I had a not so great experience.
Adopted a neglected 10 month old silky. At first she was great and would play, sleep, and run around with my little guy, she was as sweet as could be. After a week and a half she started attacking him. Biting his neck, jumping on top of him, body checking him out of the way... It was horrible.
Did a lot of research and a lot of training, a lot of vet visits and a lot of crying. After a month and a half it was a lot better but still not good. She stopped biting him but would still jump on his back and force him to the ground. She was twice his weight and he is a submissive lover who never acted dominant or ever fought back.
Spoke with trainers, dog owners, and my neighbor who works with the local humane society and nearly all said that it could get better but most likely this was as good as it gets. With heavy heart I put my sweet silky up for adoption, changed my mind, tried more training, and then finally put her up for adoption and eventually found an amazing home.
The trauma and the drama took a huge toll on me and my family. Luckily my little guy lives only in the now and still wants to play with every dog he meets.
If you adopt there are big advantages to adopting through a rescue organization as opposed to a private party like I did. My silky's previous owners did not want her back (nor did I want her to go back to them) but a legit rescue will take the dog back because it's in the dog's best interest. A rescue organization will (hopefully) do a behaviour evaluation and be able to tell you if the dog has aggression towards other dogs or is over possessive of a human. A rescue will spay / neuter and make sure the dog is UTD on shots and relatively healthy. My silky hadn't been to the vet since she was a few weeks old.
I think having two dogs is the best idea IF the dogs are compatible. That week and a half before she turned on my guy was one of them most fun and happy weeks I've had so far.
Good Luck! |