Guest verthib Posted January 4, 2012 Share Posted January 4, 2012 I think you definitely need a second dog. They are born, raised, trained and housed with other greyhounds. They deserve a friend. My girl's SA went away overnight when we got our second dog and it's helped her confidence level. Now I feel a lot less guilty about leaving them alone because they have each other. It's really not that much more work. You are going to have to walk, feed, etc one dog anyway, so why not just do it for two at the same time. I would never go back to one dog. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheFullHouse Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 He's beautiful and I love his ears! Congratulations! Quote Judy, mom to Darth Vader, Bandita, And Angel Forever in our hearts, DeeYoGee, Dani, Emmy, Andy, Heart, Saint, Valentino, Arrow, Gee, Bebe, Jilly Bean, Bullitt, Pistol, Junior, Sammie, Joey, Gizmo, Do Bee Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Tiptons_Mom Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I think you definitely need a second dog. They are born, raised, trained and housed with other greyhounds. They deserve a friend. My girl's SA went away overnight when we got our second dog and it's helped her confidence level. Now I feel a lot less guilty about leaving them alone because they have each other. It's really not that much more work. You are going to have to walk, feed, etc one dog anyway, so why not just do it for two at the same time. I would never go back to one dog. Did you use the crate when you brought your second hound home? I use the crate with Titpton to keep him and the house safe right now, and I did get another crate for Duncan to help with housebreaking and for the safety of my cats until I know him better. I am just wondering, since it is my hope that one day I can leave them home without the crates. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest verthib Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I think you definitely need a second dog. They are born, raised, trained and housed with other greyhounds. They deserve a friend. My girl's SA went away overnight when we got our second dog and it's helped her confidence level. Now I feel a lot less guilty about leaving them alone because they have each other. It's really not that much more work. You are going to have to walk, feed, etc one dog anyway, so why not just do it for two at the same time. I would never go back to one dog. Did you use the crate when you brought your second hound home? I use the crate with Titpton to keep him and the house safe right now, and I did get another crate for Duncan to help with housebreaking and for the safety of my cats until I know him better. I am just wondering, since it is my hope that one day I can leave them home without the crates. Yes, definitely. I got a crate for my first (Gracie), and she was biting the bars and just howling and crying all the time, no matter what type of training we did with her. We tried gating her in the bedroom because it's her favorite place to be in the whole house...same routine, crying and howling and pacing. Very sad. SOOOOOO....we adopted Angus. Her SA went away overnight!! He was right off the track so I knew I would need another crate. We still have both crates. At first Angus was crated about half the day off and on because we have cats and had to desensitize him. But over time (a few weeks), we gradually used it less and now just keep the doors to the crates open and both go in there at random just to lie down. When we leave the house, we crate them both, OR gate them in our bedroom. It depends on the length of time away, and the time of day, etc. We also use the crate for meal times. Angus is a food hog so he will go and eat Gracie's food if he's done first. This prevents any little arguements and the need to eat each other's food. I trained them with the word "crate" and if I say "crate!", they go running in. I also used a LOT of treats for crate training. So now sometimes if they hear a krinkly bag from the grocery store or whatever, they will both go running into their crates thinking it's treat time! Eventually my goal is to wean them off their crates during this coming year and just use the bedroom. I am not comfortable giving them free rein of the house alone because of the cats. If we didn't have cats, I would still migrate from the crate, to one gated room and then to the house. I would never let a brand new dog free roam the house without some transition. There is just too much they can get into and hurt them selves with, eat, etc....especially if the home is new to them. I am not in a hurry though because they act like they love their crates... it's just a pain because of the size... .I used to put my xmas tree right where the crates are, so we didn't have a tree this year. My goal, if possible, is to wean them off their crates by Xmas this year so I can have a tree again! Here are a few pics. In the pic below, he was actually sleeping!!!! Look at his eyes and his mouth! haha OMG do you just want to feel sorry for her or what??? This was the first week she was with us. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MP_the4pack Posted January 5, 2012 Share Posted January 5, 2012 I just saw him on GAA. (just parusing mind you.....not looking to adopt another myself ) But he is just SO adorable with those ears. Congrats Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest happygrey Posted January 6, 2012 Share Posted January 6, 2012 (edited) We found going from 1 to 2 was not that hard but 2 to 3 was tough. ETA: just saw that you are adopting him! He's adorable! Good luck and enjoy. Edited January 6, 2012 by happygrey Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest greytbuds Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 Very glad to have found this post - I came looking for advice on adding hound #2. I've been "fostering" a tiny girl hoping to boost the confidence of my very spooky, submissive large boy. I've found folks here on Greytalk to always be honest and I appreciate that. I agree it appears to depend on the personalities of the dogs. The new girl is very pushy and will chase my boy off his bed, away from getting pets, and steps on him regularly in the car. She is not good on the leash and since I have to leash walk, the second hound has been a lot more work. They walk at different paces and have different habits about "going" outside. All of which I think could be worked out, but I am still concerned for my boy - who was after all here first. My goal was to make this a pleasant experience for him - not a more anxiety producing one, and that is how it currently feels. I hope Tipton and Duncan take to each other fabulously and it works out perfectly for you! Look forward to hearing updates as they settle in at your home. Thanks everybody for taking time to weigh in! Greytbuds to Kenny Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest jbbuzby Posted January 7, 2012 Share Posted January 7, 2012 (edited) I think this depends on your dog and your status with them. In my case, having another dog made my life way easier; my Ferguson has SA and would pant and pace and carry on constantly if alone, making it so I'd have to work extensively with him and not leave him alone ever until we got him up to that point. At my parent's house, I did succeed in this, but I have been fortunate enough to work at a place that is dog-friendly so he could come with me. Then, we moved, and he relapsed significantly. I also got a new job, and we were almost right back where we started. So, I had a few other hounds visit, and it helped the problem significantly. I just adopted a little female who has zero separation issues, and things continue to go well...I can leave my house!!! However, my hound is also very VERY well behaved and well trained. He is a certified Canine Good Citizen, and is literally perfect in every single way besides how he'd behave when I'm not around. Adding another dog, therefore, didn't impact our day to day lives too much. She is also mellow and easy-going and non-demanding (with those visiting hounds, I got to see what personality types would work best...I highly recommend fostering/hound baby-sitting!). I am also one to demand a little more than the average person when it comes to training and behavior, so I take the time to instill the same expectations in the new dog as well. Once this is done, a second dog really is no more trouble than a fist! The only time I notice any inconvenience (besides financially) is when I'm suiting the dogs up to go for a walk. It takes times to put on their coats and collars and leashes, especially when you have two excited pups entangling themselves! I've seen a lot of people get second dogs when their current dogs already have some behavior problems, and this only creates a snowball effect. The new dog will indefinitely pick up on the bad habits and will even bring some new ones into the mix, so this is something to be careful of. Just tune up the current pup's obedience and manners, and then the good behaviors will also rub off on the new dog . Edited January 7, 2012 by jbbuzby Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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