An understudy for my perfect pooch?
My dog, Ava, (~11yo, suspected Cattle Dog / Malinois mix) has been the absolute best dog for me. I love her so much, and hope to see a lot of her personality in my next dog. She is aging well with no major health issues, and our vet agrees that we still have several years left together.
It's been recommended to me by several dog-oriented people to get my next dog before Ava passes, both to help manage my grief as well as to have Ava help show a new dog the ropes.
Ava has an assertive but cautious personality, and does best with male herding breed dogs. She is quick to correct breeds or individuals who don't understand canine communication, which can lead to minor conflict if the other dog doesn't concede.
When we dog sit a colleague's Border Collie, who has a bit of an obnoxious "frat boy" personality, she enjoys his visit for the first several days, but after that she starts to get a little clingy and seems annoyed with his presence (as do I, for the record). She is great friends with a male Border Collie collie mix, a male Labrador, a male Golden Retriever, and a female Cattle Dog, but we've never pet sat any of those dogs.
She loves my cat, and often invites her to play, which, you know, that cat doesn't really understand.
I'm trying to figure out if she would enjoy having an understudy around. Her happiness and well-being is my first priority, but I don't want to take the step of inviting another dog into the home unless I feel pretty confident that it will work out.
Thoughts?