Your thoughts on lone dog happiness

Hi we have Milo who is now a little over a year, as well as many other rescue pets, chickens, hamster, rabbit and guinea pigs. I am certain he is happy within our family consisting of me DH and children aged 8, 5 and 3 1/2. They are all fab together and he has certainly enhanced our life and he fits in great to our family out of doors antics. We have previously had another rescue staff and a JRT in our married life and I have always grown up with paired up dogs. I have been considering for a while about a companion for Milo as he is submissive but a really good player, he is so playful and friendly but respectful when others don't want to play. He is our ideal dog (apart from the shedding and dog smell >>>> can't do much about that lol!!).

There are lots of reasons to and lots of reasons not to but a walker who had 3 JRT's who he was playing with said he'd love a companion and it put the idea back in my mind again. I love staffs. but DH is not keen on having 2 which I get although Milo's personality is just like our old boy who was also a gem. The Q is is another dog necessary? I think the answer is probably not but it would be 'nice' !! I would prob. want a smaller dog as before and would also want to rescue, but only a very young dog due the childrens' ages and having had a bad experience rehoming a 18 month old staff before.

What are your thoughts on getting another should we just let him be and lavish all our tlc on him?

Tough question.

I've had two dogs together (and three once) before & it's great, but an awful lot of hard work - exercise, training etc. Mine were 'working' dogs though - Border Collies, BSDs, GSDs with obedience work - and took a lot of training every day.

My staff was da so I never got a playmate for him & my EBT is very dominant so I've not really considered getting another one (although I've just been offered a white bitch pup - doubt I'll take it though).

I don't think dog's need a companion, but they generally do like one. So, it's really down to your preference & circumstances. Do you have time to raise & train two dogs?

I guess there are many issues to consider. Do you have the room for another dog, will your finances cover it both now and if something should happen to your income, do you have the neccessary time to possibly train another dog and the current dog to accept it.

In the end it is only you who can decide on the answers to the questions. Given all the circumstances being perfectly in place my hubby and I would have no hesitation in rehoming another dog. It would most likely be a rescue and would have to accept Rocky first.

We like to think that we have given him a loving, stable home and he has enriched our lives beyond belief.

Please take the time to consider everything before making the decision. Good luck.

He may love a friend. If you do get another its best to get a girl. I personally am in two minds as to if my dog would enjoy a companian. He's very people orrientated and is content when he can be with people. Also if I make a fuss of another dog in the park he gets very jealous and chases them away. He lived with a rottweiler x we fostered for 9 months from when he was a small puppy to coming into adulthood. The rottweiler was very dominating and bullied him, he was so much happier when he was gone. I think he likes being 'boss' of the house. When we looked after a neighbours female collie for a couple of days (she was moving) he was completely obbsessed with her and kept trying to mount her, even though she's been spayed and he's only useally like this with unspayed females. It was very tiresome and I actually felt jealous as he ignored me and just followed the collie around. It was like I lost my dog to another lol.
I still think if i found the right match in personality he would enjoy some canine company, he gets on great with our cat.
A lot of staffies don't like other dogs and are happier by themselves.

we have always had one dog and to us that was fine but then we got Lemmy and he seemed to want constant attention unless he was a sleep. He loves to play and seemed to us like he needed another dog to play with cos he was happiest when playing so we got Lottie. They get on great and are always playing together. Some dogs seem to be happy on their own some seem to need that extra doggy attention. We coudl make a lone dog happy but they are happy playing with other dogs. If you have the space and the time to watch 2 dogs and work with them and are willing to put up with every thing that comes with 2 dogs remember it is twice the mess then go for it. If your little dog is happy enough on his own then don't rock the boat as they say. If you have doggy friends that you can play with on a regular basis then that should be enough. Rescuing Lottie was the right thing to do for us and they are both happy.

Only you no your dog. Personally i am in the mind that staffords as a breed love humans and as long as they are loved and get plenty on interaction from i really dont think they care about being a only dog. Ty my eldest would without doubt much prefere to be on his own i have no doubt in my mind about that......kaos i dont think would care either way......

