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#1
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2 dogs and bonding question
I always wanted 2 dogs. In the future (sometime within the next 2 years) I
plan to get a second poodle. My biggest concerns involve bonding. How does getting a second dog change the bond I have with Maui. Will it weaken it because of the divided attention? Will it strengthen it? Also, is it harder to bond with a second dog because they don't get your complete attention like the first one did? how do you encourage bonding between dogs so that they can be good buddies to each other? thanks for any insight or advice. |
#2
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on 2005-08-30 at 14:35 wrote:
I always wanted 2 dogs. In the future (sometime within the next 2 years) I plan to get a second poodle. My biggest concerns involve bonding. How does getting a second dog change the bond I have with Maui. now, *this*, i can answer. my experience is that getting a second dog does not lessen the bond with the first. if anything, it intensifies it. i found that the differences between elliott and harriet made me appreciate them as individuals even more. Will it weaken it because of the divided attention? Will it strengthen it? i didn't find that dividing my attention was an issue. each of my dogs were different in personality, so they each enjoyed doing different things. i think the important thing is to balance out the one-on-one time, the dog-dog time, and the dog-dog-person time. Also, is it harder to bond with a second dog because they don't get your complete attention like the first one did? in my experience, no. harriet suckered me in from the minute i laid eyes on her. i had absolutely *no* trouble bonding with her. how do you encourage bonding between dogs so that they can be good buddies to each other? thanks for any insight or advice. how is Maui with other dogs? does he enjoy hanging out with them? as long as the two dogs get along, my experience is that bonding is not a big issue--it'll happen. how about volunteering to pet sit or foster a dog, so that you can do a test run? -- shelly http://www.cat-sidh.net http://cat-sidh.blogspot.com/ http://letters-to-esther.blogspot.com/ (updated 7/10/05) |
#3
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I've seen many people entirely doting on multiple dogs., But it seems like just about everyone does have a favorite. I would hate to feel this way so that is what I am worried about. I'm sure many people will assure you that your bond will be equal. And perhaps it will. My question is, do YOU feel you can make it equal and share? that's what I am not sure of. I guess I would try to do certain things with just one of them, maybe take one to the park one and the other one another day and then maybe have a day where they both go. I guess I would do the same thing when I run errands or go visit relatives (just take one and have them take turns). I would really want it to be fair so I'd be willing to work at it. I would love suggestions from people that can make it work and how they do it. |
#4
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"shelly" wrote in message arble.net... on 2005-08-30 at 14:35 wrote: I always wanted 2 dogs. In the future (sometime within the next 2 years) I plan to get a second poodle. My biggest concerns involve bonding. How does getting a second dog change the bond I have with Maui. now, *this*, i can answer. my experience is that getting a second dog does not lessen the bond with the first. if anything, it intensifies it. i found that the differences between elliott and harriet made me appreciate them as individuals even more. great, glad to hear it! I really want to make having two dogs work out. Will it weaken it because of the divided attention? Will it strengthen it? i didn't find that dividing my attention was an issue. each of my dogs were different in personality, so they each enjoyed doing different things. i think the important thing is to balance out the one-on-one time, the dog-dog time, and the dog-dog-person time. good point about different personalities, great idea for balancing. Also, is it harder to bond with a second dog because they don't get your complete attention like the first one did? in my experience, no. harriet suckered me in from the minute i laid eyes on her. i had absolutely *no* trouble bonding with her. I am easily in love too when it comes to dogs! how do you encourage bonding between dogs so that they can be good buddies to each other? thanks for any insight or advice. how is Maui with other dogs? does he enjoy hanging out with them? Maui loves other dogs and he is easily the submissive one because he always plays with very big dogs (well big compared to him). as long as the two dogs get along, my experience is that bonding is not a big issue--it'll happen. how about volunteering to pet sit or foster a dog, so that you can do a test run? I hoped to adopt from a shelter where I can do a test run but they rarely get purebred poodles there and with severe allergies, that is really the only way to go. I dog sit for my sisters dog occasionally but he had to live outside and be crated downstairs because of allergies so it wasn't really the same. Though, when Maui was outside with Riley, I would take 2 tennis balls and play with them at the same time, throwing the balls in different directions and it worked out ok. Maui didn't see to care when I was dividing the attention just slightly and I loved to see their interactions. They were comical. anyway, thanks for your input. I am glad to hear that it all sounds do-able! |
