Do you recomend having two shelties over one?

GordonDaSheltie

GordonDaSheltie

Forums Regular
Hi Gordon's breeder has a sheltie she wants to give away because she has 8 and can't give her enough cuddles and attention. So of course i'm thinking about it.

She is 4years old and reserved around other people but loves other dogs. Her name is Zara ( so cute!) i live in a townhouse with another human and two 7yold indoor only cats. I think a second dog would be nice for gordon as well as keeping him distracted so he doesn't annoy the cats so much. My partner he works from home most days but there are days when the animals are left on their own for the entire day.

What are some of the pros/cons to having two shelties ?
 
I love having two. They play with each other, they keep each other company, they are a team. They are entertaining with twice the fun. Cons, twice the expenses, twice the messes, twice the barking if something needs to be barked at, twice the fur shedding. For me, I think two is wonderful and want a 3rd soon.
 
tesslynn said:
I love having two. They play with each other, they keep each other company, they are a team. They are entertaining with twice the fun. Cons, twice the expenses, twice the messes, twice the barking if something needs to be barked at, twice the fur shedding. For me, I think two is wonderful and want a 3rd soon.
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Thanks for your reply. Do you feel like you need a lot more room to have two? we live in a large-ish townhouse for our area but its still a townhouse with a courtyard not a backyard. The dog park is 300mts from our front door though!
 
I had larger ones in the past. My girls now are 15 lbs and 20lbs, which is still less than both my previous girls that were 40 lbs. I lived in a condo with my 2nd one briefly. NO backyard just a terrace, but it backed up to a park and so we did the walking in the park. It worked for us, but I have never been w/o a dog in my life. We had 3 kids, 2 foxhounds and a doxie growing up. It wasn't a huge house. It is all about what you can manage
 
I'll probably always have at least two....
everything Tesslyn said is right. I don't think you'd need more room for two but if you get more than two, it might be a good idea.
I can easily walk two without issues and while I can walk all four together, we usually end up all tangled together......
 
awww man... sounds like shes worth keeping! ill have to convince my partner that its okay to have 4 animals under one roof with two humans!! haha.
 
I would never willingly be a one Sheltie household again. Katy was miserable after Bailey died and we had done everything to find a Rescue before he passed. If I'd known about finding an older dog through a breeder we'd likely have avoided the challenge of only having one. I'm so glad to be back to 2 again.

For us it has been the companionship issue. We had Bailey as an only dog until our neighbors got dogs and Bailey couldn't stand not being able to play with them and he wasn't going to daycare as often. He needed a friend and we bought Katy home from rescue.

Honestly, space hasn't been a huge issue. Since Annie is a smaller Sheltie, while Bailey was an oversized Sheltie space has been even less of a problem.
 
We've had as many as 4 Shelties at a time. Usually we had 3. 2 was VERY manageable. But one just seems to be missing something - oh, that's right! It's missing a SECOND Sheltie! And that's where we are right now - we just got a 4 year old, but looking for a second.
 
I'm going to answer in this thread because it's more active. I live in a townhouse with two indoor cats and two Shelties - and it is too crowded, I couldn't imagine having another human in the mix. Sometimes I kick Tully out in the yard just so I get some more room. I'm at home most of the time - I guess if I was out all day I wouldn't notice so much, but when you've got animals everywhere all the time it can be tiresome. Probably your partner should have a lot of input if he's going to be around them all the time.

Cons
- Space (or lack thereof)
- Behavioural issues are amplified. They egg each other on when being naughty, and the barking increases. When I had one sheltie and one cat I didn't have any barking issues.
- Walks. So much easier to walk one dog, walks are much more controlled when I only have one
- Costs. The never-ending vet bills with 4 animals, esp as they age
- Some dogs are happier being only dogs. Deska doesn't really care if he's left home by himself or with Tully, as long as he has a treasure hunt to fill in time he copes well. Tully being the younger though doesn't cope well on her own. I know they both love it best when they have one-on-one time with me.
- Going away. It's much, much easier to find someone who will mind one dog, I only have one friend that will take both.
- Jealousy. It's darn lucky Tully is really, really pretty, otherwise she'd be overlooked all the time.
- So much fur, everywhere
- Play time is more work. Mine don't actually play with each other. I think that's an assumption people always make, that when you have two dogs they will play together and you won't have to play with them, but actually you end up having to entertain both. My two only occasionally play, most of the time they look to me so I'll end up with a stick in one hand and a ball in the other.

I won't go over the pros because I'm sure others have cover them.

I doubt I will ever do 4 pets in a townhouse again. As mine get older (and Deska becomes more infirm) I've wondered if I would have 2 dogs again, I think I'd move somewhere bigger before replacing one of the dogs (the cats will probably outlive the dogs).
 
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