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Going from 2 dogs to 3

G

gbeirn

Senior member
Anyone have any experience to share on having two dogs and adding a third? I have thought about it for a while now and the opportunity to adopt a third has come up. Both my dogs are small, under 20lbs. They get along together pretty well, I've had them for 4 years now. Someone I know has a small dog they can now longer really care for due to children. Any tips? Suggestions? Horror stories? Regrets? Blessings?

Picture of my current two (Pickles on the left, Mac Daddy on the right) : http://imgur.com/awlPqhw
 
I added my third when the other two small dogs were about 4 years old, because I wanted to rescue one.

I was worried that it was overkill at first, but I am glad I did it. The puppy keeps the older two active.

At first, the MinPin did not like the new puppy, but eventually it worked out.
 
As long as you can handle the vet costs and know if you ever had to move that more than two dogs may be banned, it's not a lot more work and the dogs tend to entertain each other more.
 
Well I don't mind the vet costs, I'm single and own my own house and the whole yard is fenced in. The two I have now are basically my 'children'. My hope would be that if all three get along really well I can take one places while leaving the other two at home without them feeling abandoned. While the two I have get into scuffles sometimes they are really attached to each other and it makes it hard to separate them if I only can take one somewhere or if one has a vet visit and the other doesn't.

Edit: I think the one I would be adopting would be around their age so hopefully they would all have similar activity levels. We have a play date setup this weekend to see how they get along.
 
I had three of my own for awhile and I fostered a 3rd off and on for a long time. Taking care of 3 really isn't much different than 2. All of my dogs were big dogs and the fosters were medium to big. The biggest problems I ran into were less space for me on the bed and couch.
 
I kind of think of it like this except for dogs:

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Do it, then do it about a dozen more times!

I love it when people, other people, have an entire pack of random dogs at their place. Like a super diverse mix of giant, tiny, & medium sized dogs, just kind of nonchalantly jogging around together. It's so funny, it's great. Good luck!

edit - this sounds like a joke, but I know someone who literally had a pack of about a dozen random mutts running around. Some huge, some tiny, just a bunch of random dogs that formed a pack on his land. They all got along, it was great. I couldn't stop laughing at seeing them seemingly purposefully jogging around together, as if doing something kind of important, but not too urgent.
 
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If you already have two, a third of about the same size SHOULDN'T be much more work...BUT, before you commit, try bringing the other dog over for a day or two to see how they all get along.
 
BoomerD said:
If you already have two, a third of about the same size SHOULDN'T be much more work...BUT, before you commit, try bringing the other dog over for a day or two to see how they all get along.
Click to expand...


You can try that, but most times one or both of the established dogs won't interact, or interact "nicely", with the new puppy, like OCGuy mentioned with his dogs.

And it's all about the established pack and an intruder. Have seen behavior ranging from ignoring the puppy to sort of nipping at it...but it's all to put the pup into its place relating to pack standing/hierarchy. But since you---the owner and alpha--show the others the pup is going to be coming into the home, the dog alpha will grudgingly accept the pup in a few days, followed by the other dog. Sometimes the beta dog will actually accept the pup faster than the alpha, but doing that may incur the wrath of the alpha....group hierarchy/pecking order must be maintained.

Then, a week or two go by and you find the dominant dog playing with the puppy. Rarely goes much different, although in some cases, the dominant dog never accepts the pup....rarely.


We have 4 dogs, ages 10, 9, 6, and 4. The two older dogs were introduced individually as puppies into an already established household with two older dogs. Fit right in after their respective "break-in periods". The two younger dogs were sorta replacements for the original pair as they passed. Again, both fit in well.

The biggest thing is let the dogs sort it all out. You really cannot force it to move faster. They'll probably act like they hate the puppy and hate you...for being a traitor and bringing in that "thing".

But it is fun.
 
I have 3 dogs, it's not incrementally that much more work as long as they are decently trained. the worst part is the tangled leashes and random dog fights.
 
As long as they are properly trained. I generally hate dogs because they gotta be all up on you if you're new to them. Annoying creatures.

I was so happy when we went from 3 -> 0 cats. It was liberating, though sometimes lonely now.
 
Until recently we had 4, now down to 3 but when we are ready we are getting another. Dogs are very good about sorting out their relationships with each other.
 
TwiceOver said:
As long as they are properly trained. I generally hate dogs because they gotta be all up on you if you're new to them. Annoying creatures.

I was so happy when we went from 3 -> 0 cats. It was liberating, though sometimes lonely now.
Click to expand...

If you don't want attention then perhaps being lonely is proper for you.
 
I've heard when you add a third, you need to be careful because the third makes it a pack. Depending on the dogs, there can sometimes be questions of who's dominant.... The new dog may try to take over....or the dominant dog (if one of your original 2) may try to make the new dog submit.

Just read up on tips and tricks on how to introduce them so they know their places.


For some reason, I have less of an issue with this than if you were collecting cats.
 
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