How to arrange getting new dog?

This sounds shortsighted at best, entirely selfish and self-absorbed at worst. Don't do this. (I'm thinking your impermanent situation might exclude you from adoption at this point, because y'know, this is a pretty bad idea in terms of the dogs' best interests.)

Are you fully committed, and is your wife, to a second dog? Does your current dog like other dogs and do well with them? When the move takes place, does she settle down well in her new quarters with your wife? If you can say yes to all these questions, I'd take route A. Otherwise, I'd resign myself to being dogless except on visits.

This is way too much change for a newly-adopted dog, I would not do this.

Do they do fostering of rescue dogs in the Netherlands? ie, instead of a rescue being in a shelter, it lives with you until the rescue organization finds a permanent home. You're also welcome to adopt the dog usually too. If that's a thing where you are, it might be a good solution. You get dog companionship without having to worry about compatibility and uprooting a dog. And if one of the foster dogs works out, you can keep it.

FWIW, I adopted a puppy as a kid moving back and forth between my divorced parents' houses twice a week. The dog shared my custody schedule for many years. She was a happy and well-adjusted dog. My sense is that your new dog will have the easiest time adjusting if he/she initially comes home to the place where she will be spending the most time, at a time when all her new pack members (human and canine) are together. However, the timing seems much less critical to me than other factors, including: -How well your current dog gets along with other dogs, esp. dogs that come to her home. -How well your new dog gets along with other dogs. -How good a traveler your new dog is (including temperament - not too anxious, health - no conditions that will be aggravated by the stress of travel, and size - air travel is much easier on dogs if they're small enough to fly inside the cabin with you rather than being checked with the luggage).

Forget the initial adoption period, that's short enough. The months after that are what to consider. Won't you be travelling fairly often? Your dog will either have to be small enough to fit on the plane with you, and it has to be inexpensive enough that you will bring her often. You don't want to subject a dog to frequent travel in the below-plane luggage compartment. Too dangerous. Or you'll have to board her at a kennel, or an in-home kennel, or a friend's house. Either way, that is a lot of boarding or travel time for a new dog. Go walk the dogs in the local rescue, or offer to pet sit a friend's dog. Don't get on this year - it's not the right timing.

I don't ever take the plane with a dog, I take the ferry. So, single people shouldn't get dogs if they might get together with someone else? That's the situation I'm in. I'm living as a single person, indefinitely, and will sometimes visit my wife. Eventually, we'll move back in together, when this is possible. How is this different from the stress the dog of a single person would experience?

It's not uncommon for pets to get jettisoned when two single people form a couple; if their pets don't get along, or one is allergic, or their new home won't allow animals, etc. There is a reason shelters are always full. So the advice here is looking at the potential issues that are likely to come up and apparently people are deciding the risks of yet another shelter dog are too high. This really depends on your dog's temperament and that of the new dog. Two easy going dogs that can handle a lot of change and don't get remotely territorial with other dogs would probably have a minimum amount of stress from this. The trick then is how do you garuntee the new dog has that personality (and you don't really mention the current dog's), and the answer to that is a shit ton of research and time spent with the animal before adopting. Fostering with an eye to adopt might be the best bet.

I tend toward the idea of the perfect being the enemy of the good in questions about adopting a rescue, particularly if the person is already experienced and confident with pet ownership: in other words, I think most homeless animals are going to be far better off with a loving, capable owner, even if the person's circumstances are not necessarily 100% ideal at the moment. I didn't respond to this question at first, though, because of the travel thing Рspecifically, plane travel. To me, ferry travel is probably going to be a lot better. The other thing that sort of gives me pause is the idea of trying a dog out for a couple of weeks because that's very awful for the new dog (going to a new home then being returned is incredibly traumatic, and most rescues try really, really hard to keep this from ever happening), and no dog settles in that quickly (our dog is a completely Рgloriously Рdifferent creature than the one we knew for the first couple of weeks). It will most likely be months before the new dog is really adjusted to his/her new situation, so exposure to see how they initially get along is fine, but you kind of need to have an "all-in" attitude about the second dog. Assuming both dogs are okay with other dogs and get along well when meeting, it will be up to you and your wife to make them each feel secure and confident over the long term. You need to feel that you can manage that, and that you really want and are committed to the second dog. If you feel that this is the case... How is your dog with other dogs she meets in parks, in the street, at friends' homes? Have you had a dog visit in your home? Can you isolate particular likes/dislikes she has for her brethren that way? Is she territorial or does she seem jealous when you pay attention to another dog? (If so, I'd probably not be inclined toward getting a second dog.) For example, I think I could pretty much pick out a dog our dog would get along with because of how she responds to other dogs. If I had to pick a dog without being able to do a meet and greet with our dog, it would be a large, adult male with a chill attitude. Her attitude towards other females is at best cool indifference, and at worst, active, growling hostility. She greatly dislikes young, male dogs; she can go either way on small dogs, and it's unpredictable. She's not well pleased with adult male dogs who are overinterested in her. She always swoons for larger, "cool dude," laid-back, confident males. She's a feminine clich̩, but it means if I were to get another dog, it would be easy for me to choose one. As for the travel and spending time in other places, etc., a lot of it's just the luck of the draw, but I can say that spending a lot of time getting a new dog used to different settings and experiences can pay off. Our dog was afraid of everything when we got her, and now she can happily meet new people, go on public transit, walk (on a leash, of course) without fear in crowded, noisy places, ride in a cab or car without a problem, sit with us at cafes and pubs, visit people's homes, wait outside shops Рpretty much everything. I wouldn't worry about a ferry ride or staying in a different place short term, as long as she can be with one of us (separation would be a problem). Yet if I move the furniture around in the house, it can unsettle her significantly for a couple of weeks (we recently replaced our antique TV with a flatscreen, and she didn't feel comfortable in the living room for several days; moving the position of the bed in the bedroom was met even more unhappily). So, she seems to deal perfectly well with new / strange things outside, but at home she's very uneasy with any change, probably because it doesn't happen very often. I guess in your situation I'd try to do a greet and playdate thing a few times with any potential second dog in the Netherlands to see how they get along initially, but not do a move-in with the new dog before your dog goes to Scotland, just because it would be multiplying the WHOAH BRAND NEW SITUATION thing for both, then changing that yet again, without much payoff that I can see. So, say you find a second dog and they seem to like each other, and your dog doesn't seem to mind you and your wife playing with /paying attention to the second dog. Bring the second dog to your new place in the Netherlands after your wife and dog go to Scotland. Talk with the shelter/rescue/foster folks to find a dog-friendly, calm adult -- I suggest probably male. Spend a lot of time with new dog gently building up confidence and exposure to new stuff, especially transport, as much as possible. He or she will have met and interacted a bit with your wife and current dog, but keep some things around your place that has their scent so that there's a bit more familiarity when they meet again. Hope for the best, but be prepared to address possible problems by reading up and researching and finding the best trainers in your areas. (this is my completely non-professional, seat-of-the-pants advice, and just what I would do, unless I could get input from an animal behaviorist on my specific situation). Generally, female-female pairings seem to be the least likely to succeed, I think. Aside from that, your dog may feel more secure with a certain size, look, or temperament in other dogs, so think on how she's reacted in the past, and if there's any pattern. Also, my feeling is that dogs who live in calm, relaxed, friendly households are more likely to be calm, relaxed, friendly dogs, so if that describes your home vibe, it will probably be very helpful for all dogs and people involved. Good luck!