Baby Miles - encounters, and a scary thought

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Ari_RR
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Baby Miles - encounters, and a scary thought

Post by Ari_RR »

This is for those who like pictures :D
Some of the (mostly funny) moments from the last few days..... and a scary thought at the end.

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And here comes the scary thought..

13 m.o., 88 lbs/40 kg, intact Baby Miles spends a good deal of time running free with other dogs, at the beach or in the nature park.
There he meets all kinds of dogs - males, females, neutered and intact, all shapes and sizes.
We steer him away from fragile ones (very old or tiny), in order to avoid him accidentally hurting them.
But that aside - he gets along with all kinds of other dogs very well, despite his teenager over-the-top exuberance.
He gets along with them very well - but not many can keep up with him, and get either tired or bored, and go back to fetching tennis balls, or plaing with more docile friends, or just mooching around.

My dearest wife has mentioned a few times lately that she follows a few local RR breeders on the Instagram, and why not take a ride, meet and greet and get to know, hang out with dogs, and establish a connection for future.
"For future"! :D I fear there is only one way such visit can end, and while it would be absolutely AWESOME to have 8 little feet running around and 2 tails spinning, it would also be incredibly non practical (unless one of us retires... maybe that's the real agenda here? :? )
Plus, we know absolutely nothing about girl-dogs, and it would have to be a female. Not to mention a girl-dog coexisting with an intact male.

Crazy idea. But so was getting a dog in the first place.
Meanwhile - it's hard to resist the offer of visiting a breeder, so we'll probably go at some point, and let the chips fall where they may.
Ari, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Sept 2010 - Dec 2018.
Miles, Rhodesian Ridgeback, b. Nov 2018
JudyN
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Re: Baby Miles - encounters, and a scary thought

Post by JudyN »

Say goodbye to all ornaments that aren't nailed down - your house would be wrecked!! :lol:

And dealing with two 40-plus-kg lovelorn dogs desperate to get to each other at any cost.... Yup, you must be mad.

Can't wait to see the photos :lol: :lol: :lol:

BTW, are you assuming that two intact well-socialised males might not get on? Or an intact and a neutered one (if you would consider neutering for the sake of harmony)? Is that actually the case? And would you neuter the girl pup, or are you considering breeding. (Woo hoo, LOTS of little paws rampaging through the house :D )
Jasper, lurcher, born December 2009
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Nettle
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Re: Baby Miles - encounters, and a scary thought

Post by Nettle »

Mmmmm - you will do what you decide. You have both experience and common sense to add to the workload - because 2 dogs are WAY more than twice the work of one. You can do it - but would Miles like it? Honestly?

He will either like it way too much and so you will both become an irrelevance unless you commit to a lot of separate exercise and training. Or he will like it not at all, in which case you might feel regret similar to if your Mrs. brought home another husband and said because it was such fun having you, she has got another one and you can all play football together and romp about with each other. Yeah, right.

Whatever you decide - not before Miles is at least 2. 8)

And a litter of puppies is an amazing experience - RRs have HUGE litters - maybe when one of you retires, because you will be under house arrest from just before birth to when they all go to their new homes.

Gorgeous photos! :D
A dog is never bad or naughty - it is simply being a dog

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Ari_RR
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Re: Baby Miles - encounters, and a scary thought

Post by Ari_RR »

We both have a strong feeling that Miles would love it.

3 times the work :D I guess - still ready physically and mentally, but there’s just not enough hours in a day. Need to not have to go to work. Not sure how much discipline can help with freeing up time. I think we both have a strong feeling that this is a problem, and this is what makes the idea not very practical, at this point.

Want to maximize the chances of them getting along, but also want to experience a girl-dog. Next one will probably be a female, whether 2nd or only dog.

Breeding would be great, especially the part where super cute puppies crawl around... but getting to that point seems to be too much, this is probably something you get into at the early age, learn over years by watching and helping and studying, then have enough experience to go through, and enough support around to help if anything goes not as planned.

So, then - a puppy girl to eventually be neutered, or adopting a grown up already neutered.

House is wrecked already :-) Miles is a lot more destructive and devious, and in under a year has inflicted a lot more damage that Ari did in his 8 years. Indoor fences are still up inside, and there is only so much one can do in keeping things hidden from the dog who can reach almost anywhere. But in a way it’s good. He is not very interested in toys, but he is always interested in finding ways to open closet doors, which means he can self entertain for at least a bit of time when he can’t get outside. The “ oh oh” moments come often - the sudden realization that it’s been quiet for some time, and you don’t have the direct line of sight on the dog. We really need to have a code word for this case, which would mean everyone dropping what they are doing, searching and locating to dog, and then catching him and retrieving whatever item he managed to get his paws on - a shoe, a hat, gloves, something from the laundry basket....

Right, not until 2.

Maybe the best plan to consider is adopting a grown up.
As much as we feel that we have the energy, I can tell that scooping Miles up in the middle of the night and running with him outside during first months earlier this year seemed more difficult than it was 8-9 years ago with Ari...
Ari, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Sept 2010 - Dec 2018.
Miles, Rhodesian Ridgeback, b. Nov 2018
jacksdad
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Re: Baby Miles - encounters, and a scary thought

Post by jacksdad »

Ari_RR wrote: Sat Dec 28, 2019 6:47 am We both have a strong feeling that Miles would love it.
just be REALLY, REALLY honest about this strong feeling...be sure it's NOT your own feeling projected.

the more I work with dogs, the more I agree with Nettle about the 2nd dog generally speaking being more about us and not our current dog truly wanting another dog to live with.

This is NOT to say there aren't dogs that would have their lives even more enhanced by having another dog in the house. I have worked with such dogs. In once case...the resident dog's life got better with the new dog added, but the new dog turned out to not be the 100% ideal match. more sedate then the resident dog. it's all good, the match could have been better, but it was close enough. but it could have easily not been. We often worry about is getting a second dog is right for the resident dog...but keep in mind the new dog...adding that unknown dog is much more a shot in the dark for will this work or not for that dog than the dog you know and currently live with.

BUT.... NO matter how social a dog is with other dogs at the park, beach, on hiking trails etc, that does NOT always translate to "gosh, I think life would better with another dog in the house" for you dog.

Lots and Lots of people have second or third (and so on) dogs successfully or successful enough. BUT... even still it is good to really approach this choice carefully and thoughtfully as possible and realize even with social dogs, having another dog living in their home may not be a choice they would make if they could.

I absolutely agree with your basic plan for now...let Miles finish growing up BEFORE you actually add a second dog.
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