Hi All,

So i have Thor, a 3 year old Sibe that i rescued at the start of the new year. I have had him for just about 2 months now and he is really starting to come into his own - even more stubborn, even more loving, and really knowing his place in the house. He does have a bit of separation issues - the poor boy will sit by the window all day waiting for us to come home. I know they are really big pack animals and i have been thinking about getting a second dog ever since i got him. There is a beautiful ~2 year old german shepherd, golden retriever mix that i came across and am thinking about adopting. We had a playdate the other day and it was amazing how perfect they looked. They are the same size, have the same fluffy tail, have the same long sideways tongue, ran at the same speed, similar energy level, and really just took to each other. They were only outside and it was the first meeting session so it was all about play. We have a home visit later this week on Thors turf to see if they still get along well.

I just wanted everyones opinions regarding getting a second dog. I am not extremely concerned about the additional financial cost. And i do think that Thor would enjoy some company (by no means am i using a second dog as an excuse to not give as much attention, i just think it would be a good supplement so he doesn't feel abandoned during the day and has someone to run and play with that isn't a super slow human).

At this point my major concern is the walks - whether i can walk them at the same time. I like taking thor on long walks in the morning. if i had to take two equally sized walks in the morning it would be really difficult for me. and i am not going to do something that is going to result in me exercising thor less or giving him less attention. I am stronger than most people my size (for example i would not let my roommate walk them together) and feel like i should be okay taking them both together eventually. Does anyone walk multiple large dogs, and do you have many issues (i know that training is also important in this context)? And would anyone highly recommend against that?

Also, has anyone seen a dramatic improvement in getting a second dog as a companion for their husky? Or the converse, has anyone seen a dramatic detriment to owning a second dog?

Any input would be greatly appreciated. And if their are any major issues that i did not raise that you think should be considered, please let me know.

Thanks!!

Well we only had sierra for a month before we adopted jack, she came from a pack house and we could really tell she needed a friend. we wanted another husky, but if you think you found a non husky that can keep up with thor and play at his level and you can afford it give it a go. as for walking them, im 5'3" and really strong and can handle them both no issue, in fact sierra pulls more then jack. you may want to look into a walking belt to give your arms a break with holding them, i never found the Y split leashes to be that great walking as they each want to go sniffing something else. let us know what you do

Only 2 cons in my book.

- You have to buy more food.
- You have to pick up more Poop.

Everything else is a pro, and they far out weight the cons in my book.

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At this point my major concern is the walks - whether i can walk them at the same time.

In terms of walks, from day one I've walked them together and on a single leash. Kelly has too. There are days when they see a squirrel, fox, or bunny and it feels like they are going to rip my arms out of my socket to get it, but 90% of the time they heel beside me and barely pull at all.

Kelly has a bit more trouble with them sometimes, and it may have more to do with strength than training, but even she can handle both of them fine and alone.


They both walk on the same side of us on a double ended leash and are slightly ahead of what most handlers refer to as "Heeling". Rarely pulling. Both walk with Weighted packs that cause them to bump into me at times but thats about it. They get walked twice a day for between 6 and 10 kms in total (warm weather I run them).

Training just involved letting them know what was accepted on our walks and when and how they had freedom to explore and sniff. Structured walks enforce very fast what is acceptable and when, as long as you keep at it. We had Ripley heeling within a week of getting her and no longer pulling by simply stopping movement when she did pull or small corrections while walking to demonstrate proper positioning.

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Also, has anyone seen a dramatic improvement in getting a second dog as a companion for their husky? Or the converse, has anyone seen a dramatic detriment to owning a second dog?

Tika is about the same as she was prior to getting Ripley. Not much changed besides Ripley teaching her how to beg for human food (honestly this problem is non existent anymore unless I bring it upon myself). That is something to note though, a new dog entering a house can pass unwanted behaviors onto your current dog. They are generally easy to address but one or two might sneak through.

Having Tika however directly influenced Ripley and her re-training in our House. Ripley is cute and all but she is a bit dense. She learns rules and boundaries very fast but teaching her tricks isn't the easiest thing to do.

Having Tika as a template as to what was acceptable or expected in our household seemed to help her. She copied Tikas movements and learned what our commands were through her as well as a couple of tricks by mimicry. It truly facilitated her rehabilitation with us.


Our two girls are completely enamored with one another. Anyone could plainly see they prefer to spend time together and truly enjoy each others company.


Only you know if your current situation is right for another pup, you'll be able to know and feel it. If you're dealing with 100 things in terms of training Thor or you feel deep down he just isn't ready yet, or there is something you need to work on, I would hold off. If you have the right atmosphere in the house and it can stabilize with this new addition with minimal amounts of stress, and you are ready for the bit of extra work you are going to have to put in retraining and focusing on a new pup at the beginning then go for it.

Just make sure when the final decision is made you can confidently say "Adding this pup is the best move for Me, my family, my animals, Thor, and the new dog". You never want to bring a pup into a house if someone, or something, isn't 100% comfortable with it.

Best of luck!!!!

~Chris~

Oh boy I am no one to answer this as I am getting ready to add my third dog lol. We had our lab Ruby for about 10 months when we got Balon (husky). They love each other! She even plays like a husky now, in other words rough lol. We love Balon so much when his parents had another litter the end of Jan we put our names on the list and picked another male, Loki! He won't come home until the end of March. We took Balon with us so they could see how he turned out and I wanted to see him around the pups and the other adult dogs. He was so amazing. He really didn't care about the pups, just sniffed them, when I was holding Loki he licked him lol. He wanted to play with the cat, and his Mom, (I don't think he remembered her but he def wanted to play with her!). I know the lab will love the puppy she is a typical lab and loves all she meets. (she has a bum knee so I didn't take her to the breeders that day).

I say if you can afford it go for it! Two or three is better than one lol. Good luck!

I guess the only reservations I have about adding another is that you have only had your current pup for a short amount of time, so you really don't know his true colors yet. It usually takes rescues around 6 months to really come out of their shell and become their true selves. I will say Kennedy (my rescue) never really changed and stayed pretty much the same since the day I adopted her, but she is an exception.

I am also one of those people who believe that each dog should have their own bonding time before adding another pup. Meaning that I want time to bond with Kennedy before I added another. I had Kennedy by herself for at least 6 months ( I don't really remember, but it was a little longer then that I believe). I wanted to have a strong relationship with her and I didn't want her to feel like she needed to fight for attention or anything like that. I also wanted to make sure she had well enough training that she wouldn't pass any undesirable behaviors onto the new addition.

So all in all, I guess my opinion is to wait, for the sake of bonding with your rescue and giving him time to really become his own dog.