2 Puppies At Once?

[Guest acb123]

Ok can anyone shed some light on their experiences of 2 puppies at once? I know someone told me that the toilet training would drive me nuts but I was thinking can they both be in the same crate at night to keep each other company (less crying as they have companionship) and I take them both out to toilet train at the same time? Please tell me if that is idealistic & not reality as I have no idea as I've never done two puppies at once.

Also, if you know that you will also be getting a kitten at some stage, do you time it for the same time you get the pups so that they socialise & integrate well together? Or will the pups grow up to be dogs that will then not tolerate a kitten if we don't get it at the same time as when they are pups? That sounds confusing but what I mean is, if I introduce the kitten when the dogs are already fully grown will they be aggressive?

Thanks!

Edited February 6, 2010 by acb123

[persephone]

Hi

You may find some of your questions answered

HERE

and/or

HERE.. this discussion is for a particular breed,tho.

I would not do it

[Guest acb123]

Persephone has anyone told you that you are totally fantastic!!!!

one day I will learn how to do the search thingy!!!

[Sandra777]

If you are not experienced enough to know whether it's a good idea or not, your not experienced enough to do it IMO.

Keeping the pups together all the time is actually a very bad idea - they will bond very strongly with each other and have less need for human interaction, so will be more difficult to train (why should they care what you can offer when they can get what they need from each other?), and think ahead. What if one of the dogs dies young, the survivor may very well be so bereft it dies too, or if one needs to be hospitalised for even just a few days, the other one will be so unused to being alone it's likely to become a destructive screaming mess.

Unless you have a lot of experience raising puppies one at a time is the way to go. As for cats, well that may depend on the breed slightly. Some breeds with a high prey drive might need to learn about cats from puppyhood, others will acceptone later (if introduced properly). I've never owned cats and dogs at the same time so can't really help with this, but I know millions of people worldwide have both so most of the time it must work

[Guest acb123]

OMG Persephone I remember reading that one about the particular breed and as I was going through the threads I was thinking "please don't do it!!!" but I wasn't sure if it was just that breed or ALL breeds???

[piper]

I would not do it

I'm with Persephone - not something I would do. As well as company for each other it can turn into "double trouble". I had some people enrol in classes with me several years ago now with 2 labradors that together had done thousands upon thousands of dollars damage to their yard. Everything was turned into a tug toy by these pups!

As for introducing a cat - it depends on your dog's temperament as to if it will be aggressive and how the introduction is managed. When I lived at home with my parents Mum decided she wanted a cat - we had 3 dogs at the time. 2 of them were 9 and 10 and had lived with a cat for a brief period when young (the 9 year old would not have been 12 months when that cat died of old age) and Piper was 4 and had never lived with a cat. We brought the kitten home and put it in a large dog crate in the lounge room and left it there to settle for awhile. The dogs were kept occupied outside for an hour or so. I then took dogs in 1 at a time armed with a clicker and a large number of high value treats. Piper however upset my plan and charged in ahead of me - saw this alien creature, freaked out and took off out of the lounge room. Once I had calmed her down we worked on clicking for calm behaviour around the kitten in the crate, and I treated the kitten as well. I did the same with the others and for the next few days if the dogs were in the kitten was in the crate and someone was nearby rewarding dogs and kitten for calm behaviour. When we first went to letting kitten out we went back to only 1 dog inside at a time and rewarding for calm. All up it took lees than a week for kitten to accept dogs and vice verse. We never had any chasing or problems like that as right from the word go they were rewarded for calm behaviour. Within 2 or 3 weeks Piper and kitten were best of friends and I have picutre of them rolling around on the ground wrestling each other.

[Guest acb123]

Sandra you're so right I didn't even think of those factors! They are ALL good points - especially the no need for human interaction & training. And I definitely don't want them to be bereft when one goes away for any reason.

Have I mentioned how much I love DOL - a forum where you can get really quick expert advice from people that are experienced! It's been so long since I've had a pup now that I have forgotten most of it and it is so handy to get responses back so quickly.

Thanks again!

[Monah]

I wouldn't do the 2 pups thing.

We've had many dogs and cats together at all different ages without any problems. However in an ideal world, seeing as you are asking, it is usually easier to have a CAT first then it can get out of reach if need be (and they are usually bossy too ) than introduce a kitty to 2 dogs who are not used to cats.

3 'new' pets is quite a handful, even cats need a lot of care, and the expense of 3 animals is very high compared to no animals.

Take your time, maybe get a nice cat first and see how you go, plenty of breeds out there are very 'doggy' in attitude and make fantastic companions. xxx

[Christina]

2 pups at once I consider fine. Depends on the owner but as a cat breeder I advise adding a kitten in is not a good idea.

1 pup, 1 kitten carefully supervised is lovely, 2 pups no because the pups have not learned to obey you & prey drive can take over so quickly. What starts out as a lively game can turn into sheer terror for the kitten.

Kittens are good at finding escape routes & can jump higher than pups. With 1 pup a game may turn into annoyance for 1 of them. A puppy may bite & a kitten may scratch although one hopes to intervene before it gets serious but if 1 pup oversteps the mark & gets a scratch or whack the other pup may join in which may be tragic for the kitten.

When your pups are a bit older & obey you reliably is a better time.

I have adult cats & dogs & sometimes kittens & puppies. Babies are introduced carefully mainly 2 adults at a time. Even though mine are all good & used to it I would not let a couple of 8/10 week old pups be unsupervised with a kitten ever.

