Final week, I posed the query: Ought to I get a second canine? I instructed 5 inquiries to ask your self earlier than making a last resolution.
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 need to be sure you discover the precise match!
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How do you select the precise second pup for your loved ones?
So, you’ve determined you have got the time, area, potential, and price range so as to add one other pup to your loved ones.
Congratulations! How thrilling!
Thrilling, and perhaps somewhat overwhelming, too. The place to look? How previous ought to the canine be? Does breed matter? Or gender?
Let’s dig in, we could?
Listed here are two questions to contemplate when selecting a second pup:
1. What sort of companion could be most fulfilling to your present canine?
Take into consideration your canine’s character. What traits or traits in a second canine could be most complementary?
For instance, in case you have a high-energy canine who likes to play, it won’t be in his or her greatest curiosity so as to add a sofa potato to the household. (I say won’t as a result of, nicely, it’d. See query 2.)
In case your canine snarls and growls and lunges at each huge canine you move in your each day stroll, nicely, an enormous canine most likely shouldn’t be in your record of potential playmates.
Generally this query will be onerous to reply as a result of you possibly can’t speak 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 a lot 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 peaceful, light canine. She likes to stroll however not run. She ADORES practically 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 appears like we’ve got extra choices, which I suppose we do, nevertheless it additionally means we should be additional cautious in order that we don’t get a canine who walks throughout her or pushes her round. So, that signifies that I’m on the lookout for a pet–and I’m NOT a fan of puppies! I’d a lot slightly undertake an grownup canine, however, once more, the companion who could be most fulfilling to Penny might be a youthful canine.
2. What sort of pup most closely fits your loved ones’s life-style as it’s–or as you need it to be?
Take an trustworthy take a look at your loved ones’s life-style AND at your loved ones’s life-style objectives. Do you need to spend extra time outdoors? Are you taking on operating this yr? Do you hope to beat Tears of the Kingdom earlier than summer season? Planning a lot of aircraft journeys–and also you need to convey your pup alongside?
It would assist to seize a scrap of paper and write out what your life-style is like proper now and what, if something, you intend to vary.
For frequent fliers, a tiny canine that matches in a TSA-approved provider ought to rise to the highest of your record.
Should you’ve been a sofa potato however need to take up operating, an lively canine is likely to be the important thing to your motivation. (It’s true.)
Should you’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 one of the best match for you. Until you need to stability the sofa time with operating, by which case you gotta take that into consideration, too.
There’s no judgement right here, however you do should be trustworthy with your self!
Now, let’s contemplate a pair extra components when selecting your second canine:
Don’t worry about gender!
This is among the greatest myths on the market, crammed with heaps and plenty of anecdotes however no precise scientific information. So, right here goes: Aggression in canine, no matter gender, is complicated and multi-factorial.
Listed here are some points that matter greater than gender:
- Early socialization: Canine correctly socialized throughout puppyhood are much less prone 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: For example, some canine are naturally extra vulnerable 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 probability of aggression.
- Surroundings: A steady atmosphere with a canine stored inside the house (versus outdoors on a chair) reduces the probability 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, nevertheless it’s not the entire story. Nevertheless, spay or neuter your canine AND the canine you need to undertake. It’ll scale back the probability of any hormone-driven aggression.
Give attention to particular person canine, not simply gender. These generalizations will be harmful and might hold you from assembly a extremely nice canine. Should you work with a shelter or rescue, they’ll allow you to rigorously assess canine and assist match the precise 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 need to present your canine or have an curiosity in that world, do your analysis. Discover a good, stable, respected breeder. Test his or her references. Discuss 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 costs a fortune for a cute pet doesn’t imply you’re promised something about that canine.
For us, we’re an adoption-only household. Should you’re concerned about adopting a canine, there are such a lot of paths to take, however all ought to lead again to 1 factor: Make certain your canine will get an opportunity to spend time with the potential pup previous to adoption.
Listed here are just a few avenues you 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 houses awaiting adoption, which is a improbable alternative to get to know rather a lot a few 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 will be a lot enjoyable. They are often playful, foolish, cuddly, and one of the best of pals! After all, selecting the second canine is barely 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!)
If in case you have a multi-dog family, how did you discover your subsequent pup? Should you’re wanting, 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’d simply have some information coming fairly quickly… (;
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