Is it okay to get another dog when you have had a dog for as many years as I’ve lived with my family? And for some of you, is it a good idea to bring a pet into the home at all?
My owner was looking at the animals that are in our local animal shelter, which she has “liked” on Facebook, and found that they have a little young Yorkie that needs a home. We are such cute dogs, that we tend to get adopted easily, and she was tempted to consider adopting another dog, so she asked a few questions.
I’m not sure what it would be like to have another dog come into our home after being the “top dog” around here for almost 13 years. It may be fun, it may not. It is a nice thing to do for a homeless dog, but people have to take time to think about how they are going to add this new family member to their homes. Some things to consider:
How does the dog you have act around other dogs or when other dogs are brought into the home to visit? Try it if you haven’t.
Are you going to be home to help the new dog transition into the home, watching to see how the dogs respond to one another and react accordingly?
What kind of personality does the dog have that you are bringing into the home, and how well will it match with the dog that you already have?
What kind of background did the dog have…in it’s previous home were there children or other pets?
How was the dog treated in it’s former home? Was it abused?
Has it had all of it’s shots and what is it’s health history?
How much time do you have to give to a dog? They need companionship from you or another pet if you work all day.
What size dog would best suit where you are living?
Do you have time to train a dog?
All of the above applies to other types of animals as well.
Take your time when you are considering bringing a pet into your home. Yes, do adopt a dog from a shelter if you can, but be wise in your decision…it would be very sad to have to return it to the shelter if things don’t work out.
Consider all of the above when purchasing a dog as well, or the poor thing may end up in a shelter if you are not satisfied. Pets should be considered part of the family, they should not be dispensable…please, please, please be careful when you are considering bringing a new pet into the home. At the same time, do consider adopting one from a shelter if your home and lifestyle permit it…there are so many pets that need good LOVING homes.
The Weather Channel is full of stories of Tornadoes causing historic damage, and as I update this, Hurricane Irene is coming up the coast. There have been earthquakes, flooding and other natural disasters that are hard to imagine.
For rescue workers, people are on the top of the list to be rescued, and this is important. But people who are rescued or who survive but have terribly damaged homes will tell you how important their pets are to them…they are like members of the family.
We don’t live in an area that has many hurricanes [but as I update this on 8/26/11, that is changing], dangerous flooding or tornadoes, but we have been looking around online for information about protecting your pet as well as sites that help pets after a disaster has happened.
Here are some thoughts for you to consider, as well as links that we hope you will find helpful:
Do you have an emergency plan? Your plan will depend upon what type of natural disaster is most likely to happen where you live, be it hurricane, tornado, brush or forest fire, flooding, earthquake…you know best what can happen in your area.
Here is a FEMA link with information for pet owners in the event of a natural disaster. There is a lot of information there, they emphasize that you DO NOT leave your pets behind when you evacuate your home. Evacuate, yes, don’t stay behind because of a pet…this is where advance planning comes in. Have a plan!
I ask you again, do you have a plan? Do you know what you’ll do if there is a flood, fire, earthquake, tornado, hurricane…you fill in the blank, and PLEASE, even though you may feel helpless in a natural disaster, pets are even more helpless and dependent upon you in natural disasters
My owners have finally figured out that I don’t like to be left alone. I have never liked it, but in the past few years, it affects me more than it did when I was younger.
I can’t eat anything while they are away
I get sick and diarrhea for part of a day when they come home
If you think your dog is just an animal that doesn’t have feelings, you are wrong, we get very attached to our families, and think of all of you as our “pack” and when someone is missing from the group, we feel it. We love our owners, and want to be with them.
Last week was one of those times when everything just wasn’t right, one of my owners got sick, so the whole “pack”, except me, went with him to the hospital…police came, medics came, and so did an ambulance. I could sense the nervousness and anxiety they were feeling, and it made me sick, too. Usually they leave some peaceful music on for me, but they forgot.
Things have quieted down now, everyone is home, and so far everyone seems well. I’m happy and playing again, but do want you to know that you have to remember us, too, if you can…when things are going rough…we feel it too.
It’s that time of the year again when my owners will be sitting outside on the deck watching all the fireworks that are set off around the lake. I am not afraid of fireworks like some dogs, I just bark at them and make sure that my owners are okay after..in fact, I do a lot of barking.
But I know some of my dog friends are very afraid of them. Maybe if it is hot where you are, you can close the windows and put on the air conditioning and play some classical music, it is supposed to be soothing to us dogs. I’m not promising it will work, but it might help depending upon how sensitive your dog is.
Another thing you can do is give a couple drops (amount depends upon the size of your dog) of a remedy that calms nerves, we have a Bach Flower Remedy around the house called Rescue Remedy, a pet version of the Bach Flower Remedy.
I know I get stressed out sometimes. There are some things that really make me nervous, let me tell you about a few:
When my owners are upset or nervous about something, I feel nervous too, because I can sense what they are feeling
I get nervous when I go on trips in the car because I’m afraid my owner is taking me to the groomer
Thunder…actually I get more mad at thunder than afraid of it, when it thunders, I bark a lot, and sit close to my owner to protect her because she is afraid of it.
I hate being left all alone at the house, and even though one of my owners doesn’t work, sometimes I’m alone for long periods of time, that makes me so nervous that I can’t eat.
So what do you do about a nervous dog? You can ask your veterinarian about medications that might be helpful, or if you want to try something natural, we use a couple of drops of Rescue Remedy. My owner says this is a Bach Flower homeopathic remedy that people use specially formulated for pets.
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, it helps a lot.