I have a 10 month old Treeing Walker Coonhound who stayed in the house with us for a couple of months when we first got her.  She grew up fast though, and we were never able to get her completely housebroken.  She also started peeing on my brother's bed (he yelled at her one day, and I honestly think she started doing it to get back at him), so we ended up putting her in a fenced in back yard.

We go out and feed her and play with her a couple of times a day, and she gets a daily walk.  We're working on trying to get two walks a day because she is such a high-energy dog.

The problem is that she gets VERY excited when anybody comes out to see her.  She likes to jump, and she sometimes nips at people too.  It makes it hard for other people to come see her, and it even sometimes makes us hesitant to go out there.  On the other hand, she has starting "crying" during the day and especially at night.  She will whimper and even start howling (and as a hound...you can only imagine, lol). 

We honestly think she just has a lot of energy to spare, and she's lonely.  We've been comtemplating getting another dog around her age, size, and energy level to give her somebody to play with and somebody to curl up with.  We're hoping this will help with both issues.  What we're worried about, is that it won't help our first dog in any way, or (even worse) we'll have two hyper dogs who howl in the middle of the night.

Any advice on whether dogs usually do better with other dogs?  Or could it be worth it to see if we could foster another dog for a few weeks?  I would just hate to commit to a new dog, and it not work out. 

P.S. We tried taking her to Obedience classes, but they're were expecting utter perfection (she had to sit/lay/etc exactly on this line/in this box for it to be correct).  I'm happy with her just following the command, regardless of where she is relative to me.  They were also unwilling to work one-on-one with us.  The last class, Rayne (the pup) was seriously out of hand, jumping and biting (gnawing really) on me, and the trainer just shook her hand and walked by.  We didn't go back after that.  We have considered getting a personal trainer from another organization thinking it may help her as well.  We're just not sure what would be most effective.

Find a different trainer and bring your dog in the house. Of course she's crying outside- she wants to be with you. Of course she gets overly excited when people go out to see her- she's lonely and she wants to be with people. You're right to worry that getting a second dog is not going to fix your problem. It won't. You need to fix the issues with your first dog before even considering getting a second one.

I know I'm late in responding here, but I agree with Katie.  The dog needs some training, and the first class wasn't the right one for her.  Look for a different class, talk to the trainer and ask what they will teach, explain the problem and find out if they can help you with the things you actually need help with.

At this point, it sounds like you need training as much as the dog does, and I mean that kindly.  We need to learn how to live with the animals in our lives just as they need to learn to live with us.  A dog training book could help you figure out what you need to do to get the results you want.

I agree with Kari & Katie.  The last thing you need is another dog.  The dog you have needs to be in the house with you.  Dogs are pack animals.  They do not like to be alone.  You are the dog's family and she wants to be with you.  Did you try crate training her?  If she pees in the house it is your fault not hers.  There are tons of good articles on the web about housebreaking dogs.  In the beginning you have to watch them like a hawk and never give them the chance to have an accident inside.  Take them out often and praise, praise ,praise.  She also needs lots of mental stimulation and some solid play time that will give her a good workout.  There are many websites about "brain work" for dogs online.  Here is one for Belgian Sheep Dogs but it could pertain to any dog.  http://users.tkk.fi/~mtt/belg_tricks.html  Also I highly suggest looking for another dog class.  Look for a center that uses positive training methods.  Talk to the trainers ahead of time and let them know the kind of help you are looking for.  Training doesn't just take place in a class though.  Every moment you are with your dog you are training her whether you realize it or not.  You must be consistent. 

Since we know you like to read, here are some good books you might want to check out:

Don't Shoot the Dog by Karen Pryor

Dogs Are From Neptune by Jean Dolaldson

The Culture Clash by Jean Donaldson

The Other End of The Leash by Patricia McConnell

The Power of Positive Dog Training by Pat Miller

Good luck and let us know how you make out!

Donna

Thanks for the advice.

We decided to foster another dog for the weekend just to see how she would get along with another dog.  She loved being able to play, and it made us feel good about having another one.  Unfortunately the dog we fostered is required to be kept inside (which defeats the purpose for now) so we couldn't keep her permanently.

On the plus side, where we went to pick her up for fostering was PetsMart.  They offer some dog training classes there and they also give personal training as well.  They even offer free housebreaking seminars weekly.  We were able to meet with the trainers for that and talk to them about our problems.  They seemed very positive, and the basic goals of the class addressed basic issues like leash pulling, jumping, and biting in addition to the sit, stay, come, etc.  I really think we're going to sign her up for the class and maybe do the personal training.  We'll definitely do the housebreaking as well since it's free.  It actually turns out to be a closer drive for us than the other place was.  I wish we had known they did training there before choosing the other place.  Something else great they offer is that after the first class is taken and paid for, you can continue to take that class for free until you feel like you've mastered everything.