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Question for Households with Multiple Dogs

Oscar is not the only dog in the house but for all intents and purposes, he thinks he’s the only dog in the house. Rita doesn’t play. It’s not her fault . . she can’t see and Oscar is like a bull in a China closet . . full speed ahead 100% of the time. Nothing gets in his way – not furniture, walls or little Rita. So, sometimes when we’re walking both of them, Rita is aware that he’s near but she knows we keep him far enough away that he can’t reach her. He’s never tried to be aggressive with her, he just wants to play.

Boots likes to watch Oscar from a distance. Boots can get up on the back of the sofa and watch Oscar but when he wants to get back to the sewing room, he doesn’t want any encounters with Oscar at all. Boots is fast and Oscar would love to play with him but that isn’t going to happen.

Our vet teach wondered out loud if Oscar wouldn’t benefit from a playmate. Good idea or bad idea? I see pros and cons. Oscar isn’t aggressive with animals but he’s rough. We’d have to be careful and under close supervision til a puppy is older. Double the trouble! Double the cost of vet bills and food. If I thought it would be good for Oscar AND good for the other pup, I’d do it. But, if I do it and it doesn’t work out so well, life could be difficult.

Thoughts please??

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  1. When we got our Irish Setter 2 years ago, she was the first “big” dog we had had. She was good, but she was a wild child to say the least. In December she was 15 months or so we got a German Shepherd Dog. That was an answer to a prayer. She did calm down, she had someone to play with. They can both run for hours at a time if we let them (been too hot this summer). Since then we have added a German Shorthaired Pointer into the mix. All three of them run, have fun, chase each other. I think it was a good thing. Yes vet bills can be a bit, but we use mobile vets for most of their annual care, They don’t charge for office visits, so getting annual shots are only about 50-60 per pet, then heart worm preventive. only go to our regular vet when needed. Since there is no grooming needed that is a big plus. Dog food isn’t that bad, for the 3 of them, I spend about 75.00 a month, and their barkbox but that is about it.

    • I got a male and female puppy together. Best decision ever. They kept each other entertained. I added another male dog, and the 2 males constantly got irritated with each other. They were all fixed. They tolerated each other in small amounts. If you add another dog, I suggest a female.

      • Really? I would have gotten another male because that’s all I’ve ever had except for Rita. I think you’re right – a female would probably be a better choice. Thanks.

        • We have a male long haired mini dauschund and we got a female from another litter. There was a period of about a day or so until they got acquainted and they are now best friends. We got them fixed and they sleep together, play together and run around together. Best decision ever.

    • No. I probably wouldn’t do that. I would get way too attached, plus I would only want a small dog. If I could foster a dachshund that I might could keep, I would maybe do that.

  4. You might consider doggie daycare or a pet park before you commit. Or find a friend with a dog and see if they will play. We got a English Setter male 6 months after we got our female English Setter. They played a bit a first but she was always much more the wild child than he was. She would be running in circles and bouncing off walls while he laid there and slept. They would run in the snow or sleep on the couch at the same time but I would never call it a shared activity. He passed at 12 and we had her 4 more years and she always was a bit of a spaz. She had a tendency to hear things the other one didn’t and startle. While we are pretty sure she had some form of doggie dementia, the last couple of years she would pace and pace for no apparent reason. She was just a different dog.

    • Our neighbor has a one year old dog that’s as crazy as Oscar is. She describes him as “having NO manners”. She said she will bring him over to play with Oscar sometime so we’ll see how that goes.

  5. Highly recommend Mayme’s idea about fostering. It gives you a good idea as to whether the dog is a good fit for your home (and your home for him), and with Rita & the cat there in addition to Oscar it’s a lot to handle. The right dog would be perfect for Oscar – he needs a buddy he can play with & run off excess energy. The additional dog would probably make life a bit easier for you both once everyone gets acclimated. I’d take Oscar with you when you find a likely candidate to see how they react to each other first, though. That’s how Viking joined our family – he was a foster in a cast after surgery, so it involved physical therapy for him, return visits to the vet, but we all fell in love with him. He’d been hit by a car & wasn’t found till 2 weeks later – the surgeon said had it been one more day the leg would have been amputated. He is the most loving dog – and good heavens that dog can RUN! He has a huge joy for life, and he LOVES his home.

