[mire]

Rylie went through a 6 month stage where he had diarrhea and vomitting. He had every test done imaginable and these tests cost us a fortune. Finally the vet told us nothing was wrong but that maybe Rylie was "depressed or lonely" and that we should think about adopting another dog.
My boyfriend and I went home and debated. We knew another dog meant double the costs, double the loss of personal time, double the fees when we travel, so on and so on. But we were determined to try it hoping the pros outweighed the cons.
First we did our research: we read everything about welcoming a new pet into our home and how to get Rylie to adjust. On the day of Layla's adoption, we took Rylie to meet his new little sister and sat back and waited. Rylie & Layla worked it out & now they truly love each other's company. And the vet was right: Rylie has not had diarrhea or vomitting once since Layla was brought into our home.

Has it been all easy street? No. When one barks, the other barks. They will battle for our attention. Walking them can be difficult-- Rylie walks fast and Layla walks slow. The bills are definitely double. There are moments where we have pangs of doubt, like when we got offered a free all expense ski trip but we had to turn it down because we could not bring two dogs. But the pangs are brief and far between. Rylie & Layla have both worked their way into our hearts and we can't imagine life without either of them.