Going from 1 to 2 cavs

[leesanlucie]

Hi All
Am curious if going from one to 2 cavaliers is much different.
My dog Lucie is 2 yrs old.I was thinking about getting her a companion....obviously another cavalier as they are soooo adorable!:lotsaluv:
Am just wondering is its any harder with 2 than just the one?
She is fairly laid back....the only thing is she pulls really bad on the leash (and am now looking at a harness for her) and that is what is kind of putting me off.
My hubby wanted 2 to begin with but I thought 1 was enough as we had 2 small children....and i had never owned a dog before.
We have a big garden, Lucie is walked everyday and adored by both kids and my husband(and even the cat!).
Everyone I seem to meet with cavs always ask why i only have 1? I would love another but I want to be sure that it wont be too much or that Lucie ends up not liking the new addition.

Thanks guys.
Lees...and a tired Lucie lying on my knee!
cavtiny

 

[Bridam]

Best thing we did was go to 2. They are much happier IMO. You can't be there all the time and day care was getting expensive. We felt really guilty leaving our girl alone until she had another one to keep her company. At first, our first dog was resistant but now they sleep next to each other during the day and sleep with us in bed at night.

Walking is not a problem. Feeding has been our only issue--one is greedy.

 

[Ashley]

Well, I just went from 1 to 2 three days ago!
I thought it would be a lot more work, but in terms of the basics such as feeding and walking etc, then theres not much difference...

When I put Hollys dinner out, Murphys goes out too...
Murphy is hand fed at the moment as he is food aggressive, and Holly still eats in the kitchen.
When Im taking Holly out for a walk then Murphy comes too.

If I have needed to pop out at all then the dogs go in to their seperate crates... but that is only because I like to know they are safe and that on no uncertain terms will a fight break out - especially as Murphy (2.5 years) is just new, and Holly is a bounding 9 month old youngster!

It is more money in terms of feeding, training, insurance... but well worth it I think.

So so far, I wouldnt say ive noticed much of a difference. I now have two shadows instead of one, and I get myself in a bit of a mess if they are both on lead haha!

 

[chloe92us]

Going from 1 to 2 is no problem at all- just double the fun! It's when I have added more than 2 that I run into trouble. Do it!!!!!

 

[PennyLane]

We are going from 1 - 2 this weekend!! I think Penny will be really happy to have another canine in the house... she absolutely loves other dogs, so I think this will be good for her. I love her dearly, but she would play 24/7 if I let her.. and with three kids I just can't give her that kind of devotion. Hopefully Chesney can wear her out!

What worried me the most is the potty training - but I have heard that if you have one already potty trained then the second one will pick it up faster. I am hoping this is the case. LOL!

 

[cy1266]

We went from 1 to 2 about 3 months ago and we LOVE having two! They have become best friends and play together, sleep together, etc. They love our attention when we're home, but when we're out we come home to them curled up together sleeping on the couch.

She is fairly laid back....the only thing is she pulls really bad on the leash (and am now looking at a harness for her) and that is what is kind of putting me off.

Miles is a puller and we should have trained him more before we got our second dog. This has made walking them together much more of a challenge. They are doing MUCH better walking together, they stay in their order and Miles is pulling a lot less. But, looking back on it I should have spent more time training Miles how to walk on a lead before we got Truman. Other than the pulling Miles is very well trained, and Truman has learned a lot from him, including housebreaking. I was worried that having two would be a lot more work than having one, but it's really not...they both have to be fed and let outside, and besides training Truman I don't notice much of a difference. Two is double the pleasure, double the love, and double the cuddles...and double the snoring! :lol:

 

[TillyTommy]

I stated out with number 1 and about a year after that got number 2 - I found this easy but of course the exspense was an issue but as far as handling the dogs it was a piece of cake in fact it made life easier. The formed a lovely bond and if I did have to pop out for an hour or two I did not feel so guilty!
I have now added number 3 and have found that a bigger jump! Both in money and time. I would not change a thing in fact if I had a bigger house I would think nothing of adding number 4!!!
Go for it I doubt you will regret it

 

[ruby2]

Well two would be double the poop for starter and double the expense, but double the fun and double the hugs. I suppose double the spay, double the vacinations. double the everything really .

BUT I WOULD LOVE TWO......
I would go for it if i were you, and if your hubby is aggreeing with you then sure you are flying.

Off you go and do it.

 

[ourempire]

This is a really good thread! I enjoyed reading it, and it made me even more sure that I would love to get another cavalier!
One catch, though: I showed the thread to my reluctant husband, and I couldn't convince him that I had nothing to do with it He is SURE that I have signed in under another name and written a post!
But - since my husband has seen this thread, I can tell him to look in the Dog and Bone Pub under the thread Begging, begging, begging - that one was started by me, honey

 

[Brian M]

HI
We have three girls with Poppy(Tri) the eldest at 22 months then Daisy (Blen) 18 months and Rosie (Ruby) 11 months ,after getting our Pops i just couldn't resist them and its the best thing we have done ever.Going from 1 to 2 was so easy but 2 to 3 was a lot bigger jump ,fortunately Luke is 12 so when its walkies i have a willing companion to assist me but either way i would manage them ,i have thought long and hard about getting a B & T to complete the colours but i am not 100 % sure yet. If you can afford all the vet (for life cover) fees with normally an excess ,the food and all their associated bits and bobs and most important give them the time they need (Dawns at home 100%) you will only get double the pleasure and they will certainly love another cavaliers company.

 

[SamT]

We did it!!

Hi,
We got Sam at the start of December and it was hard at first because I never had a dog before and they are worse then babies. Spend a few months cleaning up after him!! We got Charlie at the end of January. We got them from the same breeder, which I think helped. They are half brothers. They took about a week to get used to each other. Sam gets very excited, and loves to play. When we went to the breeder we looked at 2 dogs, one was very quiet and the other Charlie was jumping around so we picked him because Sam was already a few months old. The funny thing is when we got Charlie home he because the boss even though he is half the size of Sam ha ha.

They love each other, and get on great. They like to be around each other all the time.

It is hard at first because you are once again cleaning up after a pup and training them but its all worth it.

The only advise I would give you is dont expect the 2nd dog to act the same etc. For example Sam cried for the 1st few days at night and settled down, he also didnt wet his bed at night after a few weeks no problems. Charlie however cried at night for months and wet his bed for months at night. This was difficult as we all lost sleep etc.

Its all worth it though because now they are bigger its a joy to see them sleeping together, playing together etc. We also dont have any issues with them fighting, they just play and jump around.

Good luck with it!!