Benefits and disadvantages of more than one dog
Until 3 years ago, we had only ever had one dog at a time. Then, when our black Labrador Splash started to slow down and developed arthritis, we decided to get another dog so we could still enjoy longer walks and in the hope that having a new puppy would stimulate her.
In hindsight, we had left it too late. Morwenna was too much for Splash to cope with and although they settled down into a tolerant relationship they were never close.
We lost Splash last year at the age of 14 1/2 and decided that this time we would go for a second dog earlier, while Morwenna was still young enough to enjoy playing with her.
There is just over 2 years between Morwenna and Jenna and they have been great together from the start.
The things that worked well are:
Jenna has slept with Morwenna right from the start, initially in a penned off area, then the kitchen and now loose in the house. She settled straight from the start and has never cried or barked at night unless she had an upset tummy and needed to go out.
We were able to let her off the lead earlier because we knew she would follow Morwenna and not run off by herself.
Morwenna is quite protective of her and looks after her.
They have played together well from the start and during the bitey stage, it was Morwenna that Jenna bit in play rather than us.
Because they play so much together, they both get a lot of their exercise in our garden. Jenna has a tracker and despite having a good walk off the lead most days, over half of her exercise is playing with Morwenna at home. Ironically, in some ways having two dogs if you are less mobile can be easier than one because they are good company for each other and exercise each other.
Disadvantages of more than one dog
It took longer to to toilet train Jenna because when she went outside she just wanted to play with Morwenna and if she went out without Morwenna, they were both unhappy not being together.
Cost – insurance, vet fees, food, toys etc are pretty much double.
Kennel fees – if we want to go away without them, the kennel fees would be more expensive and if we wanted to rent somewhere to stay, a lot of places will only allow one dog.
I can’t imagine going back to just one now and I also can’t really imagine having more than two – for us, two is the perfect number. However, it is different for everyone and you need to decide for yourself whether you want more than one and if you do, how many and what you want the age gap to be.
I fell in love with Goldies as a teenager when I got to know a couple who had 17 of them.
Fabulous as it was going round to their house, going out for walks with them and going to shows, it was a lot of hard work and expense. They didn’t plan to have 17 – they started with one and it somehow grew from there – be aware – Goldies are very addictive.
Goldies on tour 