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I married into my step-dog, but she has been in her sister's (my dog's) life for over 5 years. I now can't imagine not having two pups. They play with each other constantly and are much less needier than they were when they were only children. We have talked about that the baby transition will be easier for them because when I don't have hands to do something (i.e. when I'm playing on my ipad and one of the pups keeps bringing me a tennis ball), they just start wrestling with each other.

With a baby on the way, I would want to make sure this dog is okay with children, especially if it's not a puppy.

We love the jump from 1 dog to 2! After the new dog is housebroken and acclimated to the schedule, it eliminates a big worry we had, which was that we weren't paying enough attention to the first dog. The 2 dogs keep each other company and it's wonderful. They play with each other and entertain all of us, especially our youngest child.

The amount of work is not that much more (when you feed one, you feed both.. when you walk one, you walk both... when you take one to the vet, you take both..) but the biggest cost difference is the vet bills for sure. 2 dogs means 2 appointments!

For us it's totally worth it and so rewarding to have 2 dogs instead of 1. We buy a lot less things for the dogs (I used to buy all kinds of outfits, collars, fancy toys, etc) and now all we buy is food!

We have 2 dogs. We've had 1 for about 4.5 years now and we fostered dogs for a while so we knew what we were getting into work wise with a 2nd dog. We ended up being foster failures which is how we ended up with our 2nd dog. It is great how they can entertain each other now that DS is here but it is definitely more expensive. Food costs are huge for us because we feed quality food. Also last year both dogs ended up needing surgery at the same time for unrelated issues so that sucked. Biggest problem with 2 dogs is they definitely pick up each other's bad habits. I don't regret getting a 2nd dog but it definitely has its drawbacks.

Don't get a new dog just a few months away from the arrival of baby!!

(I really wish I could tell that to EVERYONE.)

Dogs need a few years to settle into a routine with your family. I've read so many many stories about families who are heartbroken when their dogs don't react well to the disruptive addition of a baby to the home. Pretty much the only semi-guaranteed strategy to ensure you won't be facing down the decision of whether to rehome your dog when the baby comes is to make sure the only dogs in the home are ones that have been around for years, and have had all those years to get used to your family and your routine and develop a strong stable base of calm, relaxed understanding of how things go around your pack, and what's expected of them.

Adding a new dog right before baby is a big gamble. It breaks my heart to read all the posts where people are having to decide what to do with their dogs when they snap at the baby - which is honestly a pretty understandable reaction from a dog that only just got used to his new place in the pack nine months ago, and now has to turn everything upside down for this weird tiny human puppy that everyone is freaking out over. Please consider waiting a few years until your baby is older and you have the time and energy to devote to a new dog before thinking about a second one.

We have two dogs and I love it! They really are best friends, they play together, sleep together, and don't like to be without one another. Food and vet costs can add up, especially since one of our dogs is pretty high maintenance, but it's so worth it to me.

@snowjewelz: Sorry to be a downer I will admit that having two dogs can be fun - they wrestle with each other a lot and it's hilarious to watch. Just keep that as something to look forward to down the line!

We just got adopted another dog in December. Yeah, right before Christmas. I love it! I have so much love in my life.

We thought about costs. Increasing pet rent, less space, more food costs, but then 2 months later we moved out of our apartment and into a house with a fenced yard. Awesome! Don't have to walk my dogs anymore.

My one dog has a sensitive stomach so I thought it was ok to keep both dogs on the same food.

If you have to board the dogs, it costs more but I was able to find a more affordable place that both dogs can be boarded.

My dogs for St. Patrick's day.

Honestly, we have two dogs and after the baby got here it's more of a nuisance than anything. The dogs don't get as much attention because we want to spend time with the kid and it's too much to watch both dogs and the baby. The dogs were great before we had a kid, but after they took a backseat.

Its a lot harder to keep the floor clean with them around, and whenever we go somewhere we have to board both of them, which at times has actually cost more than our plane tickets!

I'd wait until your LO is older and introduce another dog then.