Lonely

Dear Lonely:

The counselors gave your brother's family good advice and I'm sure it won't be long before you have a family of your own. While you might enjoy playing with your brother now you probably wouldn't be very chummy as you grew more mature. More than likely you would begin scrapping with each other to attain dominance. Dogs have no emotional ties to their parents or siblings and more often than not two male dogs won't get along in the same household. Even if you remained friends, training both of you to be good family members at once would be difficult. Training takes a lot of patience and on-on-one time. Unfortunately, a dog will be more apt to pick up the bad behavior of its canine companion than its good behavior. There's nothing wrong with having two dogs - it's just a good idea to wait until one is fully trained and has formed a bond with it's owner before adding another to the family. Then, the owner will have enough time to repeat the process with a new puppy.

Fall 1988