>She's thinking about getting the beagle because she thinks Moxie is >lonely when she is out with the kids and having another dog around >might mellow her out.
You're joking right?? Ha, ha, no a second dog is not likely to "mellow" a young, active dog out. More likely they would ramp each other up if you are not giving the dog(s) proper daily exercise and challenge. My young sheltie for instance is very calm and sleeps when he's by himself. Around other dogs he will play and run and chase for hours on end until the other dogs want to kill him. ;-) >The main question here how do male and female young dogs *typically* >get along when they're both reproductive system deprived? Spay/neutering has little to do with it, as does sex. It has a lot more to do with the dog's dominance/activity level/social skills, etc. I've had unneutered dogs that got along well with any newcomers, and neutered dogs that would take ages to adjust to them. >I know, there are a slew of others including, "is my wife nuts for >wanting to get another dog when the one we have isn't fully trained?" Probably. It sounds like you might not have quite enough time for the dog you already have, particularly if you have kids. A lot of people have the misconception that a small dog will just get enough exercise and mental stimulation running around the house and yard....not so! Keep in mind your dog was originally bred to hunt, they like to have a job. Maybe you could look into doing go-to-ground with her...I love dog sports and activities of any kind, stuff that involves instinct is particularly cool as you see the brain just click into it. The dogs just love doing what they were meant to do and it's often great fun for the kids as well. >and "can cats truly plot to kill you in your sleep for adding another >dog to the family?" Those are secondary though. They might indeed! My cat still hasn't forgiven me for this annoying puppy I brought home! If you get the National Geo channel, try to catch some episodes of the Dog Whisperer...he does a good job of covering the importance of activities and exercise for dogs, and has some about how to pick a new dog and add it into the family. --- Mary Jo ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~| ColdFusion 8 - Build next generation apps today, with easy PDF and Ajax features - download now http://download.macromedia.com/pub/labs/coldfusion/cf8_beta_whatsnew_052907.pdf Archive: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/message.cfm/messageid:243948 Subscription: http://www.houseoffusion.com/groups/CF-Community/subscribe.cfm Unsubscribe: http://www.houseoffusion.com/cf_lists/unsubscribe.cfm?user=11502.10531.5
