Dave, if you're thinking of getting a companion dog for your dog, consider carefully what the extra costs will be-- a chronically ill dog can be a heart breaker as well as a wallet buster. And if you're concerned about losing training time with your dog, think about the normal needs of a second dog, and then think about the special needs of an ill one.

I may be out of my league here, but I have to give you my honest opinion based solely on my experience to date. I have a "pet" dog and have now acquired a dog to train as an "assistance dog" for my son. A very good mal trainer that I highly respect had talked to me about this. His concern was that the two would get "doggie" and look to each other for fun and excitement instead of me.
My "pet" has weak nerves and has severe separation anxiety. To the point of the vet suggesting Prozac. I'm not opting for the medication. My new dog is doing very well, and fortunately not able to form a "doggie" bond with my "pet". My pet is only focussed on me entirely. Had the "pet" been stable that would have been different, and I would have had a problem. On the other hand "pet" is trained in basic obedience (by me) which has been the reason he is still around. My new dog has learned a great deal (of good things from my pet). The recall, sit, wait at the door, wait for food. My new dog would have learned these in a longer time frame, but because of seeing "pet" getting cudos he learned extra quickly (pack pays off). Anyhow, I'm rambling. If there is a chance of them getting "doggie" don't do it. If you can keep the attention on you, and not slack with your other dog's training, then go for it. I do agree that vet bills are astronomical. I'd hate to see you with two dogs neither of which is what you wanted. JMHO

Many people make the mistake of getting a second dog for the purpose of getting a "playmate" for their first dog or to keep the other dog company. In a 2 pet situation, as long as the dogs are not allowed to get "doggy" by bonding with each other, and as long as the owner has the time and is willing to train both dogs, everything should end up Ok. In your situation though, Your training with your sport dog will almost definately suffer.
Your intentions are very good but this is really not a great idea. I'm not training either of my dogs for sport, and yet they will not have free roam in my house together at the same time until they are both completely obedience trained(all 3 stages).This will insure that they bond with ME first and not get doggy. Yes, I do let them play together for a short time each day just so they get used to each other, and they get along fine. But if I was training one for sport, I would keep my sport dog away from my pet or I would keep their interaction at a minimum. Then you have the whole health issue to deal with which can't be a walk in the park. I would agree with Vince on this subject and recommend that you re-think this over.

Chuck:

It's the real man that can show his soft side. LOL.

All your comments are helping a great deal. I haven't yet been able to speak to the dog's regular vet, so I don't know what level of achalasia/megaesophagus she has. If it's serious enough that she has to eat 5-6 times a day and remain up on her hind feet for 5-10 minutes each time, then that's a showstopper. And, of course, if it's idiopathic, then there's no way to predict it's progress over the next 7+ years, or however long she lasts before the almost inevitable aspiration pneumonia kills her.

The board seems sort of evenly divided on the question of the impact on my present dog's training--leaning towards negative. The only mitigating factor might be that the bitch is already trained in ring sport, so I could still concentrate most of my efforts on Oka's training. OTOH, I'm a newbie, and just training one dog requires a lot of concentration (I'm being trained as much as Oka is), so maybe I'm fooling myself.

I guess what it really comes down to is a vague, free-floating sense of guilt at leaving Oka kenneled 10-12 hours a day, giving him a half-hour or so of work and play (more on weekends), some hang-out time with me in the house, and then the crate all night. Of course, the only thing that would change would be the substitution of doggie play time for the hang-out time, since they'd be kept separate during the day and crated separately at night.

Maybe I just talked myself out of it...<g>

Anyway, thanks!

Just to throw in another wrinkle, I have two dog, one is a companion dog only, and the other is training in SAR tracking. They both have free run of the house at all times, except when blocked off from the kitchen when home alone. They do play together, and they do interact with each other differently than they do with me. However, I have seen absolutely no negative effects on my SAR dog's training whatsoever. When we go out to train, that's what we're doing, he's not focused on anything else. Other dogs can run right in front of him, can even run right on top of the track, and it does not break his focus.

I guess for me, it's not an issue at all. But I can see how it could easily be. It's up to your individual situation.

Hmmm, I just reread your first post, and it got me thinking that your situation is different enough from mine that I can see how you might create more problems than you solve by getting this particular dog. The reason I think this may be the case is the ages of the dogs in relation to one another and in relation to which one was in the household first.

The other concern is the training that the second dog would require of you, which would take time and energy away from training the first one.

Also, since the new dog is older and female and has a medical condition, I think it's likely that she would assert a dominant position, or attempt to, over your 11 month old male youngster, which would certainly affect his attitude in general.

