Today is National Pet Day; there is nothing in this world I love more than my fur babies; my three cats and my beast of a black lab. I noticed that my dog is going grey around his mouth –it really hit me that he is 5 years old… he is no longer a puppy.
We have always talked about getting a second dog; we want to have another bird dog trained by the time our current dog retires, not dies, but retires. After seeing his breeder at the Outdoor Show last month; adding to our family has been constantly on my mind.
Are we ready for a new puppy?
I spent some time on the American Kennel Club website to find out. They encourage you to reflect on the following questions…
1. Is your current dog out of puppyhood and completely trained and bonded to you?
=Our dog is out of puppyhood and completely trained; he spent 5 months with his breeder learning how to be a solid waterfowl dog and an obedient family pet. He is 100% bonded to myself and my husband –my husband moreso. We feel that since our dog is at a good age where he would tolerate an energetic pup and continue to fulfil his role in our business and family while still maintaining his connection to us.
2. What’s the age of your current dog?
=The suggestion is that a dog be around 1-2 years of age before adding a second. He is still in very good shape and still ‘young at heart.’ I feel like the longer we wait he won’t be as tolerant of a young pup.
3. What kind of dog do you want to add to the pack?
=We want to add another waterfowling lab (preferable black or chocolate) to the pack. We would love to actually have him bred; it would be really cool to have a pup that is related to our current dog. We would go back to his breeder and make sure that she picks a dog that suits our needs. It is recommended that you get dogs of opposite sex however, we would have to be careful because our dog is “in tact.” On the other hand, two males could potentially result in a different dynamic to deal with as well.
4. Do you have any big events or projects coming up?
=I have summers off and breaks throughout the year; my husband works 1 week on and 1 week off. Between the two of use our dogs wouldn’t be alone often–they would have our love, attention, the ability to provide fairly consistent training and socialization.
5. Is your family onboard?
=Yes, however, I think it is hard for my husband to think about our dog getting older and retiring.
6. Can you handle the additional cost?
=Yes, we have equipment from when our first dog was a puppy and training. We purposely built our dog run larger so that it would be a comfortable space for multiple dogs. Vet insurance makes procedures cheaper at the vet. We also realize that our budget for food, will double. We have already talked about sending the new dog to the breeder for training; this is expensive, however, it is a major benefit to us, our current dog and our business. It is a worthwhile investment to have a well trained dog.
I also took a quiz at “The Dog People,” and we are ready!