Adding a new Member to your Pack
If or when we contemplate adding a member to our family pack, I’m sure we all think about size, age, sex, type and if our budgets can cope with the addition. I know, though, that there are several other more subtle things most of us don’t think about that can affect the happiness of of our pack, both old members and new.
We need to first think about any behavior or personality quirks our current pack members may have.
For example, my oldest Chessie does not like one piece of her fur touched by another dog although people can pet her all they want and she will come back for more. In almost 9 years, I have not been able to convince her that a little dog touching won’t kill her. This means I would need to find an addition who is very respectful if I want everything to proceed in a harmonious manner. Fortunately, I found one, my young Akita X rescue. He is willing to take all of his cues from the older Chessie. They have become good friends and made for a harmonious household. This all changed when I brought an 8 week old Chessie female pup into the household. The older girl had no use for her from the beginning and still doesn’t. Being Chessies, I don’t know if this will ever change but the Akita X is very good friends with the pup so both Chessie girls have a playmate and I have a very tired Akita X at the end of the day. This works for me because I rather live and breath dogs, but it wouldn’t work well for many people.
Another thing many people don’t think about is the job the new pack member will have. The happiest dogs are dogs with jobs. My oldest Chessie has been my obedience demonstration dog when I teach classes as well as a Velcro companion.. She has a physical condition that now makes the obedience part hard for her. When I got the Chessie pup, she should have had time to mature into the role, but things have changed and the pup still needs at least another year to enjoy helping me with obedience. Now, I am without a reliable demonstration dog. (The Akita X thinks being an obedient dog is a very good thing, but doing obedience for the sake of doing it is quite foolish.)
For my situation, I can handle one more dog, but it has to be the right dog. This means I need an adult dog who enjoys obedience, who knows how to be respectful yet will not have trouble telling an upstart pup when to back off in a non-confrontational manner, who gets along well with other dogs and who thinks I am quite an alright person. It sounds like I am looking for the perfect dog. I don’t expect to find all of these things already in place. I expect to do a lot of training to get there. What I am looking for is the dog that has this potential. The training will create the bond that lasts a lifetime.
I hope you get the idea from my illustrations. Each of us has a unique lifestyle and a unique pack. We need to evaluate our own situation and make the choices that work like the little Bichon who is hard at work sitting on her owner’s lap.
Very informative post. As one who lives and breathes dogs, you have approached the task of adding a dog to the family with great care. It is unfortunate that many people do not take a little extra time to study how changes in the “family” might effect the others. I always suggest to do as much studying about the breed of dog(s) you already have and other breeds that are being considered as additions. While the owner already “knows” their own dog, sometimes a little extra article searching reveals something that will bring extra light as to how the dog will relate to others.
Great Advice, So many people will have more than one dog for the entirely wrong reasons and end up getting rid of one or both. If they would just ask themselve some questions before hand everyone would be better off.
Enjoying your posts and hope to share some of them with my readers at http://www.thedogtrainingfiles.com .
Regards
Terry