One Dog or Two, Should I get a second dog? Having 2 Dogs

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One Dog or Two?
I have one dog, my family is often not home. For several hours a day, 5 days a week my dog is left alone. Should I get a second dog, and why would it help?

Dogs are pack animals, meaning they have an instinct to live among a group. They look at the world differently than humans. To them, there must be an order in their group, a leader, a boss of the household. In their mind, everyone must have a place, from the leader on down to the lowest member of their group. In order for humans and dogs to coincide happily, humans must understand the dogs instinct to have an order and understand how to show the dog where his order in the family is. When dogs live with humans, the humans become their pack. Dogs must be shown they are last in the pack order. What does this mean, "Last in the order"? It means, the dog looks at all the other humans in the family as the boss, his leaders. He will happily follow their commands and accept they are his boss. Believe it or not, dogs are very happy to be last in the pack order. A dog becomes unhappy and stressed when the order is not clear to him and he feels he needs to test the order; which leads to growling at family members and even biting (Read Top Dog and Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position for more info on how to curve this behavior).

When a dog is separated from his pack he becomes worried, stressed and unhappy, leading to Separation Anxiety. A lot of destructive behaviors stem from dogs who just cannot deal with being separated from their pack. It doesn't matter if the dog is the leader of your household pack (which is very bad to let happen!) or if the dog is last in the human pack order, if his pack leaves him alone, he can instinctually gets upset. A lot of unwanted dogs in pounds are there because of behaviors which stemmed from the stress of being left alone without their pack. It goes against every grain of a dogs instinct to be left alone. Can we really blame the dog for that?

It is very common for a dog to be perfectly behaved while you are home, yet destructive and untrustworthy while you are away. There are many things one can do to curve this behavior, like crate the dog while you are gone, however while crating the dog stops your furniture from being chewed, it does not cure the dog from being unhappy and miserable.

We humans have busy lives, and while we are focused on our tasks for the day in order to keep the household running, we must earn money and the kids must go off and get educated, but what the dog sees is his pack all leaving him behind, with no understanding of why everyone is leaving and not bringing him along.

So what can we do to help our dogs cope with living among a busy human household that must leave him behind on a regular basis?

The first thing you want to do is start exercising your dog, with a long walk right before you leave for your busy day. This will put the dog in a rest mode while you are gone. Whether you have one dog or a whole pack of dogs, a long, daily walk is paramount. Not just tossing a ball or running around the yard, but a real walk, jog or hike. When a dog is lacking in exercise, his energy bottles up inside him. Just as birds have an instinct to fly free, dogs have in instinct to migrate. Running around your back yard does not curve this migration instinct. This can cause a bunch of behavior issues.

Have you ever thought of getting a second dog? Busy households that must leave their dog home alone for long periods of time should consider it, especially if your dog is showing signs of stress. This may not cure a dog from chewing your trash while you are gone, as half his pack is still leaving him, and heck, there's something tasty in there after all! However, your dog will be happier. I have heard of countless stories of old dogs becoming active again, playing with the younger dog, and a skittish dog coming out of their shell when introduced to a second dog. Sometimes dogs are just happier living with another fellow K-9.

For those of you who have never owned two dogs, it is normal for the dogs to constantly compete for the, "who is first in the pack order". This is normal and healthy for a dog, so long as there are not all out fights and the dogs do not challenge the humans. Humans should be so clearly the leader, the issue of boss among the humans never arises in the dog's mind. This can be easily accomplished with no yelling or hitting involved. Just some simple behaviors on the humans part. Read Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position.

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Second Dog Success Stories

Mojo, a 7 week old German Shepherd Dog puppy, with Fluffy, a 4 month old mixed Fox Terrier. "I got Fluffy first, and he was very shy and fearful during the first few days. He would hide and show shyness when approached. Then I got this lil cute Mojo. he was very inquisitive and very playful right from the first day. At first I feared that Fluffy would bite and snap at her, but they became friends and they still play a lot together... it seems that Mojo is the dominant now though she is only 7 weeks old. :P"

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"I adopted a 7 month old Great Pyrenees to work on our farm. He was an outside dog, obviously, he cannot protect the herd inside the house, and therefore was not part of the human pack. He was meant to bond with the goats and live among them. He was extremely skittish, and I knew this when I adopted him. He was so upset and afraid of everything he drooled most of the time and hid in his dog house.

He was supposed to be a working dog, living with the goats and keeping the fox, raccoon and possum from eating the chickens. Months went by, and he remained skittish, afraid of his own food bowl and extremely skittish around humans he was unfamiliar with, including my own children."

"I went out and bought him a female Great Pyrenees puppy to work with and the results were amazing!"

"The first day I brought the puppy home, my skittish Py forgot he was afraid of my kids, came out of his doghouse, jumping around like the happy Py I knew he could be."

"From that day on, he did a complete turn around. He became less and less afraid of things. Today both dogs are very good flock guards. They work together and do have their spats over who is boss at feeding time, they will growl at each other over who gets to eat first. The female, (younger newer Py) usually wins, and both dogs are happy, because they are allowed to act like dogs and they have their own pack order."

They are both very happy dogs

Mary-Sue, Sweet-Pea, Tacoma, and Tundra

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"We adopted Jedi, a Jack Russell from a friend when she was 1 year old. Jedi bonded with my girls, and our 2 year old Shepherd, Collie mix - Bailey immediately. Unfortunately after a 6 month illness Bailey passed away July 2005. Even with the love of my girls, Jedi was lost without her canine companion."

"In Jan 2006 we adopted a rescued Shepadoodle puppy, to keep Jedi company while we are away at work. Just recently after months of sitting together looking out the window and barking at the squirrels, Jedi was finally able to teach Koda the puppy how to Howl."

We strongly suggest Cesar Millan DVD's and or Cesar Millan Books to every dog owner, from Chihuahua to Pit Bull. An excellent guide to communicating with, understanding, and controlling your dog.

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The Human Dog

Why did my dog do that?

Top Dog
Establishing and Keeping Alpha Position
Guarding Furniture
Small Dogs vs Medium and Large Dogs
The Walk
A Senseless Death, a misunderstood dog
Puppy Temperaments
A Dog Fight - Understanding your Pack
Understanding your puppy or dog
Raising a Puppy
Should I get a Second Dog
Separation Anxiety
Is your dog out of control?
Jumping Dogs
Top Dog Photos
Dog vs. Child
Housebreaking
Are You Ready for a Dog?

Breeders vs. Rescues

Find the Perfect Dog

The Gangs All Here

Caught in the Act