When To Get 2nd Puppy

[deltoid]

We have an 11wk old Silky Terrier. He is great.

It has always been the plan that we'd get two dogs. We are now thinking about when we should get the next dog. My wife and I have 2 weeks leave in late April and were thinking that might be a good time to get the second puppy.

Our silky will be 5 months old at that stage. The silky has been very good with his training so far, the only real problem is house training which he is getting better at. Everything else he is handling well. So assuming things keep going to plan in 2 months time he should be a good little role model for a younger pup.

What are peoples experiences?

[poodlefan]

What are peoples experiences?

My experience is that its better to space dogs out over a few years. Two young pups may be fun but two very senior dogs isnt'.

If your pup is happy on his own, I'd be waiting for some time.

[Esky the husky]

Just think of all the extra training and all the extra time you'd have to divide between two young pups.

If you wait til your current pup is matured a bit, and knows the house rules, then I would think about adding another pup.

Remember that your current pup will go through adolescence, and much like a teenager may shrug off your requests, ignore you and test your boundaries. I would wait until that storm has passed at the very least ;)

[erinonthefarm]

My puppy is now 5 months old and quite a handful! I asked the same question a month ago but decided with many dolers advice to wait a while- I am researching for where puppy no 2 will come from but I won't be commiting to another one for at least 18 months when Sniper is nearly 2yo and I think this is a good amount of time to wait at a minimum.

[B-Q]

I would also wait for "the storm to pass"

Quinn has just hit adolescence, I've been bracing myself for it but its not going tobe a fun few months. I asked her for to lie down last night and she just gave me a blank look like "I have never been taught that" never mind it was her favorite command 3 weeks ago.

[W Sibs]

Just think of all the extra training and all the extra time you'd have to divide between two young pups.

If you wait til your current pup is matured a bit, and knows the house rules, then I would think about adding another pup.

Remember that your current pup will go through adolescence, and much like a teenager may shrug off your requests, ignore you and test your boundaries. I would wait until that storm has passed at the very least ;)

+ 1

Edited February 15, 2011 by CW EW

[Starkehre]

I would suggest you wait at least another year.

Althought your Silky is doing so very well and Kudos to you for this, what you need to remember is that he is likely to not always move in a positive direction. As he enters puberty and other stages of development he is likely to take the odd step backwards. This is normal. ;)

House training is commonly a bit of issue at around 5-6 months of age. It all seems to be going fabbulously (which you expect your little man to be in the next couple of months) and the pup suddenly out of the blue seems to have forgotten everything. Usually this is short lived and can get back on track very quickly, but my advice would be to wait until your dog is at least a young adult before adding the 2nd addition.

I always find 2 so very close to one another triples the work as they get into so much more mischief than one. There are exceptions to this, but you will not know which your cse would be until you are living it.

Also all that extra work of separating them for training and just for developing a well balanced pup that is self reliant and not reliant on the other pup can be a lot more work than you reckon on.

Very easy to fall into the rut of leaving them together for company which creates dogs that NEED one another to function.

My advice is that if you and your wife are really happy with your little man and it certainly sounds like you are and why not, it is seems to be going great, then I say leave things just as they are. Another pup will not necessarily make it better. Dynamics will alter and everything will change. I am not saying it will be worse, but it will be different. Your existing pup will probably become selectively deaf to things he would normally do instantly when asked. And his focus will be spread with a new addition also.

Of course you will do what you want to do, and that is absolutely your choice and I wish you the very best with whichever way you decide to go.

[Maxarch]

We have 2 puppies, 3 weeks difference between them, and although they are pretty good pups they are very time consuming. We don't have kids so I suppose for us these are like our kids. One thing we have noticed is Max, who is the older one, is pretty smart and was training really well before we got Archie and then when Archie came along we couldn't get Max to listen to anything and toilet training went out the window for a while there.

I'm not saying not to get another puppy because ours have become good friends and it is really great having them around, but you have to be able to dedicate alot of time to them for quite awhile... having 2 weeks off will definitely help you though, just remember that when another puppy comes along it is double the work and sometimes you might go back to square one with your first pup. We also spend alot of time separately with our pups so they won't grow too attached to each other and stop listening to us, I highly recommend doing that, oh and our pups can be little terrors sometimes too, if one is up to something in the backyard, you can almost guarantee the other one is there egging it on... lol

Goodluck with whatever you decide ;)

[Guest Labradork]

What are peoples experiences?

