days they went from laying far apart on the couch to getting more comfortable with each other and one step removed from cuddling. After having Ziggy for a few months, they still don't cuddle, but neither dog really seems to be the cuddling type.
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Permalink Reply by Gromit, Sparkle, and Doug on
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It's time to get another corgi when you look around the house and think "They don't really shed that much...one more would be fun!"
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Permalink Reply by David on
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Dogs in the same pack are like siblings, there are plenty of good times and there are times that they do not get along. As long as they do not get into serious fights, they usually get along OK. I think it is important to talk to the breeder about your current Corgi, the breeder can pick out a puppy which compliments Franklin; if you are not sure about picking out a puppy. The breeder may have a puppy would work out for you or you may have to wait for the next litter.
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Permalink Reply by Sam Tsang on
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Hi Melissa,
How do I know if he wants a buddy?
It is very hard to say, it really depends on Franklin's personality.
Mocha is very independent and he is perfectly happy all by himself, every time we get a foster, he puts up with it. We usually take in rescue to live with us for a minimum of one month, we rehab them back to health and evaluate their personality before making them available for adoption. It stresses him out, his poop goes soft, if I had to do it all over again, I would keep Mocha as the only king in the dogdom.
Vienna on the other hand is the most flexible dog I've known, she's always happy go lucky. Out of all the rescues I've had, there was only ONE considered to be her BFF, I didnot understand the true meaning of friendship until I've seen them living together. They would play everyday all day, they were made for each other, when the rescue left, Vienna was upset, she cried and whined. She never did that when Mocha was not around.
I'll say Mocha put up with Vienna, sure they play everyday, but it is not the same as Vienna and her BFF rescue. I feel Mocha is happiest when we're alone. I think Vienna don't mind having a companion, but the chances of getting a true bff is slim.
I think having two corgis limits your travel. Every holiday / long weekend, we plan our activities / destination around our dogs. When we do travel overseas, we trust no one but our family, who have no pets of their own. It is THAT much harder to find someone to dog sit TWO dogs. In my opinion, it's finding someone you are comfortable with and have full confidence in handling your pack + their own, handling 3+ dogs (who doesn't live together) requires super skill. We find ourselves drive more / fly less.
My dogs are 8, we've moved 3 times since 2002, changed 6 jobs (2 of us), we managed to pay cash for all vet cost, no student / car loan, no debt, 9 months salary reserved in savings, mortgages...etc. Financial / job stability was a big deciding factor in adding another dog for us, we've seen too many cases where corgis were surrendered to our rescues due to foreclosure, bankruptcy, lost job, divorced, baby addition. We made it a point NOT to get another dog until we've reached that kind of financial stability.
Things happen, I've seen corgis who are younger than mine already have ACL / DM / hip / back surgery, one dog is manageable, two dogs within 2 years can be a financial hit. If I was in your situation, I would wait until you finished vet school.
If you want to gain more experience in matching personality, handling different corgis, I would strongly recommend you to find and work with a local rescue, someone who can mentor you and pass on their knowledge, fosters are usually less than one month and you get to experience a range of corgis.
As you can tell, I'm the type of person that perform nerdy velocity calculation first, look twice before jumping, it's sad and you often miss out the great unplanned things in life. I totally respect and truly applaude those who live and take life by the horns. Good luck! Like most people said, do your best, work with what you have and make it work
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Permalink Reply by justine moeller on
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Well said Sam! We got very lucky and Mickey and Walter are that BFF you described with Vienna and her rescue. I am glad it turned out the way it did because it could have been very different.
You should totally trying fostering Melissa! You can find out the 'type' of dog Franklin gets along with most and if he is willing to put up with a long term buddy around. We have certain fosters that are welcomes into our home and ones that are plotted against! Our current foster is a dream come true type of dog but Walter had a hard time warming up for the first week but all is good now. If she were to stay I could see them becoming good friends in fact...but we have had others that it just didnt go well. I would test the waters with fostering first.
Like Sam said it does limit your ability to do things such as travel, etc. We have not flown since getting either one of them :( We are heading to my province for a month vacation in a few days and our ENTIRE vacation is planned around where the dogs can and can not go. We also have a barker so have to plan escapes (haha)
Good Luck with your choice! :)
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I really like the idea of fostering. My biggest fear with getting a second dog is that Franklin and the 2nd dog won't be BFF and won't get along. I want a 2nd dog since I've always had 2 and honestly with Franklin's energy level I find it much easier when I have 2 dogs in the house because the other dog keeps him company. He grew up with a chihuahua and loved to play with her, and I pet sit my parents lab for 1 or 2 weeks at a time and Franklin is in heaven when the lab is around and I am in heaven as well because Franklin is entertained! :-)
I have ALWAYS had dogs my entire life so have grown up with travel revolving around our dogs. Its ingrained in me to not enjoy my trip unless the dogs are there too. Generally all of our vacations have been camping trips and I'm happy that way. In the 25 years I've owned dogs we have only had to kennel one time for 2 days. Also. my parents and my brother have offered to watch the dog/s if/when I play to fly. My brother has a large house with a lot of property so he will often have 2 or 3 "extra" dogs in addition to his 2. Money, time, etc are all well thought out and planned so far, its just my concern about how Franklin will react and I think fostering is an excellent idea to see how he reacts. I'm going back and forth between a corgi (because you can't have just one!) or a lab (because Franklin has LOVED any and every lab he has ever met.....EVER). I think I'll go ahead and let Frank decide who his new companion will be!
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