My husband and I have been thinking seriously about the possibility of getting a second dog. We’ll be moving from our apartment to a house in a few months, and the possibility of having extra room and a fenced yard makes me want to fill those spaces with a wiggly new puppy. I’m an unapologetic animal collector. There is a very fine line between me and those crazy people you see on Animal Cops that have thirty cats and a dozen dogs in a tiny, filthy house. It’s an important line, but given the right circumstances…I could be that crazy person.

Of course, there are very real concerns when it comes to adding a second dog to the family. The main one being that Freda doesn’t really like other dogs. She hates when dogs jump on her or bark at her. She gets aggressive and stressed out easily. However, she has never had a problem with calmer dogs or puppies. The solution is obviously to get a puppy, but I’m afraid that the constant energy of a puppy will cause Freda stress that a 10-year-old dog does not need.

On the other hand though, Freda does play pretty rough with the cats and would probably enjoy another dog to play with if she had time to bond with a puppy. (Can you sense how I’m rationalizing this all in my head?)

The other main concern with getting a second puppy is the time it would take to train that wiggling ball of energy. I haven’t had a puppy in so long, but from visiting various young puppies in my life, I know that they can be a handful. They chew, they pee and they don’t know basic commands. It’s a lot to handle.

I think what it will ultimately come down to is finding the right puppy for us. There are calmer puppies out there in the world. There are puppies that have been in foster care that are already house trained. There are wonderful dogs just waiting for someone to adopt them, and I want one right now.