I can't decide what's best. When Violet is at the park and there's another dog who's allowed to play rough with her, she seems so happy. But then, she's such a wee sook of a dog, and there's only room for one dog on my knee!

I think it's like when people say that 'an only child is a lonely child' but I'm an only child and it doesn't bother me!

I think it all depends on the dog and the situation. Most are fine by themselves if there is a person around most of the time but they wouldn't mind a second dog either

I think it's like when people say that 'an only child is a lonely child' but I'm an only child and it doesn't bother me

That's so untrue. I was an only child till the age of seven and I loved it. When my sister came along and then my brother when I was fifteen (!) my quality of life definately deterioted.

lol Jade my 7 year old brother didn't come home for 2 weeks after I was born!! My other big brother was 9 and couldn't care less!

I know it's a big decision and it's only one which we can take. In an ideal world it's a yes, but just now our world isn't ideal and the time is not right but from Milo's point of view I think it would be a win win situation with another playful playmate. We have recently lost one of our regular play dates for him as she friend has been rehomed due to the owners' child being allergic to her

He is happy I know but I feel he'd benefit from a pal. thanks all x

lol Jade my 7 year old brother didn't come home for 2 weeks after I was born!! My other big brother was 9 and couldn't care less

Oh dear I wasn't that extreme!
You could buy him a cat? That's what I did for my dog.

Terrible isn't it he's 40 this year and I'm still not sure he's got over me coming along ;0)

A big fat NO re cats! I like cats but they eat all the birds! Our cat and 2 JRT's growing up were best friends and the cat loved playing crazillt zipping about with them. She'd suddenly appear out of nowhere and join us on walks. When she was a kitten and we brought her home our bitch used to carry her about thinking she was 'hers'. Very sweet indeed.

Have you thought of contacting a rescue centre to see if you can foster a dog for a while. It may a way of coming to a decision about how your dog will react to another and how another dog would fit in to your homelife.

thanks Kathy I really like this idea but it's not something we would consider with such young children unless the dogs were very young themselves. We took on another Staff before entire male 18 months (we had lost jrt but had our other gentleman staff. who was 10 at the time). He was not walked or cared for properly he was basically neglected and devoid of love and had abnormal life. We took him on, had him neutered etc and put alot of work into training him but he was really screwed up and he landed up biting my husband badly after 4 weeks. We had experience of him growling at me in the weks leading up to this so kind of had warning but the alarm bells didn't ring loud enough as we were really keen to help him and give him a kind, loving and stable home. I know this is unlikely to happen again but it is possible and like I say with 3 young children it's not something we would consider tbh. This is why we won't consider rescuing a dog other than a very yoing one like Milo. x

It really depends. My dogs were 6 and 7 when i got Lexi so she grew up with them. She didn't much like my bitch but was inseparable from my dog. They both lived together their whole lives and sadly died within a week of each other last year. Lexi has been on her own since then and she is a little more subdued because she doesn't have a play thang and she was always more interested in playing with my dog (taking his ball or tug) than she was with me, but i have found that she plays with me more now he is gone. I can't get another dog because she can be DA and if i did think about getting one it would have to be a dog that i would be able to take back to the owner (im guessing a rescue wouldn't let me try a dog with a possible DA dog! lol) either that or i get a puppy and hope she likes him and gets used to him from a pup. If she didnt i would just keep them separate. Shes 9 now though so shes set in her ways a bit,im not sure change would do her good. She seems happy enough, but if im honest she was happier with my dog.

thanks Hayley, yes it's a toughy knowing what's right as there are no certainties that any dogs will get along even if we were to go get a puppy (that is something we just would not do - go buy a puppy). If I'm being honest I'd go looking for a youngster tomorrow for Milo but dh feels we just don't need another dog. I say to him 'we don't need another dog but it would be nice!' I need to work on him!