I don't think it is neccesary for you to have Smokey with you, when you pick out a new friend for him. You know his temprement and should be able to judge the type of dog he will do best with. As long as you are able to observe how the dog interacts with other dogs, you should be able to get a feel for it. Ideally, you would then be able to introduce the two on neutral territroy, but in a more quite setting them PetsMart, before you make a commitment, but it doesn't always work out that way.

When we brought Spot home, I took the girls with me to go meet him. At the shelter they were fine...not really interested in each other. They did fine in the car all the way home. Once we got into the house, then there was a little growing and uncertainty, but that lasted all of five mintues, and then they were great and have be three of a kind ever since. So even if they meet somewhere else first, you may not see the true realtionship until they are on their own territroy. It may just ward off any obvious dislikes between the dogs.

Good luck in your search!!