Any advice is of course, related to my experiences with my dogs only and may not be appropriate for Owen.
We are a two dog minimum family mainly, I think, because dogs do better in a "pack" as you wrote and because we have the room. When Cassie , our Red Heeler, died our Jack Russell Terrier, Perry, went into a bit of a listless funk.
We found Dottie in Charleston a few months later and brought her to Maryland. She loves Perry and he is like a new dog with her around.
Best.
