I need someone to talk some sense into me...

[drmgncolor]

I have this currently on hold: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=2751096&l=ea49fc7b13&id=578147844

Yep that's right... an 8 week old "oops" with green eyes. I must be losing my mind, or feel my biological clock ticking away. Hubby and I have a horse, 2 cats and a black lab mix 3 year old. And no fenced in back yard. I guess it might be time to get the invisible fence system we have been talking about since black dog was a puppy. Our yard is pie shaped, so not conducive to traditional fencing.

To keep this farm related... BO has no problems taking black dog out to the farm with me and I do so quite frequently to exercise her. She likes to follow on trail rides and around the arena. She gets along great with all the horses as I have had her around them since she was 10 weeks old. She's seems very lonely though. Both hubby and I work and she's all by herself napping on the couch all day and then when we come home all she wants is our attention. Maybe getting her a little sister would help with that... then I wouldn't need to take her to the farm all the time to get her some exercise. Black dog LOVES other dogs and wants to play, play, play.

I need advice. Should we do it? We have so much love to give and while I don't NEED another dog, the puppy does NEED a home.

ETA: This is our current black dog, Elliot: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1272492&l=2093968f99&id=578147844

[TKR]

My animal population has increased a great deal -- not because I needed or wanted another, but because I found or was presented with one that needed help, which I felt was something I could do, so that's always been my criteria.
PennYG

[IsolaBella09]

Take her! She's adorable and she would be a great sister for your other dog! Give us more pictures, she's so cute! :D

[MunchkinsMom]

You came to the wrong place, we are all enablers here.

How can you resist that face? I don't think you will be sorry at all.

We got our last two dogs as "ooops" puppies that needed homes, mom was a registered Aussie, dad was a registered Golden Retriever, not sure how they had their "date", but the owner of the mother was going to just put a free ad in the paper, and a rescue got wind of that, and offered to help with the placement, to ensure that they got good homes. At least I know two of them did!

[BuddyRoo]

You had to know before you posted that we're a bunch of enablers, right? :lol:

I couldn't see the pics w/o logging into facebook...so I have no idea how old this pup is...

In all seriousness...let me give you some pros and cons.

CONS:
-puppy. You and hubby work all day. How will you manage to get pup crate trained/potty trained in those first few weeks? Do you have neighbor kids who can come let her out? Generally, trying to keep them crated for more than 3-4 hours until they're about 14-16 weeks is tough. Tiny bladders.

-exercise. You would THINK that two dogs in the house would wear each other out during the day but in my experience this is not the case. When my roommate moved in, I had high hopes for this concept. But nope. They still sleep all day and are full of piss and vinegar when we get home. And I have a doggy door and a fenced yard! Often I come home and they're both lying out in the yard watching the neighbors or napping. So you still have to go for walks and such.

-vacations. It's harder to find someone to take 2 dogs than one if you need to go out of town. Especially hard when you have a young pup who may need a lot more exercise to burn off excess energy and avoid destructive tendencies. I house sat for friends when they got their new pup and it was a nightmare. I lost one swimsuit bottom, one bra, and a pair of half chaps that weekend.

PROS:
-puppy. They're fun. I like 'em. If I had more room in my house, I'd be getting another.

-puppy. They're cute.

-puppy. They're fun and cute.

Did I mention cute? And fun?

LOL

Enjoy your new pup...but make a plan for the exercise/potty training stuff.

[drmgncolor]

You had to know before you posted that we're a bunch of enablers, right? :lol:

I couldn't see the pics w/o logging into facebook...so I have no idea how old this pup is...

Yep, I know you guys are a bunch on enablers. :) Puppy is 8 weeks old.

Responding to the CONS:

Work and Housebreaking: Hubby and I work, but we have flexible schedules, except for a few days where we would have customers and need to be in the office all day. Yep, we have a couple of neighbors girls who would love to let the pup out on those days. Also, mother and father in law live 1 mile away and are retired as on next Monday. They love granddog 1 and have been known to come and pick her up and take her to McDonalds to get chicken nuggets. No, I am not kidding. I think they would be happy to help out a bit with granddog 2.

