Thoughts about adding another?

[takemebacktotulsa]

We've been considering adding another dog to our family for a while. All of our previous dogs have been rescues as Matt & I have a very soft spot for dogs in need. I recently found a very promising match--a super sweet and very friendly Great Pyr mix. We had a play date today and he got along really well with Willis, play bowing and letting Willis chase him around our yard (Willis's favorite game). We let them inside to see if they could relax around each other and they settled in nicely together.

But of course my number one concern is Willis and his well being. He has a recently-discovered irregular heartbeat and in fact we just met with a second cardiologist this week who started him on Atenolol. We are going to do another holter in a couple of weeks to see what kind of impact the Atenolol has. When asked about activity levels and whether we should place any limitations on Willis, the cardiologist's advice to us was to let Willis live as normal a life as possible. I think Willis would love having a playmate and from what I saw today, I think they would be able to settle once they had worn each other out (they did respect the "no play in the house" rule). He wasn't jealous when Matt & I gave the other dog attention and I didn't have any indication bringing this dog into our home would stress him out, but there's no way I can know that for sure, right?

We've always been a one-dog-at-a-time family, so this is new for us. Any thoughts or guidance would be much appreciated

 

[Sound Bay Newfs]

There doesn't seem to be a lot of negatives here with this situation, so it seems like it would be worth a try. Where did you find this dog? How old is he? Why was he given up. Do you know what he is mixed with? Pyrs can have different personalities than newfs and what he is mixed with may also give an indication of what to expect.

 

[takemebacktotulsa]

He was rescued from a shelter by the folks at the National Great Pyr Rescue group. He had been found wandering the streets before he was picked up and taken to the shelter. He has been in a foster home with 3 other big dogs, and we were able to visit with his foster mom during our visit. He's young, probably about a year, and possibly mixed with a bit of Australian Shephard. He was very agile and could hold his own with a bigger Newf wrestling with him. What's funny is he really seems very Newf like and seemed to have a lot of traits in common with Willis. Extremely social and more receptive to following commands than most Pyrs I've met before. He loved attention and was coming to us when we called, curling up next to us. I know he'll be more of a challenge to train though. He seems like a great dog but I don't want to do anything to compromise Willis's happiness. I only want to add to it