When 1 + 1 = more love

Meet Ruby, Doch, Corinne and Tom talking about adding their newest addition, Doch to their family. 

Why you wanted to add a second dog?

We had fostered a few dogs through Gumtree Greys and always wanted to add a second dog, more specifically a big goofy boy, to the family after experiencing the two dog lifestyle. We knew it wasn’t too different to having one and that you get double the personality. We didn’t quite find the perfect match with a foster fail route, so decided to try adoption to find Ruby her perfect partner. 

How did you introduce them/ set them up for success?

We took Ruby round to the foster carer‘s house to spend some time with them, Doch and their dog. It was to get to know Doch and we asked loads of questions and learnt a little bit more about what he was like. We had met enough dogs in the past through markets and fostering that we knew what Ruby’s reaction would have to be like to signal that she liked a dog and kept a close eye out for those signals. Doch was obsessed with Ruby he got so excited following her around while she sniffed in the house and around the garden. We decided we wanted to do a day trial at our house to see what Ruby thought about Doc coming to her environment. We knew that sometimes Ruby was really confident when she was outside of home so could mask how she was really feeling about a dog. So we organised for Doch to come round to our house for the afternoon and kept in close contact with the foster carers just in case anything was wrong. After the first couple of hours Doch started to settle in and we knew that there were no issues and we wanted to continue on with a two week trial the next week. We knew that Ruby was pretty stoked with having Doch in the house, even though she didn’t really show it that much, but she kept sniffing his bum which she only really does to dogs that she really likes.

What did the first week look like?

We kept things pretty low-key for the first week. We worked from home as much as we could and took them for some quiet walks together around the neighbourhood. We took Ruby for some solo walks as well just so she would know that this new dog didn’t mean she was getting any less attention. We slowly started building up their alone time and had cameras watching what they were up to when we were away, and we could see that they just roached on opposite ends of the couch the whole time we were gone.

What’s life like now?

Life is pretty cruisy with the two dogs now. I honestly was a bit worried that I was never gonna love a second dog as much as I loved Ruby, but very quickly came to the realisation that that was not a possibility with Doch. We always wanted a big cuddly boy that would lie on top of us and cuddle up close. Doch’s not super into the cuddling, but he is a shadow dog that follows us around the house the whole day and just likes to be in the same room as us. He often walks so close to you, that his nose pushes up into your hands, so you kind of hold onto his head while you walk in the house. We try to take Doch and Ruby for a solo walk every now and then, but they keep checking for each other anyway, so just take them together now. Ruby has really taught Doch how to chill, He’s very good at snoozing the day away and picking his moments to have a cheeky zoom. We haven’t quite yet seen them have a zoom together, but feel like Ruby might be close because she will very happily play with a toy in the same room that Doch is going a bit crazy in.

Ruby and Doch at the 2023 Great Greyhound Walk

What’s the most surprising thing about adding a second dog/ what do you wish you knew?

I think the most surprising thing about adding a second dog in has definitely been the fact that you can love the two just as much as each other. There’s no such thing as a favourite child, just different love. I think another thing that’s been surprising, is how different, but still so similar two dogs can be. Ruby and Doch have completely different personalities but they can still get along so well and have learned to love the same things. For example, roaching all day and going for a really long walk hunting cats.

Best memory/ cute moment between Ruby and Doch?

My favourite memory of Ruby and Doch has to be the first time that Ruby initiated any kind of closeness with Doch. She jumped up on the couch and wiggled her a little bottom I think a little bit too close to Doch which we think she didn’t quite realise initially, but then settled into lie down with her face right next to his bum. Shortly after they ended up roaching together nose to butt. I think I took about 1 million photos of them the first time they did this. It was a bit of a theme for a week and then they kind of stopped and went back to sitting on opposite ends of the couch but every now and then they get up next to each other on the bed, and I think it’s just the most magical thing.