Feeling broody for another pup, good idea or not??

[Marne]

We already have one lovely Staffie, 10 months ago we got a cat and the Staffie loves the cat (mothers it, licks it and sleeps with it) but now i'm thinking 'she would love a doggy friend or a pup to mother'. She's great with other dogs but can be a little playfull, i'm not sure how she will handle another dog in the house, she will either mother it or she will hate it (i'm hoping she would mother it) .

A friend of mine has 2 pups for sale (staffies) and has offered me one, i would love to have one but dh is saying 'no' .

Am i mad considering another dog in the house? is having 2 as easy as having one?

How old is your Staffie?

The trouble with having 2 dogs is that you have to work hard to build a strong bond with both of them, rather than them building an unbreakable bond with each other. That means lots of separate walks, training and attention to ensure you are in a position to control both of them.

Having said that, actually having 2 dogs is easy - and IMO no different to having 1. They love each other's company and gain a great deal from having a friend.

The bond thing isn't difficult either. It just takes time and effort to make sure it's right. If your Staffie is older - say 3 or more, it'll be less of an issue. She'll have a bit of maturity and a very strong bond with you already so the majority of the work will have to go into the pup instead.

We have 4 dogs - and work hard at making sure each of them gets a bit of special one on one every day. At the very least to ensure that they listen to you while hoolying around together on a walk.

My staff is almost 4, she's still very bouncy but very loving, it took her a few days to bond with the cat but now they are best of friends. I do worry about having 2 straffs as you hear so many bad stories about 'creating a pack' by having more than one.

I planned on getting a rescue dog but i think i would end up with 2 very hyper dogs as my staff can be very playfull with other adult staffies, i'm hoping she would be less playful and more gentle with a pup as she loves to mother the cat.

We live in the middle of nowhere so plents of fields for walking them together or seperate. I'm at home a lot but my Staff likes someone to be next to her all the time, pines when i go upstairs (she's not allowed up there) so i think she would love having another dog for company.

She's a very good age for introducing a puppy - old enough to know what's what, but young enough not to be irritated by the new addition's bounciness.

I find I do need to separate ours if they get themselves too hyper, but it's very easy to do. A quick bit of training focuses their minds very quickly indeed.

If you're happy your friend's puppies have been carefully and thoughtfully bred then they'd be a pretty good bet.

A young rescue staff would also fit in quite well, I expect - there are an awful lot of them who need homes.

Go on. Get another dog!

Thanks Daisy, will nag dh tonight (i'm sure i can win him around). The pups were an accident (friend ended up with 2 staffies and before she could get one sorted out it was too late) so they are not KC reg, just family pups. Our Staff is KC reg, payed a fortune for her as she's a pure white but i'm not sure if she is 100% staff as her head is not very wide and her ears stick up (vet tells me 'she's perfect'). Have asked my friend if i can see the pups (as i have not seen them yet), fingers crossed dh will let me bring one home .

i hope your not mad, im getting a second puppy in a few weeks, my cocker is 4.

my new pup is a family dog too, (same situation)

good luck xxx

We've had two dogs together for the last thirty years. Different dogs obviously. Six. Our new pup is Moss who's a 9 months old Jack Russell mini. I'd forgotten how much seriously hard work puppies are. I've just come out of eight months of getting up at six o'clock every morning to toilet train her. The initial weeing on the floor did my head in. She has chewed very little really-duvet cover, four cushions on the bed (lovely beaded ones from The Pier). It's to be expected I know. I find that with more than one dog they spur each other on to bad behaviour (barking inappropriately, pulling on the lead). It's almost impossible to train the new one when the older one's there as they just want to outdo each other. They both want to have the ball and so won't drop it. They both want to be in front when walking so pull on the lead. Training has to be done separately but then all goes to pot when they compete with each other. New pup trying to be dog dog I suppose

Luckily our house is very dog proof, we have stair gates and nothing worth chewing, i'm up at 6am most mornings as dd2 wakes me up, luckily we dont have carpet down stairs so perfect for puddles , garden is puppy proof too. Now i just need to get dh to agree .

If you don't mind the work great. I love puppies. Our older dog had to be put to sleep a few weeks ago (we had three dogs together). She was 14 and just collapsed. I'd have another Jack Russell (to make 3 again) especially since oldest DS is now away at uni so that's drastically reduced the workload. We don't have carpets either but the constant puddles at first still drove me mad. My 2 sons (16 and 19) tool old for stairgates! And we have a horrible sixties ranch style staircase that dogs can sneak through. Can't change it as up for sale. After all the dogs we've had my best advice would be to make sure you see both parents if poss. Definitelt the mother. We did this for the first time with our new pup and she has just the same temperament as her mother. She's an absolutely lovely affectionate tiny creature (think size of a small rabbit)

Also the best advice we ever had was to use a crate (dog cage) She was in this for the first few months. She had blankets and newspapers in there. So wee and poo overnight was at least in one spot. Also it meant she could do very little damage overnight to table legs etc. And it protected her from the two other dogs at night. Being squashed, snapped at etc. She was tiny when we got her at 8 weeks (about the size of a small guinea pig). I had thought it would be a bit cruel but not at all. She loved it in there and still does. Goes in when I hoover, so it's obviously a safe place for her. Gradually she was allowed to come out and sleep with the other dogs. The cage was next to the bed of the other dogs