#5
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diddy wrote:
Senja was put off about it. ... SHE set the rules, that she refused to be my dog unless Danny was gone from her life. I would not make that concession. She died at 18 a very lonely unhappy willful dog. How incredibly sad. |
#6
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dog related stuff
please keep it in the dog groups, thanks. pat |
#7
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"MauiJNP" wrote in
: I always wanted 2 dogs. In the future (sometime within the next 2 years) I plan to get a second poodle. My biggest concerns involve bonding. How does getting a second dog change the bond I have with Maui. Will it weaken it because of the divided attention? Will it strengthen it? Also, is it harder to bond with a second dog because they don't get your complete attention like the first one did? how do you encourage bonding between dogs so that they can be good buddies to each other? thanks for any insight or advice. I just got Queenie in January, after 3 years with just Zoe and me. It was important to me that Zoe enjoyed playing with whatever new dog came to live with us, and she and Queenie have a similar play style and commenced playing instantly. Queenie took some extra time to bond, not because she was the 2nd dog, but because she hadn't really bonded to humans before (although she likes everyone she sees). I was very worried that Zoe would get jealous or depressed at having to share me. And we have had our moments -- I have had to pay attention and make adjustments to increase our one-on-one time, for instance, or just make sure I'm giving the dogs equal time. Queenie can be a bit pushier so it's easy for the balance to wind up tipping to her side, affection-wise. But Zoe has loved having Queenie around so much. It didn't take long before she was looking at her with a totally loving expression. They love to play together and they keep each other company during the day. I now think two is the perfect number of dogs! And I say this in spite of some of the difficulties we had adjusting. Any big change on the home front can be difficult, and the dogs had a couple of seemingly serious squabbles, which scared the heck out of me and caused me to think "WHAT have I DONE???" But now we are all happy most of the time. -- Catherine & Zoe the cockerchow & Queenie the black gold retriever & Rosalie the calico |
#8
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MauiJNP wrote:
I always wanted 2 dogs. In the future (sometime within the next 2 years) I plan to get a second poodle. My biggest concerns involve bonding. How does getting a second dog change the bond I have with Maui. Will it weaken it because of the divided attention? Not in my experience. My two dogs are as different from each other as can be. I adore them each for their personalities. I will say this, however - although I love them both very much, I don't really feel the same way towards them. Will it strengthen it? Also, is it harder to bond with a second dog because they don't get your complete attention like the first one did? Not at all. You'll love your second dog, only differently from your first. how do you encourage bonding between dogs so that they can be good buddies to each other? thanks for any insight or advice. Dogs tend to have no problems bonding with each other as long as their personalities are complementary. Khan generally acts like he doesn't care at all for Pan, whereas she is much more open and demonstrative about how much she misses him. But, I've seen Khan go over and nuzzle her, or lick her wounds when she's been hurt. He is not a demonstrative dog, and that's probably as far as he's ever gone to show that he cares for another dog. Suja |
#9
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Female cats don't spray. I had one with a bladder defect who peed
everywhere. Hie thee with thine cat to the vet in the morning for a UTI check. They're cheap and easily treated. +++++++++++++ Reply to the list as I do not publish an email address to USENET. This practice has cut my spam by more than 95%. Of course, I did have to abandon a perfectly good email account... |
#10
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On Wed, 31 Aug 2005 02:07:21 GMT, Wooly wrote:
Female cats don't spray. I had one with a bladder defect who peed everywhere. Hie thee with thine cat to the vet in the morning for a UTI check. They're cheap and easily treated. Female cats most certainly do spray. It's not as common as with males, but it happens. Mustang Sally |
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