Your thoughts on only having 1 dog

[cinnamon]

What good timing for this question. I was thinking of getting a second sheltie until DH decided he didn't want two dogs--too much work.

Now the one I have is very quirky but I love her. Since I do all the training, I would be walking two dogs, but I would love another dog. If I go walking on the trails with my friend and her dog, I only have to watch out for one.

But I still want another one

 

[CaliTerp07]

Every time I want a second dog, I foster one. And then I realize that I'm insane, and two dogs is waaaaaaaay more work than 1!

Most of it is that I live in an apartment, so it means twice the walks, twice the potty breaks, twice the barking when people walk by (i.e. every 10 minutes), when they're wresting/playing there is no room except where we are trying to watch tv calmly, etc.

If I had a house with a big yard, and exercise/stimulation could be had without leashing up for long walks, it might be a different story.

I think Lucy's got the best of both worlds. She's an only dog at home, getting all the pets and love and attention, but she goes to the dog park almost daily (twice a day most weekends) and gets plenty of doggy time there.

 

[Renee750il]

I thought Bimmer was fine with being an only dog . . . until Buffy came along, lol. And then, when she died, there was no doubt that he needed another Fila. Two were even better, lol.

He was happy with Kharma, but when I brought Tallulah home something happened. She was the missing piece that completed us. Both of them seem much better satisfied with the Lilshit in the family.

 

[k9krazee]

I had Shadow (RB Rottie) for 7 years as an only dog. I liked it, but wished I would have had a more active dog growing up.

Now we have 4 and I'm torn on which lifestyle I like better. Over the summers I live with Jack by myself and I absolutely love having one dog to care for, train and love. But I love going to my parent's house and sleeping on the couch with 4 dogs on top of me.

I know when I'm on my own and have only Jack, I'll probably keep it that way for awhile. At least until I'm financially secure and do have a place of my own. I don't think I'd ever go above three though.

 

[bubbatd]

I may have 4 next weekend !!! Joy !!!!!!!

 

[tessa_s212]

I've never in my life experienced owning just one dog. Growing up, we always had multiple. Right now I'm living completely dogless (Cocoa still living at my mom's), but hope soon to have our own apartment and then I will experience living and owning just Cocoa, but I'm not sure how she would take a transition of many dogs to being an only dog.

I have no desire to ever just own ONE dog. To me it is so foreign.

 

[copperdogsmom]

I Like having just 1.I get to spoil him in a way I couldn't if I had more.Teddy gets along with other dogs for the most part but I don't think he would like sharing me or his grandmother who he is with all day when I work

 

[babymomma]

The more the Merrier In my opinion.. I take kacee and bear to the hosiue and pretty much take care of them. I feed them, Bathe them, brush them walk them and Play with them.. Most days I have three dogs walkjing with me and Its easy. Even though Kacee and bear are crazy pullers.

 

[ihartgonzo]

I miss having just one dog, sometimes... I did a lot more with Gonzo, I feel that I was much closer to him, and our bond was much more special.

However, Fozzie brings Gonzo a lot of happiness and companionship. Although Gonzo doesn't get to do as much things alone with me, and he was jealous at first, I feel that what having a second dog has brought us far outweighs what we have lost. You just have to think LONG and HARD about whether it's the right decision for you and for your current dog; it's not always best to have multiple dogs. I also emphasize to everyone who is considering a second dog that their life will be 100x easier if they invest several years into bonding with and training their first dog beforehand. Trying to do ANYTHING with two dogs, neither of which is 100% reliably trained, is not easy... Gonzo already having solid obedience made my life way easier when I got Fozzie, and Gonzo basically taught Fozzie half of the commands he knows now, just leading by example.

 

[Maxy24]

I think I will end up with just one dog. I like the idea of putting a ton of work into one dog, do a ton of stuff and really focus on our bond, his training, going places and doing as much as possible. I like the extremely strong bond that spending all your "dog" time with one dog can make. I will probably foster dogs too though.

Even bringing in a second cat really changed the family structure. My first cat who had gotten all my attention and really loved it was pushed aside by a young highly outgoing kitten. Neko had been very affectionate but was slow and easily overwhelmed. When Willie came in Willie was very goofy and in your face, if I was petting Neko Willie would run over and butt in and Neko would leave rather than put up with sharing. It was sad. I don't regret it anymore (for a year or two Neko was actually quite depressed and I felt very bad about it, he stopped playing and stopped asking for attention) but I do miss having a strong bond with Neko. Because Willie is more in your face it's easier to pay attention to him, he's always RIGHT there and begging for attention and so my bond with Willie has become very strong while my bond with Neko has slowly gotten weaker.

I always thought I'd want like 4-7 dogs but lately I've decided the idea of one dog with fosters sounds more appealing.

 

[PoodleMommy]

Growing up we had our first poodle for 11.5 years, always alone. She was very very DA, so it worked for her… it was fairly easy to have her, we took her many places, she was one, very quiet dog and people didn’t mind having her around, she caused NO problems. When we did have to go out, our neighbor or my grandmother could watch her, she was very easy to care for. Now with four dogs, it is in my opinion unfair to ask anyone to watch all of them… so we hire a service to care for them, even if we are just gone for the day… which gets costly. It is much harder to travel with all of them, so often they get left home when in the past our dog could have come. So, in this regard, one dog is much simpler.
However, when I had Armani alone I noticed he slept a lot more and was generally much lazier then when he had the poodles to play with. This is the reason I chose to get Chloe… I think he does better with another dog around.
The day to day is really the same with 1 or 4… dumping an extra three scoops of food, or taking 4 outside instead of 1… doesn’t take any more time.
I think it really depends on the person, the dog, and the persons lifestyle.