My kittens are never left with the dogs if I go out until they are at least 6 months old.

[GoldenWei]

I would also suggest getting the cat first. I had two cats already, and got a kitten in about Nov last year, he is probably about 5 months old now. I got a puppy about a week and a half ago. The oldest cat puts puppy in her place when she gets too rough, the second cat who is about 2 or 3 will generally stay away from puppy when she is burning off copious amts of energy, the 5 month old will not put her in her place and I have to intervene as I fear Willow is getting too rough with him, they get on, and when Willow is relatively calm they play nicely, but when she isn't that is another story.

Having said all that, I have had two kittens with the two goldens, but they were already used to cats in the form of Zara, Phoenix and Lucan get on famously and curl up together, he is a gentle boy though. Willow is a wei, and I don't think she will be so gentle.

It does depend a bit on what breed you are getting. What are you getting?

[blacklabrador]

I can only think of cons and no pros.

I raised a kitten with a 6 month old pomeranian. They were best mates and used to play hilarious games! The kitten was also great with the big dogs - very relaxed around dogs. I'd have the dogs first so the cat never knows any different.

[TerraNik]

I wouldn't do it. One of the main reasons is having enough time to train and bond with the puppy. It would also be difficult to teach manners in that they can influence each other, just like an adult dog will influence a puppy.

My two are 4 months apart and I would not recommend that to anyone unless the first dog was really well trained (Jedi was an angel and was trained exactly how I wanted him to be as an adult by 6 months of age, when Ahsoka came along). I think our situation was an exception - there's no way I would have introduced a puppy when Ahsoka was 4 months old if she was our first dog She is only just starting to mature at 19 months!!! I'm only just starting to consider when we should add to our crew and that will most likely be when Ahsoka is approaching 3.

[huski]

I would never recommend getting two pups at once and you will be hard pressed finding a reputable breeder who will let you have two pups at the same time anyway.

Depending on the breed I would get the kitten first. I wouldn't trust my Siberian with cats if he hadn't been raised with them from puppy hood.

[sas]

RUN! Don't do it! LOL

[Guest acb123]

Oh no....I'm definitely RUNNING! I thought it would LESSEN the adjustment but it just sounds like a terrible idea now that I've read the comments on here! aarrrgghh!!!!!

That's why one should always ask experienced people first!

[persephone]

Oh no....I'm definitely RUNNING!

LOL!!

[Kayann]

We got out two Ridgeback girls together 6 years ago now, our breeder was only just new to breeding and didn't warn us about them bonding to each other. It has been a continued struggle with them for training, behaviour, due to this fact. I wish I had know about DOL them so that we had of had the chance to make different choices.

We had two 2 year old Burmese when we got the dogs. They trained the dogs from day one to be cat friendly and the dogs have always been so. I would highly recommend that order from our experience. The dogs are big powerful girls but both are very submissive to the cats.

Maybe get two kittens and one puppy? But get the kittens first, then the puppy later on? Two kittens together is no problem and is even a good idea as the kittens can entertain each other.

Kath

[dippa]

Hi just browsing the forum and noticed this post, I know its old and the poster has most likely decided but I'm replying with our experience with two pups for future potential dog owners thinking the same thing.

We have a 5 month old Ridgeback Max and a 4 month old Border Collie Hugo, we have both had experience with raising/owning dogs and cats previously (we are by no means experts) but never had two puppies at once. The logic for our decision was to allow the two to keep each other company during the week as we both work 8-9 hour working days.

We were aware of the possible bonding issues and to balance this out we spend alot of time with each dog seperately. This is working well and we have no regrets at all getting two pups. Saying that however it does take alot of time and depending on each individuals situation, having kids for example, this might not be possible.

They have of course bonded with each other but we have kept down the seperation anxiety and been able to train them without any major dramas. The most "fun" we've had is the slightly younger Border Collie trying to assert his dominance and occasionally trying to start a fight with the Ridgy, we keep an eye on them however during feeding time and after a walk when this happens, we can now pick the dogs body language and we seperate them before it escalates into a fight which is working well and is becoming less and less of an issue.

To ensure they are as socially independent and bond with us as much as possible we on most days will:

- walk them twice seperately, morning and night for 40-60min per walk, and have them socialise and play with other dogs

- spend 40-60min time with them inside seperately playing and teaching

- feed them seperately

Weekly make sure as soon as they are old enough they go to puppy school and continue their training as they get older. We learnt so much from doing this and have no plans to stop their weekly group training sessions any time soon!

We will rotate the dogs between us on walks, training etc. as well.

They are still young and we have a while to go before they are mature dogs, but it's working out well and we love them both. I occasionally wonder how it would be if we'd just got the one but its now a pointless thought and the reality of it is we wouldnt be without either.

In summary I think having 2 pups at the same time is fine, and it is extremely rewarding. However a few hours per day (with the occasional day off) must be set aside for each dog! If single or the only one in the house raising them, work long hours or simply cannot afford the time then I'd not suggest it.

My 2c

[Dogsfevr]

So are you looking at having 3 pups together because i thought you had just got a cocker baby?? or didnt that work out

[shells]

I'll go against the grain and say that we did it and it turned out really good. We have a male and a female miniature poodle siblings who are now 14 months old.

Keeping the pups together all the time is actually a very bad idea - they will bond very strongly with each other and have less need for human interaction, so will be more difficult to train

This hasnt been our experience (sometimes I worry about their attachment to me though) and I would say after reading a few threads on here we have probably been lucky and are the exception to the rule but I guess we are proof that it can work.