Hi everyone,

I have a little dilemma. I wrote the post about the Louth SPCA and how badly we were treated but we have since found two lovely dogs looking for a new home with the CDPA. One is a bichon frise and the other is a King Charles Spaniel. They are both used to cats (we have 4) and need to be rehomed tomorrow.
If we are to go ahead would we be taking on too much? Both my husband and I work full time but he works shift so our animals are not left alone for long throughout the day.

The dogs would be walked 2/3 times a day and would be allowed indoors to sleep. We love animals and have no children and financially we would be ok.
I am worried that we would have too much on our plates and also if one of them attacked one of the cats it would be a disaster. Would this be a possibility do you think?

Oh decisions decisions......!
Any advice would be much appreciated.
Thanks in advance.

PS I have also posted this to the cat forum as well.
Nicola

ideally i would foster the dog you were interested in because if the dog does not like the cats you can give back easier.
both breeds are great family dogs both are generally very good with kids. the bichon will need need grooming as will the other dog not as much though.
my experience of bichons is they are very yappy but friendly and i totally love the king charles but i am biased as i love all spaniels.
when you are adopting a dog it can take any thing from 3 weeks up to several months for them to settle in. getting a new dog you really need to take time off to settle them in and get them used to your routine. adopting both might be hard work do these two dogs like each other have they met. where i foster they say an adult dog should not be left longer than 5 hours on its own. hope this is helpful if not maybe some else might be able to help more.
if you do adopt both love to hear how things go. p.s buy kongs and fill them for when you are at work you can freeze them hours of enjoyment

I think it would be a good idea to get both because they'll keep each other company while your out. Best buddies!

I agree with Daisy, I have three dogs and two cats myself and luckily they all get on well together. Myself and my partner work full time but make sure to bring them out either in the mornings before work or after we get home. They are definitely great company for each other and we don't feel bad about leaving them at home because they have a big back garden to play in. If you really want to get them then I say go for it, especially if you have the room and the money to feed and look after them. They will be great company for each other. The only thing I would suggest is to introduce them to the cats slowly, put something with the dogs scent where the cats usually sleep and they will not be in as much shock when they come face to face. Good luck

So far so good! The dogs arrived last night and have settled in really well. They both have a very sweet nature and are real 'people' dogs. My husband and I think they are beautiful; I don't think our cats feel the same way just yet!
T
hree of our cats have scarpered upstairs and don't want to come down. I have the dogs away from the cats for the moment so they can just sniff each other under the doors. Our moggy is the only brave one and has gone to sniff them.

The dogs have been together since they were puppies so I completely understand now that you could not separate them. They adore each other. They arrived last night very dirty and matted so I will be bringing them to the groomer in Petmania, Drogheda tomorrow morning to de-mat and freshen them up. They really stink! Has anyone had any experience with this groomer?

When they are a bit more respectable I will post some pictures.

I hope all is going well with your new dogs and that they have settled in well. I think I had actually seen them on the cdpa website a few months ago- very adorable altogether!! I have a Bichon myself and my family dog is a King Charles- they're really wonderful dogs.. I'm sure they're delighted to have remained together! I imagine it's very hard work but most definitely worth it. Fair play