If you were to wait until your first dog is mature, and get a younger dog of opposite gender and of a complimentary temperament to your current dog (i.e. if your current dog is dominant with other dogs, get a submissive dog, so you don't have to deal with too many rank issues and fighting) with no health problems, and that you wouldn't be training beyond basic obedience as a companion, then I think things would be different.


Of course, if you feel so moved by this dog's plight, and want to provide her with a good home for the rest of her days, I wouldn't be one to advise against that. I'd just caution you to really understand all the implications and what you could be getting yourself into. Who knows, maybe there is someone else out there for her.

OK, J, I'm going to throw another wrinkle into this discussion, with a little twist <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> . I also have two dogs living in the house, both of them working (SchH). One is on the way out, the other on the way in, so to speak--I hate being idle. My previous pair were male and female, of approximately the same age, both very dog dominant, introduced at the age of 3 and 4. They immediately established the order, with the bitch telling the male in no uncertain ways that I was hers, and he deferred without argument. They had complete run of the house, with no problems whatsoever. I have two bitches now, 16 mos and almost 9 years. I was a bit hesitant introducing two dogs of the same sex into a household, but it seems to be working just fine. I was worried for a while at the beginning when my puppy concentrated her attention solely on the older bitch, but this problem went away with the rest of the puppy foolishness, as soon as we started play/training. They are separated while I'm not around and are together for the rest of the time.

I don't know whether my experience is common, but none of my dogs ever play with each other, they look at me as their only source of fun. Other than an occasional sniff and a lick they completely ignore each other. So if there is some kind of a benefit they derive for companionship, it must be very subtle.

However, with lack of human leadership which can be achieved only thru training, IMO, I can see how dogs can become "doggy", which is not always a bad thing, as my sad little story will illustrate:

Shortly after my next door neighbors, a young professional couple (*John & Mary*) moved in, John decided to fulfill his life-long dream of owning a dog. They bought a black Lab puppy, a friendly, outgoing and rambunctious little pup. There may have been some dominance problems from the very beginning, judging from frequent yelps coming through the windows--"Argus, stop biting!" and stealing of food (must be the breed? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" /> ) When Argus was about a year old, John acquired a 5-yr old Lab from the pound, a dignified gentleman, whose only problem was absolute hatred of small dogs. The dogs were kept in the basement during the day, entertained by classical music. There was no formal training for either of the dogs, as far as I could tell, but they had their two hours of exercise every day, rain or shine. The family lived in peace and harmony for about 5 years, until the older dog died.

That's when all hell broke loose, and it took less than a couple of months. With the leader of the pack gone, Argus decided to move up the ladder. I became aware of the problem after receiving a frantic call from Mary late at night, asking me to watch the baby while she took John to the emergency room--he was bitten by Argus. They were already gone when I got there--and I almost choked at what I saw--the sparking white kitchen looked like something from a horror movie--blood and bloody paper towels everywhere, with Argus running around happily amid the carnage. Needless to say, I didn't feel like playing--I opened the door to the basement and told him to go down, he growled. I wasn't about to argue--a biscuit down the stairs worked. They came back hours later with John's face hardly recognizable with all the stitching.

What happened was: John and Argus were lying on the floor watching TV, when John decided to give Argus a hug. The dog growled. John said: "Oh, common…" and went for another hug. Argus growled louder. On the third attempt John almost lost his nose.

Nevertheless, he still loved the dog and wanted to remedy the problem. I helped him with forcing Argus to "down"--he would not down for nothing. Equipped with a muzzle and a pinch collar, it took me more than 5 minutes for the first down, with me practically lying on top of the dog (that sucker was strong!). He made such an awful racket, half of the neighborhood ran out to see what was going on. The second down took a little less time, and after about half an hour he was downing on command. I gave John a few pointers and he tried diligently for about a week, but you could tell that his heart was not in it. And with a year-old baby there were other things to worry about. We tried placing Argus with a rescue, but were pretty much laughed at the minute they heard the word "bite", which is understandable. Argus was put down. The psychological effect this had on John was devastating.

The moral of this story? Train your dog(s), teach them to respect YOU as the leader, but y'all already know that <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> .

Thank you for your patience.

I'll take mine shaken, over ice, with a twist of lime! <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/wink.gif" alt="" />

J-

Good advice: "...wait until your first dog is mature, and get a younger dog of opposite gender and of a complimentary temperament to your current dog."

I think you're probably right that this female would attempt to assert dominance. Oka is a bit soft, although extremely resilient, so I probably won't take a chance on her.

Thanks all for your advice.