Thinking about adding a bully

fastmatt613

Socks Don't Hold Pee.....Trust Me on This!
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Aug 6, 2013
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So at an engagement party tonight, a friend of mine informed me he has a friend fostering a 1.5 year old girl who needs a permanent home. There will be no costs associated with adopting her and I don't have any other details. He will be sending me pictures soon. My fiance is all about it but I'm a little bit on the fence. Rocco is enough work by himself and idk if I'm ready to take on another. Rocco is 15 months old and I've had him since 8 weeks. I'm looking for some advice from those that have been in a similar situation and have taken in another. How was the transition with your current dog? Were there any back steps in training? Rocco is perfectly house trained and behaviorally a little ham. I would hate for him to be jealous or territorial. He's playful at the dog parks and gets along with all people, dogs, and children. Will his temperament change? I'm so torn and need some insight!!
 

2BullyMama

I'm not OCD....now who moved my bulldog?
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The best thing to do, is have the dogs met on neutral ground and see how they interact. What is the girl's temperament and situation.

when we added Banks, she was 11 weeks and Nitschke was just a year.... When we added Cheli after Nitshcke past, Banks was 6 and Cheli 8 months. we did a full week of intro/interaction, before we brought him into our home. However, Banks is very dominate, so we had to work on her reaction and acceptance of him. Now, almost 3 yrslater, they balance each other out and now between themselves when to leave the other alone.

going to tag a couple members to give advice too
 

Vikinggirl

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image.jpgHi Matt, Christine has given you excellent advice, regarding doing a slow transition, and introducing a new dog on neutral territory. I don't have any experience with adding a second bully, as my guys are siblings and litter mates and have been together since birth, so they have grown together, and are used to being together since day one. Each bully is different in their temperament, tolerance, and personality, you don't know how they will react until you are in the situation. I have heard that a male/female combination get along better than a same sex combination. 2 females can be jealous of each other, and 2 males can show signs of aggression or dominance to each other. I'm not sure if this is true, or a myth, but again many people have 2 same sex dogs and they do well. I don't think having 1 bully versus 2 is any more work, you mentioned the age of the female bully is 1.5, so she would already be trained. The potty training and the puppy phase is the hardest part of adding a new dog. The question you will have is if Rocco will accept the new dog on his territory, and whether he will be jealous or not?, but if he does having 2 is twice the bully love and twice the fun, and they are good company for each other. I think everyone should have more than one bully. Lol. Good luck in whatever you decide, I hope it works out for you. Please keep us posted. Rocco and Roxy would be cute.
 

brutus77

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Jul 18, 2013
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I dont think adding another will change Rocco. We had to do a slow introduction when we got Frankie. Brutus was 13mos and Frankie was 2 1/2. Brutus is very attached to me so we made sure I did not stop my time with Brutus. He still laid right on top of me while watching tv at night, he slept on the couch still at night and Frankie slept in his crate. Just dont change Roccos routine and everything will be fine. They are the best of friends now and Brutus doesnt care if Frankie is cuddling with me. He even shares his toys. Good luck, I think Rocco will love her. Just a side note, I dont believe the sex of the bully matters when introducing a new pet, I think it has to do with the temperment of the bully.
 

Texas Carol

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Brutus & Cami live in Heaven
It's great that you are thinking about all the issues instead of jumping
into it...will pray for you, Matt, and that she get's a great home!
 

nycbullymama

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We're going through this now, Matt. I'll let you know how it goes..
 

ddnene

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Aww I hope that everything works out!!! I've had more than one bully, but they were parents/siblings… I think that everyone has given you great advice. Rocco may really love having a sibling…
 

Davidh

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Everyone should have at least two, I always say.
 

Manydogs

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Two bullies are just right! One for mommy and one for daddy! Really no more trouble than one-sometimes less-they will have each other for company when you are not home!
They will have someone to play with! You also need a flower girl at the wedding-I am assuming that Rocco will be the ring bearer?! :yes:GO FOR IT! See if Rocco likes her.
 
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fastmatt613

fastmatt613

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Thank you everyone for your input! I found out today that the girl will need meds for life. But that is not a deterrent. Still waiting on pics and history which I should have by tonight. Rocco sleeps between us every night so if we get her Rocco will have to make room for another lol....I have had some members and friends message me with interest. So if Rocco for whatever reason can't get along with her I know there are other options
 

JennieS

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Jun 25, 2013
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Ruthie(died 11/27/18) Brutus & Hazel
Thank you everyone for your input! I found out today that the girl will need meds for life. But that is not a deterrent. Still waiting on pics and history which I should have by tonight. Rocco sleeps between us every night so if we get her Rocco will have to make room for another lol....I have had some members and friends message me with interest. So if Rocco for whatever reason can't get along with her I know there are other options

Good luck with your new addition. Everyone here gave such great advice. Adding another bully is no worse than having one. We decided on a boy because Ruthie has just a little bit more aggression with certain female dogs so we thought it was best to have a submissive male. And then we got brutus. Brutus is exactly the opposite of Ruthie and is ALL BOY All the TIME. He is not one bit submissive and has a few issues such as toy aggression and he does what he wants. What's his is his and that's it. Ruthie has changed a little bit since we got him, which makes me sad, but i'm also not sure if it's due to her getting older. I still can't really tell if she likes having him around because her world has changed, it's not all about her anymore. She has never once had any set backs as for training, ruthie is an angel compared to Brutus. He's been a handful lol. We introduced them on neutral ground and they get along great except for playing...we are still working on that. Brutus wants to play, ruthie doesn't and if she does, he plays a bit too rough with her and it ends up in a fight. Brutus does follow her lead. I make sure to balance out attention and love to each of them. We took brutus to training, we described some things brutus does and he thinks i am "his"(example: if i love on ruthie, he will step in between us and push her away). So in that way Ruthie has kept her distance from me :(...but i make sure to nudge him away so she knows she can come get some lovin too. Brutus is just selfish LOL.
As for the medication, Ruthie is on her phenobarbital and eye drops for dry eye twice a day. Its something that just becomes routine and is no more work than the usual upkeep.
 

rjisaterp

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Greetings Matt, We just picked-up (i.e. rescued) Bentley June 26th and brought him home (Jewel was with us . Jewel immediately went into "alpha" mode and herded Bentley all over the back yard. Bentley I could tell was extremely overwhelmed and did not know how to take his new freedom (he was essentiall yin a crate/kennel for 8 months). Since day one, they have got along just fine except for the occassional spat over a particular chew toy or antler despite a plethora of toys. Jewel was a big help with Bentley and his fear of the dark (good Iron Maiden song). Jewel got right in his face and then she led and showed him every nook and cranny of the back yard. Jewel is actually Bentley's safety blanket and when she is not there, Bentley is not himself. My wife and I try to provide equal praise and loving so the other will not feel left out. Same with treats.

I think Rocco will be fine with the addition.
 
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fastmatt613

fastmatt613

Socks Don't Hold Pee.....Trust Me on This!
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Rocco
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Thanks again for your input!

Today, I was given some pics but no details yet. I'm gonna see my friend tonight see if he knows anything more about her health/past

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