Welcome to PetTalk. It has been a very helpful site for me and our extended family of dogs and cats. I am the owner of three rather young dogs and one rather old cat. From my experience, I think that getting a "friend" for your dog is a good idea, but also keep in mind that the two dogs will need some time to adjust to each other and that your "new" dog will need time and patience to cope with the new surroundings. Just like people, you can't expect the animals to become best friends over night. Within my pack, two of the dogs are still hashing out their differences after three years; the third dog was added about 3 months ago and as "the kid," he is constantly challenging the hierarchy which leads to some interesting disagreements. The only one who seems completely happy with all animals and people (including a 2 1/2 year old boy) is the cat. Again, welcome to this most informative and intersting forum and let us know what you decide.