When to get a second dog?

[MotherOfGirls]

We have a fabulous 10 month old collie x, who was a rescue puppy. We would like another dog at some point and I thought we would wait until he was at least 2, but now I'm wondering if we could do it sooner. Oscar is very sociable and loves being with other dogs - would it be a good or bad thing to have a puppy in the house while the resident dog is still very young?

I'd wait another couple of months tbh.

It'll be quite hard work with 2 very young dogs together; they will play A LOT.

Two dogs also create quite a few training issues - the bond the 2 young dogs create will be very strong and you need to make sure that they both bond strongly with you, and actually listen to what you want, rather than only listening to each other! You'll have to spend time walking and training each dog alone to make sure that happens.

There's nothing more frustrating than a pair of dogs who take one look at you, decide their chum is more fun and bugger off together.

Thanks, Daisy. I did think that might be an issue.

There's a 3 year age gap between my two, and it works really well. Dog1 was young enough to want to play with the pup, but old enough to teach him a few manners. The latter is really handy as it sorts out the whole puppy nipping phase in minutes!

Just be aware that the first 6 months can be a little difficult, and you may need to keep them separated for quite a while, as dog1 will probably be extremely put out by the arrival of a dog2. Once they have established who is boss it's fine.

Two clients of mine (I'm a dogwalker) got a second puppy when first dog was still only 6 months old. Second puppy had to be rehomed, the dynamic just didn't work. The dog psychologist they called in as a last resort before rehoming said in her experience she'd never seen a successful attempt to introduce two dogs both aged under one into the same household unless they had arrived on the same day - ie from the same litter.

All my clients who have more than one dog have waited until dog one was at least 18 months (and that is ropey, their relationship has a lot of ishoos), and more usually until dog one is about 3, when dog one is secure and adult and well able to push the puppy into place without resorting to attacking it.

We too had a disastrous 6 month gap between puppies. After a 2 week grace period the older puppy decided he hated the intruder and life became very difficult. We had to keep them apart.

We have a nearly 8 year gap between our dogs (I realise you don't want to wait that long!)

It's been fantastic for our older dog. At nearly 8 he was old, tired, showed little interest in walks, just slept all day. At nearly 10 he has spark and life, runs along with young dog on walks and is generally much more lively.

He doesn't think it's been good for him! She demands way too much of our attention for his liking and he suspects he would have twice the food if she weren't around . She is very much the boss and her getting that clear resulted in a few fights when she was about the age your dog is now. From 10 months to about 14 months was definitely the worst time for them getting on. But by and large, they now do OK, and we definitely did the right thing for our old boy (and all of us!) in getting a second dog.

I would wait a while yet. If I had just our younger dog, who is coming up to 2, I would still want to wait a bit before I got another. She's still quite puppyish at times and I think you need your first dog to be a proper adult. The adolescent stage can be quite hard and I wouldn't be mixing that with a puppy.

We are currently looking for a pal for our whippet (2 years old) and have been advised that 1. the first few weeks can be hard until they establish who is boss and it is normal for the resident dog to be put out by a new arrival and 2. if you get a female, over time, she will usually be the dominant one over a male dog (whippetty is a boy).

I don't know how accurate that is, but just a couple of things we've been advised by rescues.

OldMotherDismass that's so interesting about the female being dominant. Our old sheltie kept his dominance until she was about 10 months when she started fighting him for it. Certainly from 18 months, maybe earlier, she's been firmly the one in charge.

I've felt a bit guilty about it, after all, he was here long before her, but suspected that interfering in it would just cause trouble between them. I've never heard it said before that females often become more dominant, but it is certainly true for us.

i have a 16mo lab girl and have applied for a rescue pup who is currently 13wks old and a boy so i'm glad to hear the female usually dominates because that may help the process.

i did wonder though if she is too young and it will be complete manic madness. if i get to the home visit stage i'll go with what the experts say when they meet her. she's a lovely dog, very chilled out and sociable but also still very playful and energetic with other dogs. the pup is apparently looking for a home with another dog in it just like her - who will have energy to play and not be irritated by a bouncy puppy but who also makes a good snuggle and chill partner as he is quite chilled and loves his cuddly sleeps. fingers crossed it all sounds ideal.