considering another rescue

KampingKris wrote:
There's a rescue online which has caught my eye. A close relative apparently of our eskie mix.

But the queen bee has lived by herself with us for nearly 10 years

.. She'll probably take okay to a male (which this dog is...) rather than another female as she tends to posture her dominance-mostly when on a leash. Off leash, she's fine with other dogs unless they get rough and step on her.
And it would be nice for her to teach a new dog the rules of the house... by example of course.

But on the other hand, she's really not interested in other dogs that much. At the dog park, she'll sniff a bit, maybe run a little with a group, but generally, ignore them all and instead explore by herself.
So, I'm not sure introducing another dog is such a good idea.

Hmm.. what to do?

Just my humble thoughts is WHY would you want to upset your buddy of 10 years at this senior time in her life with another dog?

JMHO she deserves to remain the 'queen bee' and enjoy her senior time with you. :C

Please don't take these questions to be harsh-they aren't meant to be, but what would be the purpose of the second dog? To keep the first dog company or to prevent "empty nest syndrome" if you lose the first one? I ask because it sounds like the "queen bee" is doing just fine. Not all dogs are meant to live with dog buddies on top of human buddies. I have to agree with letting her be an only dog as she doesn't show much interest in furry companionship and it may upset her greatly at this stage.

Having ran a rescue organization for a few years and having to bring some rescues into the home I have watched the interaction between our personal dogs with those that are passing through going to forever homes. There is always a period of adjustment and sometimes short tempers, but for the most part all goes well.

Old Fella, Mama, Peaches and Levi were always the ones to teach the others the ropes. Bringing in a new face for an older dog can be touchy if the older one doesn't want the territory to be invaded by another. However most likely your older dog will adjust to the new arrival and most likely will keep your older girl more active longer than if she were by herself. Mama was ten years old when she came to stay with us. Her owner died and left her without a home so we took her in knowing she would live out the rest of her days with us. Mama was a German Shepherd mix prone to have hip problems. She live another five years with us and I contribute her length of days to the fact Suzie, Hobo and Peaches kept her active.

There is a lot of good that can come from bringing in another dog to keep your older girl company. I say go for it and enjoy the days ahead.

We also had an older dog who was a rescue. He was 7 when he came to us. When he was 9 we rescued a 14 yr old female. It took them a few months to adjust and then they were inseperable. It did them both good. She passed at age 16 and he at age 12 1/2, 6 months after her. She was deaf and blind at the end and he took care and watched out for her. If we were in your situation, we would certainly give it a good try. Introduce them outside of your home a few times first before bringing him home.

When we "inherited" Darcy from a relative who moved and couldn't take her, we thought another dog was the last thing we needed. We already had an aging, ill dog and a younger one that was quite lively. There was a period of adjustment, but they soon sorted out their pack order and all was well. We lost the older one as anticipated but then also lost our younger girl to a sudden congestive heart failure. I can't tell you how good it was to come home from that tearful trip to the vet to the loving attention of Darcy, the dog we didn't know we needed.

Just because the Queen Bee isn't non-stop gung ho about other dogs doesn't mean she wouldn't do fine with another one in the house. From your description of how she acts at dog parks it sounds as if she doesn't mind being around other dogs at all, but that she's also perfectly fine entertaining herself. My guess is that as long as the new guy is the type who respects other dogs' space she'd probably do fine. That doesn't mean there wouldn't be an adjustment period.

Much more often than not I've seen "only" older dogs benefit from bringing in a companion.

We just adopted a second American Eskimo dog. We lost one (Sugar) last year and the other one just wanted to lay around. We wanted a companion for Ginger so she might become more active. We looked for months before finding Baby. She has only been with us for a month but the two have become inseparable. They play and act like they have been together for years. I would try it.

If they don't work out, you should return the dog to the facility to be readopted.

Drawback is you destabilize the dog and it gets a rep of being "unplaceable". They aren't like appliances where if you don't like one model you replace it with another. While I agree that sometimes a second dog can bring an only dog "back to life" it doesn't appear the OP needs to deal with this issue.

Go for it! Rescue the dog and enjoy the satisfaction of doing so........

My relative had a older dog that was slowing down. He found a puppy while working and brought it home. His old girl perked up and caught a new energy. Adopt don't shop!