  6. I had 4 doxies forever but during Covid I lost 2 due to old age. They keep each company and really seem to like having a friend. I think it’s a great idea. Mine were all girls. Hugs,

    • Thanks! I do believe he needs a friend. Like someone else said, he thinks I’m his best friend, which means he wants me to play with him non-stop and I have so many other things to do. I love playing with him but I have other things I love doing too.

  7. Have you considered going to a dog park or a doggie day care to see how he interacts with other dogs?

    • There’s been too many dogs that have gotten sick from the dog park and doggie day care. Not doing that.

  8. we are in the same position. We have a 10 month old female tri corgi who is a fireball. we love her to pieces but she thinks I’m her sibling. She’s been in training and does well but she is so bored!!!! she wants to run like the wind and rumble with anything but a box turtle.
    Fortunately, she is not a chewer and she would love to wrestle with our 12 year old Siamese. Not happening. So we enrolled her in doggie day care, which she enjoyed and made friends with all the other dogs, but got two rather expensive viruses back to back rather quickly. Our vet says the safest playmate is a sibling. But the cost and the vet bills and the grooming. And what about jealousy???? Thoughts?

    • That’s exactly why I don’t take Oscar to day care or the dog park. I have several friends who have had the same experiences you had with sick dogs. Not everyone vaccinates their dogs.

      I’m not too concerned about jealousy. I would stay with them when they’re together until the puppy is closer to Oscar’s size. Since both would be dachshunds, and they will usually stand up for themselves, I’m not worried. I think by the time I would leave them together, I would be fairly certain they will be ok together. Oscar isn’t mean to other dogs but I do worry about him having his special bone and the other one get too close. He’s pretty protective.

      Chad and Nicole had their Husky for years and years and then got a Corgi puppy and the Husky seemed more afraid of the Corgi than the Corgi was of the Husky.

      My biggest concern is that I will keep the puppy off the carpet til I’m 100% sure he’s not going to have accidents. That means blocking off part of the family room again. As it is now, Oscar has the run of the downstairs and I’m not sure how he would like being confined to just the living room because the puppy would be in the hallway/sitting area. Puppies take so much time . . every time Oscar looked at me, I took him outside and we walked and walked til he remembered what he was outside to do. That means I’d be spending more time with the puppy than with Oscar and I would feel bad about that.

      I don’t know that we’ll get a puppy. I this my biggest concern is that I’m so attached to Oscar and I don’t really know that I’m ready to share my time with another dog. I wish I could come across a dachshund that’s about Oscar’s age and already house broken. I do not want to go through the chewing EVERYTHING stage again.

  9. We have doggie day care once a week. Ours requires proof of vaccination, including Bordetella and Dog Flu. We have never had a problem with illness. She loves it and comes home so tired she can hardly stay awake to eat. It takes her all of the next day to recover! So I get a bonus day of not being her playmate.

  11. Have you considered looking at a dachshund or other small dog rescue. You might be able to get one close to Oscar’s age who lost its owner. The older dog would be housebroken and hopefully have manners. I would definitely agree that a female would be better than risk having to alpha males.

    • I would love to be able to find one that’s a couple of years old but any age dachshund is hard to find in this area – maybe everywhere because we’ve always struggled to find one. There’s a rescue place here who has a couple each year and there are usually 200 – 300 people who apply to get them. Before we got Oscar, I watched it like a hawk, made numerous donations to the organization (not to get a dog but hoping they would at least think I was a decent person) and never had a chance at getting one. I’m in no rush – may not even do it, but I have been looking just to see what I might find.

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