Young Pups And Current Adult Dogs.

[MavericksMission]

Okay, so we have finally decided to get Maverick a friend!

Maverick is 14 months old and full of beans...

I'm looking for a pup that will grow into a dog roughly around his size and I'm leaning more towards rescuing a pup from a shelter.

If we do end up getting a young puppy, say about 9 weeks, I have a few questions where I would love some peoples opinions!

I will probably take 1 -2 weeks off work, while the pup settles in.

Any recommendations where should we be keeping the pup when I go back to work?

We usually leave Maverick outside whilst we are not home, as he is a big boy and he is a bit of a chewer, plus we have cats that free range the house.

I don't think crating the puppy for 8 - 9 hours would be very fair,

I don't want to leave the pup in the backyard with Maverick unsupervised until they get used to each other and until I know Maverick won't be too rough with him while I'm not watching.

I interested in looking into dog runs, so then he would be outside with Maverick but he can't get into any harm.

Our other concern was, If we have the puppy inside during the day while we are at work, confined in a room, I don't want Maverick to feel left out and spend the whole day crying.

Do I have my hopes up too high looking for a young pup? Should I be looking more towards a dog almost fully grown?

I don't want to be unfair on the pup or on Maverick.

Any opinions, thoughts, inputs would be very much appreciated!

[Gayle.]

When we got Dusty, Benson was 10 months old, she was 8 weeks. I took 2 weeks off work to settle her in, she slept for almost the entire two weeks. Completely wasted my leave, I might as well have taken just a day off.

Before I went back to work, we built a puppy run in the backyard....just a sectioned off area where we could leave her with a kennel, shade, water and some soft grass to play on. She could see Benson and they could "talk" through the mesh fence, but they couldn't get at each other.

It took Benson approximately 2 hours to work out how to break her out of there. We had to fortify it like you wouldn't believe because Mister Cleverdog can figure stuff out and he kept showing her how to escape.

She lasted 2 weeks in there while I was at work. She apparently screamed the place down the whole time I was at work, aside from when she wore herself out and had a nap. After that, she just stayed in the yard with Benson and they were both a lot happier.

He absolutely loved having a puppy to play with. She absolutely adored every single inch of him. He could do no wrong in her eyes. She was the most amazing plaything he had ever had. It was a match made in heaven. They are now 3 and 2 and they are best buddies. He still thinks she's the best playmate ever, and she still thinks he is the worlds greatest superhero.

Edited February 28, 2010 by GayleK

[MavericksMission]

Thanks GayleK!

Thats great that they are the best of friends and have been since day one!

Will have to put alot of thought into everything, bit concerned about the crying all day aspect of things.

I am hoping that the right dog will come along and be a match made in heaven and they can stay together all the time!

[Gayle.]

Here is the story of The Great Puppyrun Breakout!

I wrote it on another thread and have copied and pasted it for you. Your Border Collie would not be beyond this type of behaviour, I reckon he might be a bit of a thinking man too.

"There's a story attached to our puppy run, and I'm sure you've got time to hear it.

We built if from fence panels made up of thin vertical rods welded on crossbars (available in Bunnings and popular for childproof fencing) along with a matching gate. We sectioned off an area from the garden shed to the back fence, making a sizeable run that contained a shady tree, an insulated kennel, bedding, toys, water and plenty of soft grass for her little toosh to lie on.

Three days before I was to go back to work, I road tested it by leaving my pride and joy, 9 1/2 week old Aussie Shepherd puppy Dusty in there while I went grocery shopping. Our other Aussie, Benson, had the rest of the backyard and they could see each other but not be together. I thought he was a bit too big and boisterous to leave Dusty in his company for any length of time.

She screamed, cried and stamped her little white feet as I drove off down the road and was still hard at it when I got home 2 hours later. I lugged groceries inside, put them away to the sounds of a puppy tantrum in full flight, then as I was finishing up, I realised she'd stopped so I made a cuppa and sat down for a rest. Next thing I heard a happy little "yip, yip, yip" right outside the dining room window, which is a long way from the puppy run. I looked out and there was my little ball of girlie fluff merrily cavorting with her big brother.

I went out, checked the run for holes, bricked up some questionable areas and popped the little screamer back in there for another go. She let me know in no uncertain terms that this wasn't very cool, and I left her to it and went back inside. Ten minutes later, I heard the same happy little puppy sounds where they weren't supposed to be coming from. Yep, she was out again.

We repeated the exercise. This time she got out before I made it back into the kitchen. I checked the entire run from top to bottom, there was absolutely no way she could get out. So this time, I put her in, went around the side of the house and hid from view and watched. She ran along the fenceline inside the run. Benson walked along the fenceline outside the run, peering very intently at the gaps between the vertical rods. He tapped them with his paw every now and then, and when he got about 3/4 of the way along, he tapped his paw over and over and Dusty came running. She stuck her head through the gap, turned it sideways, squeezed her shoulders through and popped her fat little body out the other side. Freedom! I couldn't believe what I'd seen, so I went and got my husband and we both watched as they did it again. Benson was "measuring" the gaps and had found the only one she'd fit through and made sure she found the right one.

When we measured the gaps with a tape measure, every one of them was 3 inches except that one she was getting out, which was 3.5 inches. You couldn't tell by looking at it, we'd never have picked it, but Benson figured it out in two hours and somehow communicated to Dusty to squeeze herself out. We lined the whole fence with wire mesh after that.

Never underestimate the intelligence of our dogs."

[MavericksMission]

Thats an amazing story!

So many people underestimate the intelligence of dogs, but really, they are truly amazing!

Benson truly loved Dusty from the start & vice versa! So Sweet!

[tez]

Good post MavericksMission as I am also thinking that its time to get the Black Menace a pal as well!

She's just gone 12 months and LOVES other dogs. Trouble is, she is as rough as guts! I was really tempted on getting a pup until we had to look after the little JR pup from next door. Jane (aka The Black Menace) was beside herself with joy but her sort of joy and a little pup just don't mix so we will be getting a junior rescue dog me thinks... so....Maverick sounds perfect for Jane and he's very cute, the right age and seems to have the energy level needed. ( I'm hearing the theme music to 'Perfect Match' in my head!)

[MavericksMission]

Jane does indeed sound like the perfect match for Maverick

We have the same trouble here, Maverick is also extremely "rough as guts" and he doesn't realize his size. Some people take it the wrong way but really he is just a big, energetic baby!!

I'm thinking that we may just end up with a junior dog roughly his age, maybe a little younger too.

Who knows, when the right one comes along, I'm sure it will be meant to be!

[tez]

When I was dreaming about getting a new puppy it didn't include me FREAKING OUT every time Jane ran full belt only to screech to a halt maybe in front of the puppy or maybe on top of the puppy or maybe even under the puppy whereas a larger more matureish beast will better be able to handle it! Oh and the new family member also needs to have a sense of humour and be made of tougher stuff than normal skin amd muscle. Sigh...it may be a long search!

But on a more positive note....we are in country Vic so if Maverick wants to visit...Cmon down!

[Evolving]

I took a week off work when I got Echo.

I had to go out most of those days though and I left Echo in the house in the bunnings compost cage I bought for her.

Bob was only slightly bigger than Echo and in reality he was in more danger of being hurt than her as he is so gentle with her and she is quite happy to use him as her chew toy. He had the scabs to prove it but he never complains about it.

When I went back to work they were left alone together in the backyard as I did not want to lock her up for such a long time by herself.