# Thinking about getting a second dog



## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

This won't happen for probably a year or two, but DH is itching to get another GSD. Truthfully, I am, too. We love GSDs and are hooked on this breed. I think Iris would love to have a sibling to play with. Plus we have two cats and two horses, so we need another dog to round it out, right? lol

But I am torn between rescues or finding a reputable breeder. I know adopting a rescue dog is the noble thing to do, but I am afraid of getting one with too much baggage. Plus there are the unknowns health-wise with rescue dogs, especially if you don't know their breeding (which is most of them). 

If we decided to go the breeder route, then there's the decision about which lines to look for. Most importantly, we want a stable family dog (our son is almost 2 years old, and we do plan to have more children in the future), but it would be nice to have the option to do some type of competition or sport, so some athleticism would be a good thing.

Soooo, I guess I just don't know where to start in our search for our next dog. Opinions and experiences would be welcome!

(Just FYI: We bought Iris from a BYB and were incredibly lucky she turned out as well as she has...stable temperment, incredibly loving towards us and our son, very obedient and highly trainable, and fairly healthy so far besides her allergies. But I'm not comfortable taking such a big risk again, knowing what I know now. So I want to do it the right way this time).


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## weber1b (Nov 30, 2008)

While you can know the health of the parents from a breeder, that is still no gaurantee of good health with the pups. I am very prejudiced towards rescues so bear that in mind, but you can work with a rescue group and try to get one who hasn't had a very tough situation. Sometimes those guys can be the best though as they know when they have it good. You also get a chance to know what their personality before adoption, but with a pup you can only get a little clue, not a true picture.

Either way, good luck when the time comes.


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: Honeybee1999I think Iris would love to have a sibling to play with.


Just make sure you are getting a 2nd GSD for you!


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## maggs30 (Aug 5, 2008)

I have done all three. Rescue, BYB, and Reputable Breeder. The best dogs I have had are the rescues. Not that the others are bad and yes my rescues did have a few health problems but they were the most loving, most devoted pets you would ever want. Trooper







had been trained and then rejected by the police after his partner hit him with the car, adopted and tied outside, broke loose, was shot and hit by another car and then came to me unable to walk, refused to eat or drink and was basically wanting to lay down and die. He was the best dog I ever had. It took a total of 15 minutes from the time I first meet him, after he had been growling and lunging at the other kennel hands for me to lay in his shelter cage with him and feed him food and water cupped in my hand. Within days he had found his will to live and was never without me by his side again. He would have protected me to his death and after I had my kids he would guard them from any danger. The rescue dogs understand when they feel love and give it back ten fold. I never once worried about my safety or the safety of my family around him or from other threats when he was around.


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

It's really just personal preference. 
Don't get a shelter guy because you feel pressured to do so. You might end up resenting it. 
Just think about what you really want. If it's a puppy go with that, if you really want a rescue go with that.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

I totally agree you shouldn't get a rescue unless it's something you want to do, but if you're open to getting a rescue, just concerned about baggage and health, working with a reputable group should help allay those concerns. 

We talk a lot about rescue related baggage and issues on this board because those are the things people need help with, problems to be discussed etc, but by no stretch of the imagination are all the dogs in rescue "issues" dogs, in fact, I'd say the majority are quite normal happy dogs who have found themselves without a home for reasons that have nothing to do with them. I don't think anyone should either buy or adopt a dog expecting the dog to walk through the door perfect, but often-times the dogs in rescue are actually far easier to deal with than a puppy or otherwise purchased dog might be. If you adopt from a program that fosters, you will know going in if the dog you're interested in is housebroken, a jumper, counter surfer etc. We get in many dogs that are just a joy to live with from the word go (not that I don't also love my problem children!). 

In terms of health, a reputable rescue gets dogs pretty thoroughly checked out prior to adoption, while not standard this can even extend to things like hip x-rays, so you may be able to adopt a dog with MORE information on health than one that you'd purchase. If you look through the health postings on this board you'll find that adopted dogs are not disproportionately represented. Many to most of the people posting purchased their dogs but sadly health issues can happen to any dog, no matter how carefully screened beforehand.

Another popular misconception is about the origin of the dogs - the dogs in rescue are the same dogs everywhere else. Some are from BYBs, some are from quite good breeders, and quite often the background is known. I have adopted out dogs with extremely impressive pedigrees from very well known kennels. 

Again, I don't think someone should adopt a dog because they feel like it's the noble thing, because they're looking for a deal financially, or because they want a pretrained dog, even if all those thing are true. But if someone genuinely wants to adopt to give a needy dog a loving home, then I would hate to see them stopped because they think all the dogs in rescue have behavioral or health issues because nothing could be further from the truth!


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## Tbarrios333 (May 31, 2009)

If it's a rescue just make sure to ask a lot of questions and go through a reputable organization. 
If it's a puppy I'm sure there are a lot of people in the breeding section that can help you pick out a good breeder.

It's true there are a lot of rescues out there that are just great. Although in my experience they've always come with some icky habits. Then again my puppy didn't know anything so she was almost the same as a rescue.


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## pupresq (Dec 2, 2005)

One thing I've noticed though (and I'm not saying it's what you're doing - it's just something for people to bear in mind) is that when a rescue dog has a bad habit, that tends to be blamed on its being a rescue dog, but when a bought dog has a bad habit, that's not typically attributed to its having been purchased, it's just chaulked up to individual quirks in dogs. 

Dogs in general have a lot of funky habits - some are great and very easy, others are diggers, climbers, destructo-matics, are shy, are aggressive, are bolters, chewers, counter surfers, have separation anxiety, you name it - there are dogs out there from a variety of backgrounds with that problem. So we have to be careful distinguishing the things that might really be due to a bad background from those that are just individual quirks or bad habits of dogs.


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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

> Originally Posted By: zyp
> 
> 
> > Originally Posted By: Honeybee1999I think Iris would love to have a sibling to play with.
> ...


Oh absolutely! I would never bring in another animal unless everyone in the family, including me, was completely on board with it. Not fair to anyone otherwise. I'm just now getting to a point where I feel that we can take on the responsibility of another life. So that's why I want to wait another year or two to make sure we REALLY want another dog.







My son should also be about done with his terrible 2's by then lol.


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## Honeybee1999 (Mar 2, 2006)

Thank you for all the great posts, everyone. Definitely gives me a lot to think about. I am going to look more closely into rescues. I do want to save the life of a dog, not just because it's the noble thing to do, but because I feel they deserve a second chance at being a part of a happy family. There are a few large and reputable GSD rescues in my area. We actually see very few GSDs in the animal shelter because the rescues are so on top of things they snatch them up quickly.

Thanks again!


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