We’ve been toying with the idea of getting a second dog for almost as long as we’ve had the first one.  Frodo is now six, and in all of those years we’ve never gotten around to getting the other dog.  Part of it is that he’s so sickness-prone that every time we talked seriously about it, he would have a major vet bill, which threw the possibility out the window.

So this week, we have two dogs.  While we were out of town, this family from church who also has a miniature Schnauzer watched Frodo for us.  Now, they are on vacation, so we have their dog, Mitsy (or Mitzy? I’m not sure).  She’s super sweet, but boy, is this experience showing us just how spoiled rotten our dog is.  He is used to being the only game in town, and he is not adjusting well to the competition.  If one of us pets her, he has to jump in or cry.  When she barks at unfamiliar noises, he does too (even though they aren’t unfamiliar to him).  And when they run up the stairs together, he is faster and stops at the landing to snarl at her.  Thankfully it’s only been some snarls between them, no all-out fighting.  Oh, and taking two dogs for a walk has been a challenge.  I don’t know how those professional dog walkers do it, taking multiple canines on leashes together!  I can barely handle the pulling of two dogs, let along the tangled leashes and picking up poop while keeping them from stepping in it!

I have a feeling by the end of this week we’ll have decided once and for all that we’re a one-dog household, at least as long as Frodo is with us.  Maybe he’ll surprise us and learn some things from having another dog, but so far they either compete for attention or totally ignore each other.  Currently, they are both sleeping, probably because neither one slept very well last night.  At least, I’m guessing about the not sleeping, but she was in an unfamiliar house and the two dogs slept in their crates in the same room, which Frodo isn’t exactly used to.

I’ll let you know how it turns out.