Hey everybody

I know this has been asked before and I have read the other questions but I didn't find them that helpful. So here's my situation, right now my family and I have a male german shepherd, Koda, who is almost a year ( March 16 is his b-day) and he loves other dogs, he has been through obedience school and did great. We have been debating on whether or not get a second dog. I know that our family could handle having two dogs but that's not my concern. I'm worried that if we get another dog ( a puppy) that Koda might ignore us and become too dog orienated. Koda is a very loving dog and is all cuddly and kises all the time, and I'm afraid that he might change his lovey dovey sucky ways. But if we still treat him the same and give him the same attention like he has been given, and give him even more attention if we get a new pup will this still happen? Has anyone had their dog completely change their personality when a new dog was added? Maybe I'm just paranoid. Also we wanted to get a smaller dog like a schnoodle or some other size of dog like that, but would this be too small for a german shepherd? Because I know people who have had a gs and a chihauhau both males, live in the same house, and also one of my friends had a huge bull mastiff and a yorkie poo live together, no harm done to any dogs. And my final question Koda is male so does that mean that we have to get a female, b/c I have researched this on the internet and basically it has said that it really does'nt matter b/c it depends on both dogs personalities. Anyone have any intake on what would be better to have male & male or male & female? (we have always had males, for some reason) That's all of my questions, sorry for being long but I want to do what is best for Koda and if getting another pup would make him very happy or very angry. Any advice would be really helpful:) Thanks Lindsay

Hi Lindsay,

I think it is much more likely that your second dog, assuming it will be a puppy, will be more dog oriented than Koda. Koda will not change in terms of how close she is to you, she will just have a buddy to play with and you will have the fun of watching.

I had a GSD, added a Yorkie, added another GSD and then a Cairn terrier. My Yorkie related very well to the other dogs, but she most closely bonded to people. My Cairn, who I acquired when she was 5 months old, was the most dog-oriented. I got her from a breeder who had lots and lots of dogs who were allowed to exercise together and play together. So, it's a combination of breed, individual and their upbringing before they belong to you.

Stacey