The Story Of Edie & Why We Got Another Dog
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Any loyal reader of this blog will be all too aware of the story of my beloved pup Josie. We got her last year and I've written about her so many times and all the wonderful things she's taught me so many times. But something that I've yet to do is properly share the story of her little sister Edie. The newest dog to join our household and she has quite the story behind her already. The decision to get a second dog was a scary one, as Josie was such a handful as a pup I thought it might be the same for another dog but I was so, so wrong. So here is the story of Edie and a few things we've learned about getting a second dog!
WHY WE WANTED ANOTHER whippet
Whenever I used to see whippets or greyhounds out and about they would usually be in a pair or sometimes even more and I never understood why until we got Josie. They're generally incredibly social dogs and they love to be amongst their own and they have a really unique way of playing which a lot of dogs aren't on board with. Then, of course, you have to bear their speed in mind, when a dog can run 35mph then the majority of other pups don't find them fun to play with as they cannot keep up. As soon as we'd had Josie for a few months we knew we wanted another dog to keep her company and so she would always have someone to play with who understood her. It got to the point we were beginning to feel cruel that she was by herself so we started seriously talking about getting another pup and the avenues that we might go down to add another furry addition to our family.
ADOPTING
We tried to adopt before we got Josie but had absolutely no luck with it and it just didn't seem to be right for us at that time, especially with the type of dog that we wanted. As first-time dog owners there were a lot of things we didn't know and now we have a really good base of knowledge for the breed it puts in good stead for adopting in the future. Edie is an adopted pup, but not in the way that you might be thinking. We got her just short of 11 weeks old, her previous owner bought her from a breeder as she's a full KC registered pedigree pup. Sadly he had some things drastically change in his life which meant he couldn't give her the care that she needed so he put her for up for a private adoption. We found her on a website called PreLoved, which is also where we found Josie. Although it's not your traditional route of adopting because you're not giving your money to charity [we support sighthound rescues anyway] there are dogs to be found on websites like this who need a good home. What is nice about doing things this way is that you get to meet the previous owner and know all about the dog that you're going to be taking on. We've kept in contact with the man who originally bought Edie and send him regular updates of how she's growing. He was so pleased that we came across the ad as he knew that we could give her the home that she deserved and she'd always have some company with Josie.
Of course, finding a dog like Edie needing a new home is incredibly rare as she was so young so we were incredibly lucky to find her. Usually, people think it's only older dogs needing a new home but it isn't. Adopting is something that I feel incredibly passionate about but there are so many routes you can go down that you might not expect. There is a lot of pressure on people just to adopt, but sometimes it doesn't work for that person and their circumstances and that is ok. The only things that ultimately matters is that you give a dog a good home and everything they could need and then some.
INTRODUCING JOSIE & EDIE
When we went and collected Edie we took Josie with us, we chose not leave her at home and suddenly arrive back with a tiny puppy in our arms. As I think it would have been a little difficult for her to understand why this tiny dog had suddenly appeared and was here to stay. We introduced them away from Josie's turf and I think that's a really good idea, we're incredibly lucky with the fact Josie isn't territorial and is always happy to meet any dog and share all her toys with them. Over the next few weeks, we just had to keep on eye on them when they were alone and make sure there were no territory issues as well as making sure Josie felt included in everything. Thankfully, we've not had any issues with them and they wake up each morning and give each other a huge fuss and kiss which is always the highlight of my day and makes me believe that we made the best choice possible. One thing that we've made sure to do is to make sure Josie has her own space as puppies are intense and as she's in her somewhat stroppy teenage stage she has no problem trotting off up to bed by herself and that's ok.
WHY TWO IS BETTER THAN ONE
I always thought when I saw people with two dogs that it must be really hard and stressful. But if you've got one high energy dog who requires a lot of attention and needs to play in order to expend their energy it's a no-brainer because they keep each other entertained. Working from home I found Josie really difficult as she always needed my attention and she was sometimes hard to keep up with. Of course, she's calmed down an awful lot now she's out of her true puppy years but she still needs a good zoom and there is only one dog who can perfectly match her and that's another sighthound. Not only has it benefited Josie a huge amount as she's always mentally stimulated but it's amazing for Edie as she learns from Josie too. We've found she's learning so much quicker than Josie ever did as she's following another dog who is somewhat well trained which is what the majority of dogs do as they're pack animals and prefer being in a group than alone most of the time.
As I do work from home with both of them I'm not finding it that much more difficult to get things done. There are the odd days here and there where they want to be little terrors but that's just how it is when you work from home with puppies. I give them both my attention at the same time and then do things with them separately, it's a true pleasure to own both of them and try and give them the best home they could possibly have. I truly cannot wait till Edie is a little bit older and can properly zoom around with Josie as that is what whippets do best after all, well that and sleep with their arms and legs up in the air.
All of the details of Adding another fluffer to the family
- Insurance: Although thankfully we've never had to use our pet insurance it's something that is incredibly important to have as you never know what could happen. Especially with such thin-skinned, long-legged dogs, they are by nature way more prone to cuts and scrapes so it's important to insure them. We've always heard wonderful things about Petplan Pet Insurance, our good friend told us that they take care of everything with your vets which is huge a weight off your mind when your pet is in need.
- Food: Another mouth to feed obviously means more money but it's not too much added on top for us and we only have to buy a few more treats. As Edie is such a small pup she eats a lot of less than Josie and we can get away with a bag and half a month for her.
- Toys: Having one spoilt pup when it comes to toys has made it much easier on us financially with Edie as we're not having to build up a collection from scratch. Thankfully, our girls absolutely love their toys and will always play with them and go through stages of what they like but everything gets used.
- Coats, leads, and collars: We learned our lesson with Josie about buying really pretty collars that aren't very practical so thankfully with Edie we've not had to spend too much. We've bought her a little Italian Greyhound collar as she's so tiny and then we found a whippet collar for her when she's a little older which was from a car boot sale for 50p. Something we have found to be a little bit of an expense is that Edie needs to be kept a lot warmer than Josie ever did. Even in the British summer, she can be a little shakey unless it's truly sunny and any breeze she's left shivering. So she is going through quite a few coats and jumpers whilst she's growing, of course, this is unique to her breed and if you have a fluffy fluffer than you will not need to worry about this.