Exercise: yes I know that they won't wear each other out totally, but I am thinking it might help. We do walks and I am allowed to take them to the farm. We also mountain bike, camp and backpack pretty frequently and black dog is a pro. She was NEVER allowed to chase anything... at the park I used to make her sit and watch the ducks, geese and squirrels. This was so that she would stay with us on the trail. We did a lot of off leash work with her and I am willing to do it again.

Travel: This is the only REAL problem and hang up that I have at THIS point. While we don't travel extensively, we do a couple of times a year and so far we have never had to board. All of our friends have been willing to keep black dog and we often keep others. I think that we could probably be able to find someone willing to keep both for a long weekend should we need it, but most of the time we like to plan trips where we can take the pup because we think of her as our kid and want to share our experiences with her. Now add on another big dog and suddenly our car is getting smaller. My family is dog friendly, we can take them to visit with us and they are as welcome as we are.

Human Offspring: We do plan on having a kid probably in the next couple of years. This could also be a hangup... as the house might be a bit crowded and it is harder to go to the park with kid and two dogs, versus one.

Chewing: I know all pups are different, but we only lost a portion of a window sill to the black dog. We were extremely careful about puppy proofing the house and leaving things laying around. She had a plethora of toys and bones and we were very on top of her only playing with those. She was also a pup that wanted to please... had a temperament very similar to this new pups... which may be why I like her so much.

Am I over thinking this?

[BuddyRoo]

Sounds like you've got your bases covered. A lot of people don't consider the time away from home part....but you have. Good!

As for chewing...one of the things that helps with this is to LIMIT the number of toys. Excessive toys can give a pup the impression that anything lying about is fair game.

Stick to one or two toys and rotate them out to keep things fresh and interesting.

In my experience though, a tired pup is a good pup and most of that destructive behavior is a result of too much energy or not enough supervision. Easy enough to tackle if you're committed to it.

[3horsemom]

yes, you are overthinking:)....cute pup who needs a home. post pictures when you get her.

[drmgncolor]

Sounds like you've got your bases covered. A lot of people don't consider the time away from home part....but you have. Good!

As for chewing...one of the things that helps with this is to LIMIT the number of toys. Excessive toys can give a pup the impression that anything lying about is fair game.

Stick to one or two toys and rotate them out to keep things fresh and interesting.

In my experience though, a tired pup is a good pup and most of that destructive behavior is a result of too much energy or not enough supervision. Easy enough to tackle if you're committed to it.

Yep, I am a thinker and I used to be a small animal vet tech, so I am quite cautious. :)

About the toys: quite interesting point and definitely noted. We kept having to rotate black dogs toys because she demolished them within a day... so eventually we just stuck with rawhides and imparted a "no stuffed/squeaky toy" ban on the house.

A tired pup IS a good pup... an idea that also works for horses. :)

[BuddyRoo]

Well see, there ya go! I worked at a clinic for about 10 years myself. Could not believe some of the stories people had when it came to pups. And now, since I spend a lot of time at Petco and Petsmart on the weekends, it comes up a lot too. People want to go get a cute little pup and have NO PLAN for accommodating the wee ones. They seem to think that they just come trained and ready to go! eek!

My lab is a chewer as well. The only things that really last for me are the Cuz, Kong (and even that is not indestructible) and the Nylabones.

[Petstorejunkie]

go with your gut. if your guts says it's a good thing to do then go for it! i think she's adorable and while i am not a lab person, i would find it hard to resist that face.

[Parker_Rider]

Oh, blah, blah, blah "vacations" and "work"... Could you honestly say "no" to that face?!?!?! :D :winkgrin:

You can only get her as long as you're going to put a hat on her like you put on the black one... they would be SUPER cute together!! :D

do it... you know you want to!!
(On a serious note, it sounds like you have everything covered, and are just overthinking.)

