<p>I now have 2 dogs, for the first time in my life. Dog #1 has been here since the end of September; dog #2 came in mid-July. Both very small, and both about a year old. High energy … but small enough that racing circles around the living room chair works for them. </p>
<p>Both are pound dogs. </p>
<p>I think that basically, 2 dogs are easier than one. They keep each other company and play tug, tag, and keep away without human intervention. They are actually easier than 2 children… mu kids used to play the same games, but it always entailed my daughter screeching “Mooooom!!! Brother took my bunniiieeee!!!”… or… “Moooom! Brother pushed me!!!” … whereas the dogs seem to be happy without my intervention in their games. </p>
<p>Surprisingly, its pretty easy to walk them both together, thought it took a couple of days for me to get the knack of avoiding getting their leashes tangled up. </p>
<p>Also, neither dog wolfs down food too fast – they both have a rather indifferent attitude to the high quality kibble I give them, so its easy for me to feed them both in the same room. The smaller one (#2) was very skinny when I got him from the pound, so I want him to put on weight – but I know as long as I see untouched food in one of the dog dishes that he must be eating his fill. </p>
<p>The behavior of dog #1 improved when dog #2 came on the scene. Dog #1 used to deliberately start messing with my stuff to get my attention – she was particularly fond of playing toss-mom’s-shoes … and I’m one of these people who likes to leave my shoes stacked up near the front door. Since dog #2 arrived, no more shoe-play. </p>
<p>Dog #2 did figure out how to dig a hole under the fence and get into the neighbor’s yard… but dog #1 helped me find him. (Of course I patched the hole).</p>
<p>Training is a little trickier. Dog #2 is VERY smart - he already knew “sit” and “stay” – but he didn’t have “down” – and merely watching Dog #1 do “down” wasn’t getting the message across. But I think I’ve got it figured out now – I have learned that I have to use my 2 hands to simultaneously dispense training treats to 2 different dogs. (or else, of course, I’d have to try training one at a time in separate rooms). </p>
<p>Off leash walking at the park where it is allowed didn’t work with #2 – #1 is great on a recall, but #2 took off and it was hard to keep track of them, plus he led #1 to run farther afield from me than she would normally do on her own. So that’s not going to happen again. (I’m going to try visiting a smaller dog park, and get one of those long retractable leashes for #2 – so I can keep him on a line while #1 can get her run). </p>
<h1>1 is a spayed female and #2 is a neutered male. I’ve always owned female dogs and was hesitant about a male, as I was concerned about housebreaking/marking issues – but I haven’t had any problem at all with my pup in that regard. Everything I have read about owning 2 dogs says a male/female combination is best – apparently there’s more squabbling among same sex pairs.</h1>
<p>I can’t give the dogs really good treats, because even if there are 2 identical treats, #1 will try to beat up #2 to take whatever he’s got. It’s kind of silly – #2 is smart enough to let her take his treat and then wait until she is occupied with chewing and sneak around and take the treat that she abandoned in order to come after him, but I don’t like dealing with the initial battle – so I’ve just decided to scale down and avoid the really delectable stuff. They are fine about playing nicely with regular toys and there’s no hassle over their regular kibble or even the bits of bacon I use with training. </p>
<p>But basically I’m glad I have two. It’s fun sometimes just to watch them romp.</p>