 

[elegy]

sometimes i think about what it would be like to have just one dog. i had my little poodle for six months before i adopted luce, but siren was so senile that i could never really have much of a two-way relationship with her.

on one hand, i think it would be nice to only have one dog and not have to spread my time and energy out. but on the other hand, i really enjoy having multiple dogs, and they enjoy having each other around to play with.

 

[Beanie]

I agree that it's not necessarily better or worse, just different. We had two dogs, then they moved out and I had no dogs. Then I got Auggie and he was the only dog for a while. Before too long, the other two moved back in, and we had THREE dogs.
I actually didn't find having three much different than having two and eventually I'll go back to having three (or four...) of my own. Every dog is different and I love them all differently. They are different things to me.
What I've never done is had a dog, then add a puppy. My sister got Happy as a puppy and then Kota was adopted as his grumpy old man self. They were both gone when Puppy Auggie came home, and he was probably 7 or 8 months before they moved back in. I anticipate it being interesting, to say the least, LOL.

 

[Laurelin]

I agree that it's not necessarily better or worse, just different. We had two dogs, then they moved out and I had no dogs. Then I got Auggie and he was the only dog for a while. Before too long, the other two moved back in, and we had THREE dogs.
I actually didn't find having three much different than having two and eventually I'll go back to having three (or four...) of my own. Every dog is different and I love them all differently. They are different things to me.
What I've never done is had a dog, then add a puppy. My sister got Happy as a puppy and then Kota was adopted as his grumpy old man self. They were both gone when Puppy Auggie came home, and he was probably 7 or 8 months before they moved back in. I anticipate it being interesting, to say the least, LOL.

Oh the best was when we had two 8 year old senile shelties and decided to add in probably the most hyper puppy in existence, Beau. Beau was a mess and those poor old dogs had no idea what was happening to them! :lol-sign:

 

[JessLough]

I only have one dog... and I love it. Then again, Rosey does not really like other dogs, so it really is for the best. She would much rather be with her humans then with another dog.

However, when I get my own place with more room, I do plan on having more then one dog, if I can make it work out that way.

 

[Southpaw]

Personally I've never really seen the difference. Molly was 9 years old when we added Lucy to the mix... she was too old to care for a playmate, Lucy was too mellow to be a playmate anyway, so the only changes were having to feed another mouth and having to walk another dog. Same thing with adding Juno, if she weren't a puppy, having 2 dogs wouldn't seem so hectic. I've never felt like I've had to divide my attention between them, I do things the same with two dogs that I did with one.

 

[misfitz]

I really enjoy having only one dog. She goes everywhere with me, including to work. It helps that she's little - I had a GSD in high school and always thought of myself as a big-dog person. Sienna has completely changed me in that regard, I wouldn't trade my little girl for anything. I had a foster puppy for a weekend, and he was sweet (really hyper though) but I was relieved when he went back to the rescue! I felt like my time, attention, etc. was stretched too thin while he was here. Sienna's pretty mellow, too, and really obedient, so I'm rather spoiled!

I agree that it's easier to bring one dog along than two or more. It's also easier to find a dog-sitter, and boarding would be cheaper if I needed to go that route. And since I'm not living with a large family, it's easier to care for one dog. I can give her more training and attention. In the future I will probably foster, but will stick with only owning the one. Sienna doesn't love other dogs. She tolerates them, but prefers to hang with people. So I don't feel like I'm depriving her of doggy pals or anything.

Cats, on the other hand...can't have too many!
<hides from inevitable backlash of above comment on dog forum>

 

[Doberdogs]

I think only dogs are great provided the owners care for them properly, most are quite happy with their human companions total love and attention.
Of my three, all three would be totally happy as an only dog.

 

[currywoodcollies]

I have 4 dogs, 3 collies and 1 pom. I could not have just one. I bond with all of them equally. They are my kids. I have a G5 coupe and it is difficult to take them places all at one time, but that's the only problem I have. I'm working on getting an SUV.. so problem solved. I can walk all three collies at once with no problem. It helps to have a double leash though and dogs that stick to you like glue. Having one dog would just be odd to me. I like to know that they have each other to bond with while everyone is gone. They keep each other out of trouble.

 

[Georgygirl]

Really, I think it depends on the dog and the owner. I had Joey by himself for about a year and a half. Joey would love to play with my relatives' dogs whenever we visited and he often tried to get the cats to play with him. Then we took in Roxie the Min Pin before bf's cousin dumped her at a shelter. Joey LOVED her! She tolerated him. It really wasn't that much more difficult for me to take care of two (well, if you exclude Roxie's numerous issues we had to work with). In the end we realized we just weren't the best place for Roxie and found her a home where she is an only dog. She is soo happy there and they love her to dearly. Now Joey is by himself again and I think he misses having another dog around. He's constantly bringing his toys over to the cats. Eventually we'll get him a friend. I think he'd really love it. It'll be a little more difficult traveling with two, but I think it'll be worth it.