Adding a 2nd GSD

[mrsgokev]

We adopted our first GSD in March, a female from a breeder. We bought a house a little further out in the country when she was a few months old. She'll be a year old on New Year's Day and hasn't had a lot of socialization with other dogs or people. A friend of ours rescued a male GSD who is a month older than Fiona. He is with us now and today is our first full day with them both and I'm about to pull my hair out and it's not quite 11am yet. We have the option of giving him back to her when she goes back to Florida (we're in TN) and she should be able to find him another home. I just fear that we are in over our heads with a 2nd one. Fiona is the first GSD we've ever had and she is VERRRY protective of us and our kids and even the cats. She is okay with him sometimes but if she hears me correcting him, she wants to step in and protect me. She has been baring teeth and snapping at him. I am constantly tell the kids to stay away from them when they are together and, so far, I've been putting on in the crate for a bit to separate them which allows them both to relax a bit.

Can anyone give some advice? Should we just forget this? Even if we do give him back, it won't be til sometime after Christmas.

[Emoore]

I would certainly not keep the 2nd dog. If you feel like you're in over your heads with him, it's probably because you're in over your heads. You really want to make sure your first dog is basically "done" as far as training, obedience, and socialization before adding another one. I have a 1 year old Shepherd and a 10 year old-- I can't imagine having two 1-year olds.

You say "sometime after Christmas" but that's only 4 days away. You can either try to deal with it until then, or even spring for boarding for a few days if you can get him in anywhere.

[GSDBESTK9]

Well, they've only been together for ONE day. They don't know or trust each other yet, so they have to get used to and accept each other, most likely they will become best friends, but it takes more than one day!

Now, if you think 2 dogs is going to be too much work, then by all means find him a good home where he will be loved and spoiled.

[LaRen616]

I agree with Emoore.

[Zisso]

I have to agree that if you feel like you are in over your heads, it would be best to give him back. You have a lot of work to do to get your girl socialized and trained.

Let the boy go back and focus on what you can do for your girl for now. Socializing her will help later when and if you decide to get a 2nd dog. She is not ready now.

I have 2 that are 3 months apart in age(mistake #1). It is not easy to train them when they are bonded to each other(mistake # 2), and it is not only time consuming but expensive to train 2 at the same time. Even for walks, I often take one to the park for a walk, then come home to get the other one-two trips and two walks for me. Do that twice a day and you will find yourself asking where has all the time gone?

[mrsgokev]

Thanks for all the replies. At this point, I would love to go back to our calm, quiet household. I am trying to not be super-stressed because I know they will sense that and make it worse. I was actually having a stress-free holiday season until now!

I know it has been less than a day but I just don't see how I can constantly monitor the two dogs and also take care of my kids (2 & 4 yrs old). There is a great kennel near us but my husband is losing his job at the end of the year so we don't really have the funds for that. My husband is calling the girl who brought him (she is still in town) so maybe she'll have some solution.