[Buffyblue]

Awww! Black dog definitely needs a little sister! At least that's what I told myself last year when I "rescued" an 11 week old Aussie from a pet store at the mall and presented it to my 9 y.o. Aussie as a birthday present! :winkgrin:

[Serigraph]

drmgncolor - I have one (or 2) you can have!! I'm pretty sure I only had one when we boarded together and now I have 3. Yikes.

Sure is a cute little pup.

[MistyBlue]

What a photo...I'd have a real hard time saying no to that face. :winkgrin:

[JSwan]

I need advice. Should we do it? We have so much love to give and while I don't NEED another dog, the puppy does NEED a home.

ETA: This is our current black dog, Elliot: http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?pid=1272492&l=2093968f99&id=578147844

Hmmmmm.... dog in need.

You have a lot of love to give and a lifestyle that goes well with dog ownership.

Your current dog is a little bored or lonely and would love to have someone to play with.

I'd take him. What the heck; so you go through few months of a wee wee spots and a chewed shoe or two. You've done it before and survived, right? :)

[Alagirl]

you need some sense talked into you and you come here?! :confused:

This is enabler central! Cute and in need...what do you bother asking? :lol:

You know everybody is gonna say 'get her' if you want a nay sayer, I need to dig up my MIL's number...;)

[ManyDogs]

Sorry, no help here! Read my thread about the $500 cat! :D We're going to the vet tomorrow to visit Jack.

There is no way you can resist that face in the pic you posted. :winkgrin:

Our newest puppy is on the couch next to me-we now have 5 dogs, and I had to fight the urge to drive by the county shelter this afternoon. :lol:

[EqTrainer]

So... did you get her yet?!!!

[drmgncolor]

So... did you get her yet?!!!

She's here in her new home! I don't have much time... about to jump in the car and drive to Lexington, KY. Poor hubby gets her all weekend by himself.

After not much sleep last night... man those little ones can howl... I woke up to her lovely artwork. She had fingerpainted with poop on the inside of her crate. Ahhh, puppyhood.

She's super adorable though.


Serigraph - glad to hear you are well! :)

[WaningMoon]

Well see, there ya go! I worked at a clinic for about 10 years myself. Could not believe some of the stories people had when it came to pups. And now, since I spend a lot of time at Petco and Petsmart on the weekends, it comes up a lot too. People want to go get a cute little pup and have NO PLAN for accommodating the wee ones. They seem to think that they just come trained and ready to go! eek!

My lab is a chewer as well. The only things that really last for me are the Cuz, Kong (and even that is not indestructible) and the Nylabones.

Nylabones, YES. I have one here that I got over 20 yrs ago, the largest one. I have two more as well. They sure do last and these guys destruct the Kongs. I hate the sound of the grinding chew though but that's okay as long as they are getting that much enjoyment out of it. The old one is half way gone now but come on, it's taken 20 yrs. What the hell is the draw to those things anyhow? WHY do they like it, no smell, harder than hell, but they do love them.

[JSwan]

She's here in her new home!

Ha! I knew you'd take her! :D

Congratulations - I hope you have many happy years together.

[Nootka]

After not much sleep last night... man those little ones can howl... I woke up to her lovely artwork. She had fingerpainted with poop on the inside of her crate. Ahhh, puppyhoood :)

That made me crack up hahhahah:lol::lol:

[RxCate]

There is definitely no way you can say no to that face.. omg!

[SUECLOUDY]

How can anyone say No to that face. This is the wrong place to come to ask if you should keep it:yes:

[ManyDogs]

Our dogs destroyed Nylabones, so we now go to Tractor Supply and get the black bones with knobs and white spots. They're called Treadspup and last forever.
Ours tend to disappear every so often and then reappear when someone :winkgrin: remembers where they buried it.

[Alagirl]

Our dogs destroyed Nylabones, so we now go to Tractor Supply and get the black bones with knobs and white spots. They're called Treadspup and last forever.
Ours tend to disappear every so often and then reappear when someone :winkgrin: remembers where they buried it.


LOL, I have found one on occasion...:D the majority are still AWOl tho, would love to be a fly on the wall when the current tenant of the house finds them digging in the yard! :cool: :lol: (the kinda real looking plastic ones, they don't sell them anymore I think)