Hi all! I was asking myself a similar question earlier this year.

I have 2 Labs, the eldest is 2 and the youngest is 6 months. I'm currently retraining my 2yo because his attention span seems to have withered with the new addition! I also work with dogs so have seen relationships between doggy housemates of varying ages.

Based on personal experience, I often tell people that the best thing you can do for a dog, is get another dog. (This is of course provided that the eldest dog hasn't hit an age where a new puppy is considered frustrating, rather than exciting.) Besides the company/joy they provide for one another, they are so much less mischievous, because they turn their attention to one another... rather than to your couch/shoes/sprinkler system/chair legs etc. People often say "2 dogs are easier than 1" in reference to these circumstances.

However, in my professional capacity, my experiences have been that two young puppies tend to be *more* work than one (quite considerably), because neither of them have yet had the chance to develop an understanding of rules/manners/boundaries. I guess to use a real life example, despite regressing a little in his training, my eldest dog won't always "engage" with the pup's demands to play, and will still listen to me/obey commands during play, where I believe a younger pup wouldn't. I suppose in a nutshell, it gives me more control over any situation, and it helps in setting an example for the puppy.

Aside from anything else, I think the above comment by poodlefan about "two senior dogs" is spot on: our old boy died last year at 13, I couldn't imagine dealing with another loss at around the same time.

Labs and Silkies are very different beasts, but I found a real change in my eldest Lab's maturity when he hit about 1.5. I'd probably wait until this age before getting a new friend for your little mate. In the meantime, enrich his social world by meeting lots of new friends at the park/beach or joining a social network for dogs (e.g. doggymates, dogtree etc.) and catching up for walks.

Hope this helps and whatever you do decide - wishing you the best!

[aussielover]

I house sat a one year old GR x poodle with my 7 month old puppy.

I found it pretty easy actually. If anything both dogs became more attentive to me, my puppy's recall actually improved a lot.

You know you dog best though and whether they are at the stage (training wise) where you can confidently add another dog.

[koalathebear]

There's a thread here about pros and cons of getting a second puppy. Most people recommend against it - details in that thread. We got our second puppy when our first pup was 8 months old. The second pup was already 3 months (i.e not a tiny puppy anymore) and there are just five months between them. You'll see from the earlier thread that we've really had no problems and are very happy with our decision to get a second puppy. They're the same age, breed, energy level - love to play with each other. Training has been fine and the second one got house-trained and crate-trained a lot faster because of the first. There were some issues to iron out but the second puppy settled in very quickly. There's no doubt that it's more work to have two pups rather than one but as long as you're mentally prepared, I don't see a problem. We have been told many times that bad to have two dogs of similar age because you will have two elderly dogs at once and probably lose them in swift succession. We're mentally prepared for that, too.

[luvsdogs]

I once read somewhere & wish I could remember in which order it goes. It stated that it's best to wait for 2-3 years between large breeds & 3-4 yrs between small breeds or it could be visa versa. My border collie was 3 in Jan & I have been thinking of getting another pup in the near future because my son's dog is 10 & really showing her age. Tilba would be very fretfull when she goes & I would like a play mate for her closer in age than the 7.5 yrs between her & Sooty.

As others have said it is more work & it's always best to wait until your present pup & trained to a standard you're happy with because a pup would copy what the older pup does & that usually means twice the mischief.

[Nekhbet]

it all depends. If you're happy for twice the work housetraining and general training then go for it. It's more a personal preference then a hard and fast rule. If you want another get it the opposite sex to yours and choose one that is a happy go lucky personality, not a little bully.

[Sayreovi]

I've waited a couple of years between mine, the longest has been the recent pup, there is a 6 year difference as opposed to the 2 year between my oldest two. I was moving around a fair bit and had alot going on so even though I wanted a pup it's wasnt the best time. I was satisfied with where the oldest two were at, so adding a pup was smooth and very easy.