Am I crazy? 2nd dog??

[April S.]

So I think have dog fever or something.   I really want another dog - not necessarily another doodle but my Luna LOVES other dogs and it upsets her when my 2 cats don't want to play with her - she certainly tries though!!  She goes over the moon with joy when we tell her she's going to daycare - so i wonder if she's lonely for other dogs- if she had another dog to play with maybe I wouldn't need to send her to daycare to be social with other dogs.  We don't really have family or friends where we live so daycare is about the only social thing she does.  I work from home so I have the means to be with a new dog and monitor the progress of friendship between Luna and a new dog.  Are goldendoodles more prone to like other dogs in their breed - like poodles and golden retrievers ?  Her best friends at daycare are another goldendoodle, a huge black labradoodle and she made friends with a great dane the size of my car (okay, maybe not that big, but just.. WOW huge).  

I found a 3 year english bulldog from a local shelter here - so ugly he's cute! They said he's very friendly and loves other dogs.  My hubby was all for it - and then asked the people at daycare yesterday if they had any bulldogs there and what they thought of them.  They scared the crap out of him by saying that a 3 year old dog couldn't be trusted and maybe it was used for fighting and would kill the cats and might be dominant over Luna - so we should get a puppy if we decide to get another one.  I've seen lots of successful shelter/rescue adoptions - I think this is just bad advice from the daycare?  We don't have any kids - have a huge house and yard - money wouldn't be an issue taking care of another dog.   I just don't want make Luna's life bad by bringing in another dog that I had the best of intentions of making her life better.  Am I being irrational?  Sorry this is long - I'm just so confused. 

[Marie and Hoka]

We have always had multiple dogs..I do definitely feel it helps with socialization, exercise and loneliness.  I think dogs are pack animals and happier with friends.

We had trouble finding an adult shelter dog that Torrey, our husky-mix, could accept, which is how we got our first Doodle pup, Tinker, who recently passed away.

Most adult dogs will accept a puppy more easily. I have found personally that girl dogs get along with boy dogs best as well. 

That said, we brought home our little Moxie at about 2-3 years old from a shelter and she fit in with the other 2 from day one. She was house-broken, healthy, very little shed. Finding the right adult shelter pup can be a challenge, but when you find the right one it is so easy.

Now we were down to only Moxie and just added our puppy Hoka.  They are getting along perfectly and play all day.  She is teaching him manners, just as our adult dogs have always done when we bring a puppy home.

[April S.]

Thanks so much everyone!!!   We decided that we do want another dog  and probably a puppy.  One of the local rescues was at Petco on Friday and we met a super sweet boxer mix puppy - but she already had a 10 person deep waiting list.   The more I think about it - the more I kind of want another doodle.  I just inquired about a beautiful tri-color "sproodle?" (springer/poodle)- I am waiting to hear back!  Having 2 doodles seems like the best way to go.

I really did want to get a shelter dog or a rescue...it seems any puppy that comes into a rescue or shelter that is not a chihuahua or pitbull finds a new home immediately.   There are so many homeless pitbull or pitbull mix around here - I'm not sure why.    Our homeowners insurance is breed restrictive - 4 breeds actually and pitbull is the top of that list.  I know they have their reasons - whether they are right or not- I've met some amazingly sweet pits.