Has anyone ever felt this way?? -- cheating on your dog...

I know exactly how you feel. We had Loki for 10 months--raised him from the time he was a puppy. We had such a bond with him and when we decided to adopt Odin that was actually our main concern. "Are we going to lose that bond with Loki?" We were worried we wouldn't get any 1 on 1 time with him and he would be jealous of the new dog. Could not have been more wrong! Loki now has a best friend to run around with and we get to have a great bond with 2 dogs!! That's just my experience, though. I'm sure each dog is different.

Hi. My hubby and I had that argument recently. Only this was in reference to a cat. Hayley had been with us for 6 years and she was my husband's cat. Hubby didn't want to upset Hayley with a playmate but I felt that a second cat would be easier than getting a second dog and I had missed having my own cat.

In the end, Trinity (cat) was adopted and Hayley has forgiven us for bringing home Trin. Also, 2 weeks ago, we adopted our second dog Bubbles. That decision was based off of our dog needing a playmate besides our kids.

I think that if you give Tyson enough attention, and also your bf is okay with the idea of bringing in another dog, to go for it. Is Tyson used to other dogs? In the end, I think Tyson will enjoy having a companion. I hadn't realized how much Shanarra needed Bubbles until I have seen her happier lately.

There will be a stressful adjustment period during which you will probably feel like you can't "give enough" to both dogs, and Tyson may act quite jealous of the new dog. But my observation is that dogs much prefer to have both dog and human family members, and happier dogs form happier bonds with their owners. Also, in some households, some dogs seem kind of relieved when a new dog comes in and the "pressure" on the one dog sort of decreases. Often seen in households where the first dog was expected to satisfy all dog-related needs for the owners and really wasn't quite capable of doing so.

I know how you feel! DH and I are trying to concieve our second child right now and every once in a while I freak out, wondering how in the world I am going to have enough time/energy/love for 2 children! I don't want my daughter to feel like her brother or sister is taking mommy away from her. But in the end, I know that it will work out. We don't just have a certain amount of love that we have to divide between our children (or pets!). With every new addition we also add love, we don't split it up![]

Yes. I did when I first adopted Kero. male peach dog. But knowing me I knew i'd want a second puppy, so I decided on buying 2 pomeranian puppies [] that way they'd both be equal with love lol. But, for your situation...it all depends on Tyson. But make sure to never ever skoot away Tsyon for the new dog, like feed him his bowl..give him his bed, blah blah blah. [] let Tsyon know you love him lots and lots!

I'm with mudpuppy. I just adopted a second dog, and I was worried about not giving Roscoe enough attention. And it's true that I don't give him near as much attention as he used to get and seems to want, because Bella is a handful and she is still learning. So I have to focus on training her while Roscoe remains perfectly behaved in the background.
 
I take him out for "one on one" time twice a week (a trip to the beach, a walk to a pet supply store, etc.), and he gets couch privileges that she doesn't.  I have also started sending her to daycare without him when I am going to be home.  She went for 7 hours on Tuesday, and Roscoe spent 5 of those hours napping on the couch totally unpestered. He was in heaven.  But then when she came home, he was thrilled to see her and they played like long lost buddies (where usually he gets irritated with her wanting to play with him all the time).
 
I used to be someone who said that dogs could be perfectly happy as single dogs, but Roscoe is a different dog now that we have Bella. He's still my snuggle-bug who isn't overly fond of playing with other dogs, but Bella is bringing out a different side of him. He plays lots more now, and after about a month with her, he has started *initiating* play with Bella and other dogs. That's something he has almost never done before.  Maybe dogs can be content as a single dog if they get lots of social interaction in classes or at the park, but I'm probably never going to have just one dog again. 

I'm glad I'm not the only one who worries about things like this! I've worried about the same thing with adding another dog. It's a relief that other people on here have had the same concerns and then things worked out really well.
 
Gingerbread just turned 1 yr old and our new Shih Tzu puppy is coming home mid August to early September. I can't wait, although I'm still a little nervous and have those freak out moments where I'm like- what am I getting myself into?? []

In our case, getting another dog was the best thing we ever did for Brown. Grey commanded (and still dogs) a lot of our attention, but I always made sure Brown wasn't left out of anything and had certain privilages that Grey didn't. This definitely helped both adjust.
 
We had Brown for about three and a half years before we adopted Grey. Brown was stuck to us like glue, and he seemingly forgot how to act like a dog. Brown never met an animal he didn't like, and when he met Grey, they hit it off right away...in fact, they sniffed each other in the shelter parking lot and both jumped into the backseat of the car together in less than a minute after meeting. I was pretty stunned and waited forever for their true reactions to one another to surface, but apparantly, they adored one another from the start. I know this doesn't happen for everyone, so I was extremely lucky in that regard. Bringing Grey home meant Brown always had a buddy to play with and constant company when we're gone, and they truly hate to be separated, although Brown handles it much better than Grey. I honestly can't imagine Brown without Grey and Grey without Brown.

I know how you feel...
We give Talus so much love and don't want to let him feel cheated out of any of our love....
We have decided that the next dogues we get after Talus, we'll just get two at once....

edited due to a pm I received

i am worried about that statement. you stated the dog would be "ours" but you would be making the decisions. i honestly don't think that is possible. if the dog is going to belong to both of you, like children you will have to agree on how to discipline and train.

I can understand your concern.  I help Jim (my boyfriend) to care for Tyson, and we both shower him with love.  Jim has been the primary caretaker for Tyson since he got him (4-5 months ago).  Now my boyfriend and I have moved in together.  I make suggestions, and do a lot of research, we don't always agree, and I think that's normal. Tyson listens to Jim much better than he does to me, etc.
Also, there have been material things, like I think Tyson should have a bed, and he doesn't (I got him one anyway).  Or I like metal crates better than plastic ones, but he doesn't want to change.  Or I would love to put a rhinestone bone around a dogs neck, but jim doesn't want it.....
Any dog is "our" dog because it lives with us, and we would both care for it, but I know that in many households, one person does (most of) the training -- (of course everyone enforces it on a day to day basis), one person bonds with the dog possibly more so than the other, etc.  I don't think that anyone can tell me that this does not happen.... I mean, one person in each household is a member of i-dog, etc. 

If you're hoping the new dog will primarily be "yours" and tyson will primarly be "your BF's" you may end up sadly disappointed. At least in my household all of the dogs know full-well who the one most important person to them is. And it's the same person- me - for all of the dogs, which occasionally bothers my SO, who actually spends more time (just not quality time) with the dog pack than I do. It's very possible that if Tyson has remained focused on your BF and still listens to your BF better than you,  even after you moved in, the next dog will too.
 
I'm just offering a warning. I think you should go ahead and get your second dog.

Thanks for the info...
 
Im hoping that as soon as we are together full time, (hes still in the process of moving, finding a job, etc. -- therefore Tyson is back and forth as well) I can begin to establish a better relationship of sorts with Tyson.  We see each other only on weekends, and before we "moved in together" it was even more infrequent.  I attribute the listening better to him thing partially to this.

I can give my input on this. We have 3 dogs. Dingo was BFs before me, Sammy a rescue and Tootsie the corgi who is mine. I am home all day with all 3, I do the feeding, walking, bathing, you name it I do it.Dingo, is still daddys boy. However, even though we got Tootsie together, she is mine. I make all the decisions for her, I buy her what I want, etc... BF  knows this aand never tries to do his own thing with her. I know the way I want her to be and I tell BF how to do things with her. Training,etc...If in fact we ever part ways, Tootsie comes with me.