My husband and I have a two year old GSP named Belle (she actually turned two last week!).  We absolutely adore her and have been thinking about getting another for the past six months or so. 

I have heard that two dogs are better than one, meaning they keep each other occupied during the day while the "parents" are away at work.  Sometimes Belle won't play by herself in the backyard and likes for us to watch her while playing so I wonder if she'd play more while we weren't at home if she had a friend.

Does anyone have experience with this?  What was life like at your house when you brought home your second GSP?  I wonder how Belle would react to us bringing home a new puppy because she certainly is the queen of the house!

Husband and I and my sister and her husband have ALL observed it's often easier to have 2 dogs than to have just one. They really do enjoy the company of a familiar companion.

LOL! Yeah, I once had Dulcie and Rogan while Anya was just a pup, had borrowed another dog from a musher for the season, and then had a friend's dog for a few days while she was away. I think from 3 onwards it's 'just one more'... you've run out of arms to hang onto them anyway.

When we got Belle we new by the time she was 1 year old she needed a buddy to play with when we were at work.  How did we know?  Well she would get bored and then get in trouble.  She did things while we were at work that she would never do if we were home.  Anyway, I started looking for a breeder and we found one that was going to breed one of her females as soon as she came in season.  It was November and she wasn't expected to come in season for another month. Anyway, I liked the bloodlines so I put a deposit on and said I wanted a male.  We in January we new we would have a puppy.  When the babies were born though there were only two males and one was already spoken for.  As the pups matured the breeder wouldn't sell me the other male as show quality because she didn't think he would turn out to be show quality so she gave me pick of the females and then pointed at purple girl and said she was the best female.  So, we took purple girl home and she became Halo.  The moment we introduced Belle to Halo we new we were right and they are still the best of friends.  Here are some picts from the day we brought Halo home and introduced her to Belle.

Here is a great toy that we can play with!

You take one end and I get the other and then we pull.

Now pull harder.

Now you've got it.

I keep thinking about this too.  On 1 hand, Spot would have someone to play with.  But then I wonder if I would have enought time to care for 2 dogs properly.  I need time for each dog individually and time with both together.  Would we still be able to take 2 dogs with us most of the time?  Is the bed big enough?

Spot loves his play dates and other dogs in general.  I would like to have another dog as well.  I just want to be sure there's enough time to go around and no one would be short changed.

2 are better than 1, 3 are better than 2, 4 are better than 3..., you get the general idea.

I would love to have another one, but Tory is such an attention monger. My daughter brings her dogs over or I dog sit for her and he (Tory) can't stand if I even look at the other dogs. That is my concern. Anyone else with jealous dogs? Any advice?

All dogs have a 'getting to know you' period. For some it can be longer than others, and there's something about tiny puppies that makes my dogs ready to bolt for the door. BUT... once they've ironed everything out, they quickly become inseparable.

Note that dogs living together is a very different dynamic than heading to the dog park. My crew gets extremely nervious with groups of dogs they don't know milling around loose and would often just as soon head back to the truck. If everyone is polite then they finally relax, but it takes some time for them to be sure there's not a psycho in the bunch.

Dogs who live together are more like people who have been married a few years... they still may have cross words every once in a while, but they know each other in and out and prefer being together than apart.

Gail, the picture next to your bio, she is so beautiful. Does she have any white or ticking on her?

Barb