Thinking of adopting a new dog.. Some questions

pyrexia

pyrexia

rosed.
O.G.
Sep 10, 2006
4,786
88
#1
A family at my church is looking to give their golden retriever up for adoption because their 2-month-old baby is allergic to the fur and approached us. Currently, we have a male collie whom we've had since he was about 1 and he's had the freedom of our entire garden to roam and establish his territory.

My question is, if we adopt the retriever will that cause problems for the collie? Is it possible for two different to harmoniously live together?
As in, will my collie feel threatened by the newcomer's "poaching" of his territory and as a result will I have to anticipant fights? (The retriever is female, so I'm not sure how aggressive over territory or whatever they might be).

TIA! :P
 
#2
Before you make a commitment you should allow the dogs to meet on neutral territory first and see how they get along. If all is OK, then you can take them home and see how it works. Probably the territory will not pose a problem, but you should take away all 'personal' possessions first, such as toys, chew bones and food in order to avoid conflict. At first they should also be fed separately (better safe than sorry).
 
#4
Good luck to you! I hope you are able to adopt the golden retriever. It's been my experience that they generally have easy-going personalities and get along well with everybody (pets and people). I have three dogs and two cats and after some adjustment they all learned to get along. It took about two weeks for all the dogs to work things out. But, they love each other so much now and enjoy each other's canine companionship.

BTW, one of my dogs is a collie/golden retriever mix!
 
#5
Like Hello said do the first meeting on neutral ground. I have done this a couple of times and never had a problem as one is a boy and the other a girl.
They take a little while to settle then they are fine together. My two English Setters at this moment are curled up to sleep together on the bed, Daisy was rescued, they are totally in love.
 
#6
Allowing them to meet on neutral territory is good advice. We do that before bringing home foster dogs--you get a really good idea how they will interact. If that goes well, bring the "visitor" dog home to sniff around! Watch carefully--as long as one dog isn't aggressive, it should be fine. They have to learn what the boundaries are.

We have (ahem) several dogs, and they get along great. One trick we have learned is to give them completely separate eating areas, and have each dog sit before being fed, and if there is unfinished food, take it away. Food is a serious thing for dogs, so it's best to have a routine--the dogs learn this really quickly!

One huge benefit to having more than one dog is that they play together, which is so nice! They aren't as lonely when you leave, which is also nice.

Let us know how things go!
 
#7
snowwhite said:
One huge benefit to having more than one dog is that they play together, which is so nice! They aren't as lonely when you leave, which is also nice.

Let us know how things go!
Click to expand...

So true!!! But I still hate leaving them at home for anything. And, yes, please let us know what you decide to do.

snowwhite... how awesome and wonderful of you to foster dogs!
 
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