When is the time to adopt another dog?

moptop · Master

When is the time to adopt another dog?

Gail · Big Cheese

Hi Marian,

Welcome to the forum, Jack is absolutely gorgeous, I love to see everyones pics of their hounds especially the lighter coloured ones as i tend to be drawn to the black's myself because there always semms to be so many of them needing homes.

I adopted neo earlier this year and his character is still coming out even now! Lots of people will have different opinions of when the right time is but i think you just know when you start to feel used to the size of one grey in the house and you understand their clumsiness. It's a hard one to decide but i feel that although grey's will be happy on their own they certainly enjoy the company of other dogs. I did try Neo with another male and that did not work out well and in fact if you decide to adopt a GAL dog Dave will tell you that a female is the best option (i'm sure Dave will correct me if i'm wrong). Neo has since lived with a female for a few weeks and that was a much better pairing for him.

Good luck with whatever you decide and keep us posted with plenty of pics!!

Anyanka · Master

At the racing kennel where my daughter jobs, they only ever put males in with females - they'll have two females together, but never two males. Probably with good reason...

As far as the best time goes - I wish I'd got a second dog earlier! We had Bonnie on her own for over 5 years, and as she was orphaned at 2 weeks old she relates better to people than dogs anyway. While she tolerates new girl Piper, and recently even started to lie down near her now and then, she does not play with her (yet), in spite of Piper's many efforts to initiate games! It's as if Bonnie has not learned to understand dog's body language properly.

Ultimately, though, as Gail says - follow your instinct. In our case, Piper just sort of 'came up', and it just feels as if it was meant to be.

max · Enlightened One

I guess it is just intuition when you think it is the right time and a lot is based on the age, sex and temperament of the other dog, so more a case of finding the right dog than time. I would also like to welcome you to the forum and say what an absolutely gorgeous dog you have, Jack is so handsome. Hope to meet you Jack and possibly another dog some day soon.

Nora

Sunny girl · Master

we got our first Greyhound Sunny last September and like you I was soon totally smitten and nagging my other half for a second one, he wasn't keen at first, but he soon agreed to try fostering. I fostered our first dog at christmas and she was perfect, a real little sweetie but Sunny became quite withdrawn and although they never growled or fought they did not bond at all. She soon went off to her forever home and again I was nagging for dog number two, it was only once Lady had gone that we realised how much we missed having two dogs and that we did have the space for another.

Anyway where I am going with this is we continued to foster in the hope the right dog would come along and in April Zoe came to us as a foster dog and after just three days we knew she was staying, the whole family was totally smitten with her including Sunny. Zoe has taught Sunny how to play and has improved Sunnys recall. We can honestly say we have found having two dogs just as easy as having one. But I agree with everyone else its about finding the right dog for Jack.

Hope to hear about dog number two soon.

Landess Sunny and Zoe

glendy · Master

Hi Marian

Re mixing males and females - Gail is right. GAL would almost always advise pairing a male with a female. There are exceptions depending on the history and temperaments of the dogs but in general a male / female pair will get along better. Pairing 2 males can happen but pairing 2 females is far less likely.

Teresa · Enlightened One

When is the time to adopt another greyhound?

NOW !!!

Dave · Enlightened One

Hi Marian, regards when the best time is, usual advice GAL give to folks looking to adopt 2 dogs right away is to get their first one then wait 6 - 8 weeks, see how he or she has settled then tak a decision then, I feel this is probably the right amount of time.

Regards the male female thing, just to reiterate what folks have previously said, we'd defo recommend a female companion for Jack

FAJ · Enlightened One

Steve and I swithered and swithered when it came to getting our second dog (I'm sure Dave would tell you all about our mitherings if he weren't so polite and discreet!!). We knew we wanted another one but it seemed that the longer we had just Pearly, the more worried we became about upsetting our cosy routine. As it turned out, after about 11 months of having just the wee princess, Dave ended up approaching us about a dog he thought would suit us. That was Harry, it was love at first sight, and the rest is history.

One thing I would say is don't panic if you get a second dog and you find that your newby and Jack aren't instant buddies. For the first wee while after we got Harry we worried that we'd ruined Pearly's life! You have to let them find their feet together and gradually get to know each other. Our two aren't natural bedfellows and they rarely play together because Harry is rough and Pearly is prissy! But we know for a fact that they both enjoy having each other as company and Harry has certainly given Pearly confidence. They muddle along together nicely and we wouldn't be without them.

emma · Guru

Hi Marian,

Jack is gorg but you know that already! He is sooo beautiful.

I note from your posting that he has lived with alot of other greys in the past, this is good it probably means he is fairly easy going. In the racing kennels dogs are usually kennelled in pairs and I think it is nice for them to have a greyhound pal to play with and do doggy stuff with.

I know that most people would recommend that you get a female and that is probably the safest route to take.I have heard that males together can and do sometimes fight and females together are worse and could fight to the death.

I myself am aware that larger male dogs are the most difficult to home and have therefore always adopted males. My first two Charlie and Tiger got on well. We had Charlie first and told the kennels that we would take another but it had to be a docile male. When we bought Tiger home they had a few scuffles (like two kangaroos on one occasion with fur flying!) but soon decided that Char was in charge. Once this was established we reinforced this by brushing him first etc to stop any further disagreements. When Charlie died in September we adopted Chad. He and Tiger were so funny together (no one wanted to be top dog at first and there was just the occasional growl but no fighting this time!) We decided that Tiger should be and fed and brushed him first etc. Once Chad had settled in, if he ran out into the garden and found Tiger was not behind him he would go back in and whittle at him to come out.Even when Tiger was really sick if Chad told him to come out he would! I am in no doubt that both pairs worked. The sad thing is when a dog has had a doggie friend and that friend dies they get very upset and look for them. It can be very upsetting to watch them pining for their pal.It does help you though in the long run to survive the loss of a much loved dog. I have found the losses easier to take with another hound to keep me company.I am waiting to move house at the moment but once I have and I get settled I will get a pal for our Chad.

I wish you every success with introducing a friend to Jack and hope you do what is best for you and him in the long run. I have found that two dogs are no more bother than one (except you must be prepared to hold two when you go for a walk. (This can prove tricky with poo bags and other dogs but I think you gain confidence as you get to know your dogs and how they will react) and it is easier to leave them for a couple of hours if they have another dog there. Alone they can cry alot.

Best wishes to you and Jack

Em and Chad xx

JENNY · Big Cheese

I think most people just know when it is the right time. I went with my heart when I got a pal for Ziggy. Dave almost had kittens when I told him

as I did everything possible he wouldn't recommend ie getting a male companion for a male dog and also getting a dog I knew very little about. And all within a very short time of getting Ziggy.
Thankfully it all worked out dandy with a bit of dedication

moptop · Master

Thanks everyone for your advice. You all seem to be singing from the same hymn sheet as it were! -- female probably best and I'll know when the time is right. Fostering may well be the best route to go down when the time is right.

There were a lot of good points I could relate too, like when Gail mentioned when I am used to the size and clumsiness! I thought he was so huge at first and now he is begining to become smaller to me! As for clumsiness, well, knocking into things is the norm! It does take a bit of getting used to, at first you can't imagine having two of them bumping into things. ! He also frequently steps on the cats, luckily, they don't take umbrage.

Anyway folks, thanks for all your help. Look forward to being at some of your Gal events in the future.

Cheers, Marian.