@TS0104 I was a little curious about how our older dog would adjust. He barks at other dogs when they walk past our house and can be unfriendly when on a leashed walk. However, any time a loose dog has come into our yard (this has happened frequently), my dog has totally enjoyed running around with the other dog. I wasn’t sure if he’d react differently with a dog that he realized was sticking around. Initially he was indifferent then when she was constantly trying to play, he sometimes got annoyed. Being smaller, she would go underneath his tall body and nip at the back of his legs, playfully, but he’d look at us like “Really? How long must I endure this?” She has really settled down though since getting spayed. They love to run around in the yard, but she doesn’t bother him much in the house anymore. While they don’t curl up and sleep together, they do peacefully co-exist and she has definitely been a nice companion for him.
I think for as long as we are able, we will continue to have two dogs moving forward. However, after years of swearing I would never get a puppy, I think in the future I will do like we did with our first two and adopt a dog past puppy stage. My mantra for years when my kids wanted a puppy was “I potty trained four kids and have no desire to potty train a dog.” While I know this dog’s difficulty potty training had a lot to do with her history/anxiety, I’m done with potty training! BTW, I’m a SAHM as well which is the only reason we were able to manage the issues with our second dog. While I’m home a lot, I’m also in the car a lot. She went, and still goes, with me a lot if I’m taxiing kids around if no one else is home. I try to limit the time she is in her crate, she still really hates it. I’d leave her out (our other dog isn’t crated) but don’t want her to revert to doing her business in the house. It’s only been about two months since she has really been house trained with no accidents.
If you do decide you are interested in a second dog, I suggest doing what 3kids2dogs did in terms of slowly introducing the second dog or fostering.
BTW, changed my avatar - that’s my desert dog. Can’t really see but she has these feathery ears like Afghans but hers aren’t as long, and a long, curly, feathery tail. She’s about the size of a fox and a couple of times people told me she looks like one. We have a lot of foxes in our neighborhood. 