[Ilovealldogs]

(I placed this in the senior section since it's dealing with a senior dog and her behavior/well-being.)

I need your opinions, please. As many of you know, I have a 13 year-old mixed breed dog (boxer/shar pei/lab), Chloe. My oldest dog, Scrappy, passed away in March 2009, so Chloe has been "alone" since that time. Chloe was used to Scrappy because she was there first although they did get into quite a few fights over the years and because of that, the last several years they were separated a good bit of the time. Chloe is definitely a dominant dog and does not have interaction with other dogs.

I met a male mixed breed dog over the weekend who I absolutely fell in love with. He's seven and extremely overweight, but has been on a diet and is losing weight. If I did not have Chloe, I would have adopted him that day, but I am concerned about her well-being. Since she is 13, should I wait until she passes before bringing a new dog into my house? I don't want to "kill" her by changing her routine by bringing a new dog home. I don't even know if that's possible, but I don't want her last few months/years to be horrible for her. If she were younger or really loved dogs, I wouldn't have a problem. I don't know if she can get used to living with another dog again or not.


Any thoughts?

 

[gsdraven]

I think that's a decision that you really have to make for yourself based on the individual dogs in question. Only you know if Chloe can handle having another dog in the house.

Have the dogs met in a neutral place? Will you be able to give the new dog back if Chloe is not handling the new addition well?

I've heard some say that a new addition has brought life back into their Senior dog but I think it really depends on the personality of each dog and if they get along. I definitely wouldn't recommend a puppy but a 7yr old dog might be a good companion without overwhelming her.

 

[LaRen616]

I think that's a decision that you really have to make for yourself based on the individual dogs in question. Only you know if Chloe can handle having another dog in the house.

Have the dogs met in a neutral place? Will you be able to give the new dog back if Chloe is not handling the new addition well?

I've heard some say that a new addition has brought life back into their Senior dog but I think it really depends on the personality of each dog and if they get along. I definitely wouldn't recommend a puppy but a 7yr old dog might be a good companion without overwhelming her.

I agree. It depends on both dogs personalities and I think that a 7 year old dog would be a much better companion than a puppy for a 13 year old dog.

 

[Elaine]

The only way I would bring in another dog is if the two dogs got along right away. I would not stress out my old dog with another dog that she hated and then have to keep them separated.

 

[spyla]

Only you would know your dog. In my case, when i got shadow who is now 16 months now, pepper was 12.5 yrs old. They are not buddies but get along to get along. some of it is due to their size difference, Shadow is 100 lb GSD where as pepper is 17 lb mutt. what i have seen is that pepper has gotten more lively after we got Shadow

 

[Stevenzachsmom]

Don't do it. Wait until Chloe is gone. At her age, it very well may kill her. My girl will be 13 early next year. I adopted her when she was two and she has never liked other dogs. Soon after I got her, a friend stopped by with her golden. Stupid me put my dog in the yard so the "friend" could bring her dog into the house. Not long afterward, I noticed my dog was losing fur on her face. I took her to the vet. He said it was mange and was caused by stress. I have no doubt allowing that golden into our home caused the stress. Even at two, the vet was concerned that my dog would not respond to the mange treatment. No way would I risk it at 13.

 

[Ilovealldogs]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I am still on the fence about it, but what I might do is take Chloe to the adoption event so that she can meet him on neutral territory and she what her reaction is. In her senior years, she doesn't handle "change" as well as she used to.

 

[rjvamp]

Thanks for everyone's advice. I am still on the fence about it, but what I might do is take Chloe to the adoption event so that she can meet him on neutral territory and she what her reaction is. In her senior years, she doesn't handle "change" as well as she used to.

Its a great idea. I didn't introduce my girl dog to Angeles (GSD) until he was home and she was none to happy. She is okay with him now but it has taken about a year to get her to come around to him. She was really upset with me for awhile. So the neutral spot - seeing if they like each other - maybe they would let you foster for the weekend to see how things go? Best of luck!

 

[bigboy]

they might get along or they might not the family dog enook was a gsd/husky mix he was 10 years old when we brought home my gsd/golden jessie she was 5 months old at the time but once he saw her he acted like a puppy he taught her everything, good luck in your choice who knows this young pup might help your old one.