As some of you know I have an 8 month old female husky. She is a little wild. She knows a few commands but I'm getting her into training once I decide where. Anyway that was just backgroung lol. A friend of mine has an older husky and her and her boyfriend just got another puppy named Archer. Well she contacted me last night to see if I wanted him because it was a rash decision and she forgot how hard it was to have a puppy. I don't know anything about him but I originally told her I couldn't because my boyfriend wouldn't want me to get another one. 

Well I talked to him this morning and he's actually open to the idea because Nikita needs a playmate and the kitten we were going to bring with us to our new house in a few months isnt coming. He's terrified of Nikita and while she didn't show very much interest in him when they met, she was also tired from daycare and on a leash supervised. Later that week one of Teko's siblings that lives down the road got into our yard while I wasn't home. My mom said she had the kitten pinned then the kitten attacked her and they went at it then separated then the kitten left. So my boyfriend doesn't want to chance it which is understandable. 

I just need some outside advice to help me see pros and cons and just general advice about getting a second dog.

Also for those that don't know, my boyfriend and I are building a house and it will hopefully be done by the end of the year.

Im sorry about the kitten situation. Squirt is a cat killer. Im also well beyond the 2nd dog (we discussed a 5th dog) i wonder with the puppy what is his age? And if nikita isnt being mean or a bully it may just take some time till they are a little closer in size and energy level. If she goes to daycare then it may just be situation where you need to let archer mature a little. Spider was terrified of shadow as a puppy and it stayed that way until she was about 6 months old. And now they sleep on top of each other. To be fair shadow does not like puppies but is fine with adult dogs

Archer looks to be about 3 or 4 months old from the picture I have. Him and Nikita have never met but I'm hoping that if we do get him they'll be okay. My friend says he's a very good puppy, her other husky just doesn't handle him well and her boyfriend that wanted the dog isn't putting the effort in. Nikita gets a little jealous with our shih tzu but he's very grumpy and we've made leaping strides in the past 2 weeks with them but she'll still try to bark at him or push him out of the way to keep him from me every now and then. If we get a second dog I'm definitely going to do introductions and rules different than what we did when we got her.

This is Archer.

Hmmm ... Nikita is 8 months and Archer is '3 or 4' which means they're still puppies. I bet they'll get along fine and come up with bunches of ways to drive their parents up a wall!!!

Nikita already drives me up a wall!!   I'm hoping that if we do get Archer he will have a calmer personality to offset her but I don't know anything about him just yet.

Having two isn't overwhelmingly different than having 1 accept in the training department. You will have twice the time in training but the costs don't seem to mount at an exponential level with 2 like they do if you make the jump to 3. My pack of two was mostly unnoticed. Adding that 3rd there was definitely a noticeable difference. I say go for it. He's a beautiful pup and I think you can handle it. Just make sure to set the same boundaries with him and your family that you did with your first. Keeping a watchful eye on what bad habits family is teaching can be a little more challenging when you have two on your hands.

Its multiples of 3 i would swear the 3rd is way more expensive and going from 5 to 6 is the same. At one point when i was doing rescue with bully breeds i had 13 rescues and a wolfdog and a lab/malinois i did search and rescue with and a very mentally unstable Springer spaniel.

Thanks everyone! I think 2 will be our limit. My boyfriend and I are going this weekend to meet him. Right now the only bad habit Nikita has is jumping on people and eating whatever is on the floor whether it's play dough, food, a Lego, supervised or unsupervised. Especially right now. She has an upset stomach and went on an adventure yesterday so she's on a leash in the yard to keep a watch on her until we're confident in the neighbor's fence repairs.

So cheywhite how is the house build going?

It's slowly picking up pace. The spray foam is done now so they're finishing up the drywall, then I think we have someone coming to talk about cabinets and stuff. My mom said with two dogs they need to put more of a rush on it. But we can only do what we have money to do so it's a constant back and forth.

Yeah money has been slowing down the fixing my house (it was falling down when we bought it) and we are 3 years in now. In some ways it fun in others its an annoyance. I found cabinet shopping depressing only because i could not afford what i wanted. But sounds like its almost livable even if its more like glamping then a house

It has definitely been a fun experience even with the slow pace and the stuff we've had thrown at us. It's slowly getting there but you can't spend more than you have. I just hope we're in it by Christmas!

When i moved in it snowed IN the house, most of the chinking was gone. That was loads of fun.

I just found out im getting granite countertops if i want them. My mom has this obsession with redoing houses, as a kid when there was nothing left to remodel we moved and start the remodel live ther till its finished so on and my mom lives in a condo in Jerusalem and she finished it and wants to turn my house into her next remodel project and im very happy to let her.

Me personally i could live with plywood and cinderblock furniture as long as the dogs are happy and my coffee pot works

I went up to the mine with my stepdad and my truck ran hot and i was talking to him about wanting a 190 santana and someone has one locally. He asks why i dont buy it and my answer is because im 7k short of the 7500 they want for it. Even at almost 35 im kind of a spoiled brat between my hubby and my parents. I really try not to ask my parents unless its really necessary and usually when i do its kinda expensive. If i had really wanted the landrover my stepdad would have given me a 0 intrest loan. But for me money usually isnt the issue when it comes to the house its the actually getting someone to show up and do the work. I guess thats what happens in an area where there are 5 livestock animals to every person in the valley

I just have all these ideas in my head that I cant put in place while I'm living at home. Just little stuff like meal planning and some stuff for Nikita, but I have to keep telling myself that once I move out I can do whatever I want. And around every corner is a setback that pushes the move in date back. Part of me wishes I could just fast forward in time and be where I want but the other part knows that if I could do that I would miss out on so much!

I want a Dodge Challenger but I can't afford it at the moment, well I probably could but want to wait until we move in and get a better idea of bills and how much spare money I'll have left over. My parents always made sure I had what I wanted within reason, buying me a car is not one of them, oh well, I like working for my things. Maybe when I graduate college I can get them to buy me one then since I didn't get a big high school graduation gift! 

Does anyone have any advice about how to make sure Nikita doesn't get jealous and the best ways to start training the new pup? I was just kind of winging it when I got Nikita, so she doesn't know stay or come yet and would like that to be one of the first things to teach the puppy. We're supposed to meet the puppy tomorrow. I plan on doing it on neutral territory and all that, but does anyone have any things to watch for that could pose problems later on. I don't expect there to be problems but I know as soon as I'm not prepared, there will be problems.

I had to laugh at "as soon as I'm not prepared, there will be problems." Well, of course, if ou were prepared they wouldn't be problems

When you bring Archer into the mix there are going to be situations where Nikita is going to get jealous. "What's this, that's my treat! How come he's getting it?" The only way I've found around that type of situation is to go overboard in treating them similarly. Of course, if you say "set" and Archer does and Nikita looks at you - Archer gets the treat ... As young as those two are and considering how close in age they are, I'd imagine some "quasi-sibling rivalry" but I would not expect that to not be extreme. A nip now and then as they determine pecking order but little or no blood. And I fall into the category of "let them work it out" rather than trying to control their place in the hierarchy (you can't anyway, but I know a lot of people who try!)

I have to agree with @lostmaniac, I had two and it was great! Added the third and for a year if they weren't fighting they were threatening to! Two in the Jeep going to the vet, not a problem; three in the Jeep, always a chaotic mix with a crisis just around the corner. Yeh, two are a lot easier than three!

Every time i think i have too many dogs, one grabs a rope toy and the way spider and splinter play is more entertaining then tv. Watching a 18 lb terrier beat up spider is hilarious.