When To Add The Second Dog?

[wings]

I have an 8 month old kelpie female pup who has been home for a week. My aims with her are to establish a good level of obedience (sit, drop, stay, away and come all off leash) and begin herding with her as I live rural and really want to run some stock of my own. She's an outside dog, has a pen of her own and uses half of our very large front vernadah so she always knows where we are if we are inside. She gets about two play sessions a day, goes on a walk to work on her heeling (it's not very good!) and often I spend some time out with her reading (which means she is belly up getting a rub.) If I'm outside working I bring her along on leash or via teather unless I am working the horses in which case she has to stay back in her pen.

I always knew I wanted two dogs, especialy since she is an outside dog which means time spent on her own.

When is the best time to bring in a second dog? I'm in no rush to increase the pack straight away but I want to do things right by both my girl and the future addition so I really want to get the timing right.

[Gayle.]

I would get the first dog well and truly trained first, to the point where she is reliable and can pick things up on her own, without to much guidance and repetitive teaching from you. You will know when that happens.

[Crazy Daisy]

I agree. It is much easier to bring in another dog once the current dog knows the routine and you are happy with your training. It is much easier to train one than two.

[Kaz]

Unless of course you add an adult rescue dog. A calm well trained adult can do wonders for a developing youngster.

[wings]

Good point about the older dog, anyone got a grown up sheltie I can pinch?

I'll probably go the path of adding a second puppy when Tannin is ready, I didn't get the full puppy stage with her since I got her at 8 months so it might be fun to get that the second time around.

Would you say the level of training I'm aiming for before Tannin can start learning to herd would be a fair point to introduce a new dog? I know you say I'll know when it happens but I feel like such a dog noob at the moment!

[SmoothieGirl]

No real answer for you here, just sharing my experience and thoughts to give you a different perspective.

My girl is a house dog, but she does herding, obedience and dabbles in agility. I'm getting a new pup in the middle of Feb, but I purposely waited for her to be close to two before I got another dog. I didn't want to tempt the naughty hound gods by having two very young dogs at once.

Its up to the individual of course, but I really wanted Bronte to have very well established behaviours and training before I got another one. Now I know I'm ready to be able to focus on two dogs, and she's old enough to also benefit from learning some patience when I do have to focus on the pup. She's a very well adjusted dog with other dogs though. May be worthwhile to see what your dog is like with the influence of a friends trustworthy dog, to see if she is really attentive to you when another one is around or if she just loses her brain. Bronte is all about me even when other dogs are around, although she does enjoying playing with others. That might help you make the decision. Two young dogs together too early in their training may be more full on than what you want to commit to, although it does sound like you are quite involved with your dog and perhaps its just the challenge you're after.