Another dog?

Question

I have two cats (indoor only) and one small (indoor/outdoor) dog. I have a huge fenced in back yard and I was considering getting a large dog (outdoor only) for protection and to keep my dog company while he's outside. My questions are:

1. Will getting a new dog affect my dog's personality?
2. Will one dog being allowed inside while the other isn't cause problems?

Answer 1

Dogs do get jealous of one another. I think if your going to have one be indoor outdoor, then the other should too. Depending on how well they get along, it could affect your dogs personality, it could begin to bond to the other dog and have less interest in people. If you are looking for a protection dog look for something very friendly most people think the more aggressive the more protective this is not the case at all, a friend of mine trains protection dogs and according to him the friendlier the better. Good Luck.

Answer 2

Tha answer to both questions is YES! If you bring a new animal into the house, an adjustment period is going to be necessary while the new dog learns what the rules are, and the old dog tries to figure out why the new one is there.
The old dog, will have some anxiety issues, adn priods of jealousy, while the new dog will not understand why the old one is allowed in the house and he isn't.
If you can't treat both dogs equally, then keep what you've got, and don't get the new dog. You'll only wind up with both of them upset.

Answer 3

Dogs don't really get "jealous"...but they do establish a pack order and can become very territorial. If the outside dog is never allowed in, then he may become very defensive of his outside space. It is important that you introduce the dogs to each other in a neutral environment and let them work out who will be the dominant dog. When they have established this order, it's important for you to respect it and reinforce it - it is in a pack animal's nature to try to raise his level in the pack if given an opportunity (such as a human 'messing' with their established rank order) and this can lead to aggression. Your dog's personality won't really change, but it will evolve to reflect having another animal to interact with. Once the dogs feel comfortable with the roles they settle into you should not have any problems. Good luck.

Answer 4

to answer your question it all depends on the dog. If you get a nice family pet chances r he will get used 2 things that way. But if your get a meaty 300lb dog who loves attention from it's owner it might not warm up to your dog at all. My suggestion is that you get a big but sweet dog like a Lab or golden.But u can't know for sure

Answer 5

Some dogs prefer the outdoors. Especially larger dogs. I have a siberian husky outside, and a rat terrier inside, my terrier HATES my out side dog, barks at her constantly, he feels threatened by her and thinks she is stealing his attention. A word of advice, make sure your little dog likes the bigger dog before you bring it home or you will have war everytime the little one goes outside.

Answer 6

HI

I just got a new puppy a few days ago. My dogs are somewhat affected by the new pup. Duchess, she sleeps with me, and she's the sweet dog that always craves my attention. Bingo is our protector but also likes to be affectionate. Duchess is a small dog, half dachshund. Bingo is a bigger dog, Terrier mix.

when we got the new puppy, duchess didnt like it when i picked her up. Duchess almost sounded like she was going to cry..and tried to jump up n bite her tail n legs. Today, I was outside petting the new pup and duchess was going to go outside until she saw me n the new pup, she turned around, n went upstairs n laid in her spot.

Bingo doesnt care much, he always looks at the new pup when I go outside to greet them, he kinda makes sure i greet him first

First off, ur dogs may have a jealousy thing going on, but, after a while, it fades away. It's always good to greet the alfa dog first and feed the alfa dog first (usually ur first dog).

Ur 2nd question. Bingo Stays outside, the new pup stays out with bingo in our garage area, duchess is the only one that can go in, because she's house trained. at first, bingo would get mad when duchess would be allowed inside. Then he'd forget about it. but, i think I overthought the idea of it, because, "poor bingo"..he used to be outside all by himself while duchess was in my room with the a/c on. But it's coool, dont over think it. I usually let Duchess outside during the day, but, at night, she stays inside.

Things wont be the same, but will change for the good. More dogs are better than one = ). You just have so much fun with more dogs, plus, ur 1 dog wont get bored by being by itself, ur other dog can play with him/her

Answer 7

its kind of not a good idea becuase once the old dog lived in your house for about 2 years it is only use to all the it kenw when it frist moved in here. So yean is might affect it. And is matters.