rescue dog

popppy

Hi There,
I am thinking of getting a second dog, I have a labx boy who's 4 yrs old...... he loves to be around other dogs and I thought aswell as company for him it would be great to give a good home to a rescue dog....... my question is... should I go for a bitch rather than a male ? My guy has had the chop so to speak if that makes any odds. Any advice would be appreciated

Glowing

Oooohhh! You have to get a Greyhound! There are hundreds of them in shelters around Ireland, and they make fantastic, affectionate and intelligent pets. (Don't need a lot of excercise either)

Normally, you're much better off mixing male and female, then you don't get dominance problems.

Irish-Lass

people always say you should never have 2 of the same sex dogs in the one house. But we have 2 females, we had 1 then actively looked for a 2nd dog we tried her with a few males but none of them could cope with her after 5 minutes.

One of my friends also has 2 bitches together and another has 3. The answer would be if you are going looking at dogs I would bring your dog to see who he gets on with. We brought our Jess with us when looking and I think it was her who picked Sheba rather then the other way around.

go to www.irishanimals.ie and click on dogs and see if there is a rescue near you, there are 100's of animals seeking homes all over Ireland.....happy hunting

fits

Generally its a good idea to get a different sex to your current dog, but every dog is an individual.
I have two dogs and they get on really well.

anniehoo

I agree with Glowing...greyhound all the way!!!

Dr.Bunson

Your 4 year old has already established itself in your house as the pack leader (most likely it thinks it is the pack leader over the humans too). I would suggest you get a female pup (not older than a year). If you bring an older dog or a male into the house there may be domanancy issues (ie fights). It happened to me, blood a hair everywhere it wasn't pleasant, we had to give the second dog away.

A female pup will most likely look up to the male for guidance and leadership.

I would suggest that you get a similar breed, or at least a "friendly" breed, not a terrier, or traditional fighting dog.

And it goes without saying that you should get the dog from the pound (Ashtown 01-8383236).

Best of luck with your decision.

Glowing

http://www.greyhound-data.com/adoption.htm?id=326&filter_sex=&x=

fits

Dr.Bunson wrote:

Your 4 year old has already established itself in your house as the pack leader (most likely it thinks it is the pack leader over the humans too). I would suggest you get a female pup (not older than a year). If you bring an older dog or a male into the house there may be domanancy issues (ie fights). It happened to me, blood a hair everywhere it wasn't pleasant, we had to give the second dog away.

A female pup will most likely look up to the male for guidance and leadership.

I would suggest that you get a similar breed, or at least a "friendly" breed, not a terrier, or traditional fighting dog.

And it goes without saying that you should get the dog from the pound (Ashtown 01-8383236).

Best of luck with your decision.

This is not necessarily going to happen in every case though. And if the OP wants a dog with an evaluated temperament, it may be easier to get one from a good rescue. I introduced an unneutered large older male to my own neutered male with no problems whatsoever, they never even had a row, just growled at each other a couple of times.

popppy

Thank you all for your advice........ I just checked out the link for the greyhounds Glowing......... there are some beauts on there. My only problem with a greyhound is not being allowed to let them off the lead.... my guy loves a run on the beach and can be hard to keep him out of the water (even in the dead of winter !!)
I like the idea of bringing Marley along to the animal shelter irishlass,would be good to see who he gets on with ! they are cool with this ?
There is alot to think about and I just don't want to make a mistake
Cheers everyone

fits

I leave my lurchers off the lead on the beach and where there arent too many people around.
That said one of them broke his leg when a deer crossed our path and he gave chase recently.
One of them has excellent recall, the other has very good recall 90% of the time, and when he does go, he always comes back within 15 minutes (I live in the country away from sheep and roads).
I'd hate to have to keep them on the lead all of the time, but I would be very wary around roads.

Glowing

I see your point Popppy. Your greyhound however would be 'cat' tested to see how strong his chase instincts are, and you could choose from the more lazy ones! With a bit of training, and patience I'm sure you could get him to the stage where you can let him off in a quiet area .... just if thats the *only* reason you wouldn't rescue one, it would be an awful shame!

SuzyS1972

Check out www.dogsaid.ie

we have lots of suitable dogs that are temperament assessed , neutered and microchipped
You can bring along your own dog to meet on neutral ground and see how it goes.

Every dog is different and I don't go along with the whole pack leader stuff anyway.

Little tip though - always allow dogs to meet in a local park or green etc as opposed to bringing a new dog directly into your home just incase there are terratorial issues !