New Family Members

[ijay]

hello. Just joined to talk with some other dog lovers. after growing up with dogs all my life. Now 22 I finally have a place big enough to have my own dogs. My partner and I had a plan for some months that we were going to get a Pug and a Rhodesian Ridgeback. We get the Pug in about two weeks and planned to get the ridgeback about a year later.

This all went down the drain when we fell to temptation and bought a 10 week old ridgeback 4 days ago. She will be about 12 weeks when we get the Pug which will be 8 weeks. Do you think we will have problems training 2 pups at the same time?.

Our ridgeback Nala is going very well so far. No accidents inside yet and can already sit and stay most of the time. She is very attached to us though. Whenever you leave a room you can bet your life that she is right behind you. I love this about her but I am worried that when I go to work she will cry and annoy the neighbours.I would like her to be a bit more independent, will this come with age? I am hoping that the pug will be good company for the ridgeback.

do any of you have these two dogs. will they get along ok?

Also which is harder to train ridgeback or Pug. I plan on taking both of them to obedience school. Should I take them at the same time or seperately?.

Any comments or advice will be greatly appreciated.

thanks

[t-time]

First of all congratulations on your new pup - and your one to come! You must be so excited!

There are quite a few things to say.

Do follow "introduction protocol". Even though they will both be young when they meet, your first dog has had the time to be well-adjusted in the household and become an only child! They might not just automatically play and be happy together.

When bringing Pugsley home, have your OH bring Ridgie to neutral ground like friend's place and introduce them there. I would suggest a park but there's the worry of unvaccinated puppies in public places. ;) Introduce them and let them play a little bit and supervise very closely. Hopefully they will have a good time together.

Do keep them apart at home and gradually increase their time together.

Which is where I'll come to my next point: there is a huge size difference between a Ridgeback and a Pug. Play MUST be supervised - all the time, especially when they are both babies and silly. Ridgie will not realise his strength and Puggy is only little and easily damaged (even if Puggies are tough lil' critters! ) I'm not saying don't let them play together but do watch them closely.

The next thing is to make sure they have "alone" time - away from eachother and you. And also some time of individual attention from you - it's harder with 2 pups than you think! ;)

Even at this early stage, I strongly suggest crate training for ridgie and then a crate for Puggy when the time comes too Crates will make your life so much easier especially as you will have 2 puppies to try to deal with. It's like a little cave for them - a bedroom, a place to have "downtime". Do a search on crate training and you will find all the info you need to give it a go. Best of all, it means you can take their bedrooms with you on holiday or to the vet or whatever and know that your babies are safe and happy :rolleyes:

For obedience/puppy school there will really have to be one handler per dog. (The same when going for walks at this early stage in life. Later on when they are both accustomed to their leads an hanve manners, it will be easier to take two at once. Size is also an issue there because Puggy only has little legs which don't goas fast or reach as far as Ridgie legs!) Both breeds are readily trainable, bright dogs so there is no problem with obedience training! Both breeds do well in the ring.

Encourage OH to take one pup and you take the other - swap around so that there are no heirachy issues - you and OH are the bosses and the pups come down the list If it's really impossible to have OH there, then take the pups one at a time. Perhaps start Ridgie off first as he's older and then do some work at home with Puggy until he can go into the next class available. Puggy can sit in his crate and watch as well ;) :D

There are loads of little things I have missed here - no doubt! But hopefully this will give you a starting point.

[ijay]

First of all congratulations on your new pup - and your one to come! :D You must be so excited!

There are quite a few things to say.

Do follow "introduction protocol". Even though they will both be young when they meet, your first dog has had the time to be well-adjusted in the household and become an only child! They might not just automatically play and be happy together.

When bringing Pugsley home, have your OH bring Ridgie to neutral ground like friend's place and introduce them there. I would suggest a park but there's the worry of unvaccinated puppies in public places. ;) Introduce them and let them play a little bit and supervise very closely. Hopefully they will have a good time together.

Do keep them apart at home and gradually increase their time together.

Which is where I'll come to my next point: there is a huge size difference between a Ridgeback and a Pug. Play MUST be supervised - all the time, especially when they are both babies and silly. Ridgie will not realise his strength and Puggy is only little and easily damaged (even if Puggies are tough lil' critters! ) I'm not saying don't let them play together but do watch them closely.

The next thing is to make sure they have "alone" time - away from eachother and you. And also some time of individual attention from you - it's harder with 2 pups than you think! ;)

Even at this early stage, I strongly suggest crate training for ridgie and then a crate for Puggy when the time comes too Crates will make your life so much easier especially as you will have 2 puppies to try to deal with. It's like a little cave for them - a bedroom, a place to have "downtime". Do a search on crate training and you will find all the info you need to give it a go. Best of all, it means you can take their bedrooms with you on holiday or to the vet or whatever and know that your babies are safe and happy

For obedience/puppy school there will really have to be one handler per dog. (The same when going for walks at this early stage in life. Later on when they are both accustomed to their leads an hanve manners, it will be easier to take two at once. Size is also an issue there because Puggy only has little legs which don't goas fast or reach as far as Ridgie legs!) Both breeds are readily trainable, bright dogs so there is no problem with obedience training! Both breeds do well in the ring.

Encourage OH to take one pup and you take the other - swap around so that there are no heirachy issues - you and OH are the bosses and the pups come down the list If it's really impossible to have OH there, then take the pups one at a time. Perhaps start Ridgie off first as he's older and then do some work at home with Puggy until he can go into the next class available. Puggy can sit in his crate and watch as well ;)

There are loads of little things I have missed here - no doubt! But hopefully this will give you a starting point.

[ijay]

thankyou. I'll keep all that in mind.

Is it ok to give puppies beef bones from the butcher?.

[BrunoBella]

I was told not to give puppies bones till they're three months old and then to start on chicken wings.

There are people who feed their dogs BARF (don't know much about it) who do do this differently.

Have fun