Serious Question About Adding a Doodle

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

You all are the experts here, and many of you have become good Doodle friends.

 

Penny the WonderDog will turn six in a couple of weeks (yikes!).  She's the joy of our lives. We both work from home and she's been around one of us almost constantly since Day One. 

 

I have often wondered in the past whether it would be good to add another doodle to the family, so that she has a companion.  Now, a doodle puppy has caught our attention (and a little bit of our hearts) and we've been talking about adopting her.

 

We go back and forth between giving Penny a doodle buddy, and worrying that it might change the wonderful dynamic that we have with Penny now.  Would we just be setting ourselves up for trouble by adding another dog?  We're not worried about the training, as we're both home all the time.  It's the "relationship" stuff that we're thinking about.

 

If you've added a doodle (especially a PUPPY), how has it worked for you?  Problems?  Challenges?  Are we just out of our minds for thinking of doing this?

 

I'll attach a picture of Penny (love that she is) and the puppy.

 

Love you guys,

Michele

[Lydia & Lacey Doodle]

Knowing you and Ron personally, I say got for it!  You both are great doodle parents and Penny would make the best big sister!  Your my doodle guru, you've helped me so much with Lacey.  I KNOW you'll do great with another one.

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

Awwww... you're so sweet.  Although you know if we get another one, you're going to have to bring Lacey to AZ for doodle playtime!

[Lydia & Lacey Doodle]

Absolutely! We are there :- )

[BG and Gavin]

Before reading any of the other responses, judging solely from your post, I would have to say that you are already a goner!  So when do you get her??

[Carole (*Koda*Monty*Bindi)]

I've been thinking the same thing all day! LOL  Let's hear the details on this darling girl! :)

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

LOL!  Am I that transparent?  I can't get her out of my mind.  But I do have to go over practicalities with DH.  It's very important that he's OK with it.  We'll see...

[Ginny Nightingale]

Wow--she is cute--looks like my Mattie--which was also "love at first sight"--I was able to take her home the day I met her! (at 7 months old) I, too, was very concerned about adding a second dog, especially when I met Lyric, the doodle my breeder wanted me to have. She was bigger than I expected and i wasn't sure it would work--well, it has been wonderful and, if you have been following my blog at all, you might know that she has had 5 pups--now four weeks old. So...it has been a wonderful adventure having two dogs--they are with me all the time, now that I am retired, but are together too--they romp in the yard, but come in and sleep in different places near me--in other words, they aren't inseparable, but good buddies--when Lyric was confined in the whelping room for two weeks and only saw Mattie when she went out--Mattie wasn't moping at all, but she sure was glad when her good friend came back! So, I say go for it--it will be more wonderufl than you imagined--it's been so great for me that, for the first time in my life, i now have three dogs (I am keeping one of the pups!)

It does take a bit of time to get everything settled between them--expect an adjustment period! But you will be so glad you did it--I promise!

 

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

Such good stories, and great truth about the adjustment period.  We'll see.....  :-)   Thanks for your input!

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Oh Michele, this is a big choice and I certainly hope I can shed some light on this subject for you. We just got our Bella in Oct.at 10 weeks old and our Murphy was almost 2 at the time. We were very happy with the life we had with our little guy Murphy and he went everywhere with us, traveled easily, trained easily, is just a patient little sweet fellow that loves his people. We thought about a second not only for him, but because we just love doodles, have a great house and yard for another, knew another would bring even more doodle joy to our home and we just love the way Murphy plays with all other dogs so well. 

We had just resolved to the idea that one really was enough and we were good with our little family when the opportunity presented itself to adopt this precious sweet little girl puppy. I left the decision up to DH as he is home more than I am, he didn't hesitate and we got Bella a month later. It was really rough at first but the usual puppy stuff you;d expect after not having a puppy for awhile. And I did question what have I done, as it seemed all my time was dealing with Bella and I felt that i had no time for Murphy. I was sad for him and missed my one on one time with him. But that has gotten much better as I no longer have to have my eye on her every second now that she is 6 months old.

We still take him out alone with one of us and the other stays home with Bella so we can have our same alone time with Murphy. She doesn't really know alone time, so we don't feel she needs it so much. It's almost like two different relationships with them. Murphy is always going to be our boy and special in his own way as will Bella be our sweet little girl and special in her own way.

As for the two of them. It was a slow go at first, he seemed to be waiting for her to leave any day. He was ok, standoffish and would play when she initiated it, but other wise really just stuck with us.  It took a few weeks and he got more involved with her and played more. Now that we've had her for 3 months and she has grown from about 19 pds to 50pds she is much more of a match for his 66 pds so their play is much more frequent, intense and fun for them.

They are very individual dogs and are very good buddies now. Murphy is a bit jealous of her getting attention and will usually come between us, but he does that with DH and I when we kiss and hug too, so nothing new there. His life is fuller and so is ours. I think two is great, but if I couldn't afford the time or upkeep of a second we would've been fine with the one as well.

So given the choice of having time and funds for a second, it's a matter of how important is it for you to share that time and funds with a second dog.  As for Penny, she has always gotten along with other dogs, so it would be strange for her to not get along with this little pup. And I feel it can only enhance their lives just like it will enhance yours. YOu are well aware of what it will take to have another, as I was and you will still probably question why you did this in the beginning, but know that it might be something you could regret not doing if you don't at least try. Chances are most likely it will work out wonderfully. Good luck with your decision. And one last thing, Ask yourself how you would honestly have felt if some of us had advised you to NOT get another. That is your answer.

 

[Sue, Murphy and Bella ()*o*()]

Oh gosh, sorry so long!! How embarrasing.

[Michele, Biscuit & Mo]

Oh my gosh, Sue - not too long at all!  What a wonderful and generous reply.  You were so honest and balanced in your remarks, and you wrote from the heart, which means a great deal to me.  I feel that there will be an adjustment period for all of us if we do this, but in my heart of hearts (and mind) I somehow know it would work out great.  My business travel has slowed down to almost nothing, so now would be a good time to do it.  I'll keep you posted! 

 

Again, a giant THANK YOU for the doodle love and advice.  :-)

[Jersey, Jasmine, Jypsy and Diane]

When I got Jersey at 8 weeks old, I already had a  9 yr old yellow lab, my German shorthaired pointer had recently died. She fit like a glove in the family. We loved her so much, we decided to get another, Jasmine from the same breeder. All got along wonderfully. This last May our lab, Jessie went to the Bridge and it's just the two "Jersey Girls" now. We take them on vacation with us, they are devoted to both of us and each other. One happy doodle family. I didn't worry about adding another dog as I have always had at least two dogs since I got married, almost 42 years ago, sometimes as many as 4 at once. Go for it, Michele! Can't wait to hear your decision. Both dogs are adorable!