So we are about to enter hell

[phoolani]

Or it appears we are. Our 2 (count 'em) 9wo puppies are arriving in two weeks, so I've been trawling the puppy threads and, obviously, am now terrified, acutely anxious and resigned to not sleeping or leaving the house sans dogs till at least next Easter. ??
There's a lot of talk about 'doing things differently' knowing what they know now, so tell me: what would you have done differently with a new puppy given the benefit of experience?
Now you've all scared me, help calm me down!

My breeder was absolutely adamant that I could only have one puppy. She wouldn't let me have two. She said to come back in 18 months if I wanted another. I didn't! Her reasoning was that it is almost impossible to train two dogs at once because they bond with each other and not with you. At our first training class there were an elderly couple with two labrador puppies. They were hollow eyed with exhaustion and the dogs were out of control. They both said that they wished their breeder had told them this. As others have said I'm surprised your breeder has agreed. Btw my dog is a cavapoo. My breeder was right. She is a highly trained agility dog now. I simply couldn't have done this with two..

Nine years ago we got two puppies ( unwanted litter and emergency situation to save them from an owner threatening to drown them. :(. ) . Nine years on although I have two lovely dogs I still remember then horribleness and mainly coming coming into the kitchen at 6.00 with morning sickness to clean up puppy poo As dogs they are not particularly good friends, just tolerate each other and there have been issues. I really, really wouldn't do it again.

Separate training is an absolute must as others have said. Ideally separate puppy parties and classes.

A breeder who encourages you to take two pups is only in it for the money I'm afraid, however nice they may seem.

Cancel your life for the next couple of months as you have to stay at home to do housetraining. Don't invite anyone round unless they understand you will be looking at the pups more than them. Remove all shoes at floor level and make a 'safe place' for kids' toys where the pups can't go - any toys not in the safe place will be chewed.

Thanks everyone. Have been doing some serious thinking and I think we'll start with one. Will make a definite decision over the next day or so, but that's where I'm heading I think.
They're malshis btw, so definitely considered a 'designer' crossbreed I would think. I've always had cross breeds (definitely not 'designer'!) so i'm more pre-disposed to them than pedigrees. I'm slightly unconvinced by the argument that that automatically means the breeder is evil, tho; as with anything, there's bound to be good and bad. Considering what 'proper' breeders have done to some pedigree breeds over time, it would be difficult to argue they were doing it for the dogs' benefit, either.

Chrisalice - I definitely have the time (the energy is another matter) and that's the only reason I'm considering getting a puppy at all. I've done it before and I'm not under any illusions! I've mentally blanked out my life for the first three months and I'm not taking any bets on the next 6 or so!

9 months in. I reckon in another 9 months I can hope to begin to coast if all the formative work has gone well. :o

Even at this age I minimise time in the outside world with her puppy friend, as they simply reinforce what the most excited conveys about any situation.

DP1. OHMYGOD, its going to get me, GETAWAY GETAWAY.
DP2. I've no idea what your shouting at but it must be scary, GETAWAY.
DP1. Shit, DP2 is really freaking out, this must be totes bad, GETAWAY GETAWAY.

Instead puppy goes out alone or with old dog.

DP. OHMYG...
OD. Sigh
DP.

Glad you're considering just the one, OP - definitely the wiser option in the long term. I'm sure some people might luck out with littermates, but can't imagine they're high in number.

In terms of what I would do differently (lurcher pup is now 6 months old) - well I would do better with house training. I was lazy, and it was summer, and I got into the habit of leaving the back door open. Had to re-start house training once the weather started turning as he hadn't learnt to ask for the door to be opened. We're getting there now.

I would also have stocked up on a whole load more toys and chews, just to have back ups when I needed to remove a well-chewed one because it was starting to leak stuffing/squeakers etc.

The only other thing to say, which you may already know as you don't sound a complete novice, is socialise, socialise, socialise. Get puppy meeting as many new dogs, people, animals, etc as it can handle over the course of several months.

I'm really glad I posted - I just hadn't considered it would actively be a bad thing to get two together. I mean, I realised it would be bad for me ?? but not the puppies themselves. Dd won't be best pleased but she'll come round when it's explained it's for the dogs' benefit.
We're still getting one, tho, so any more tips are greatly appreciated!

You are making the right decision OP.

I have two, a year apart, not related in any way, and having always had two dogs, I thought I had done well to last a whole year before bringing number two in.

There are pros and cons. For me, the pros outweigh the cons, but even a year apart, it is HARD WORK. Mine is a lab and a GR, so puppies for a long time and definitely need to be walked and trained separately (they are 2 1nd 1 yr old).

I take them both out at 5:30am for an hour, together, off lead. Then at 10am, I take older one out for 45 min on lead walk and one to one training, come home and take littl'un out for her on lead walk, then take them both out at 4pm ish together, on leads and a bit of ball chasing. I work full time, but thankfully have a home office and work my own hours. My children have grown and gone. I have NO idea how people with two puppies and children manage!

It's great that you're getting one. If you have dry, winter skin hands I recommend Germolene new skin liquid plaster. We've got an older puppy and it's been really helpful to be able to seal cracked skin and minor cuts without wearing tasty chews stick on plasters.

The toilet training advice much mentioned on here has meant we never reached double figures on indoor accidents though it is a pain and we had the advantage of other dogs to show the puppy where to go. It's basically outside on waking, immediately after food or play and every 20 minutes of awake time. Then loads of praise when they go in the correct place. If they have an accident, no reaction, just clean with something designed to neutralise the smell (bought spray or biological clothes washing stuff mixed with water.)

We have an 18 month gap between our youngest two dogs and it's been really challenging. They both act like puppies a lot of the time.

Presumably a "malshi" is a maltese x shih tzu?

Both parents should still have had all the appropriate health tests done for their breed. There aren't a huge number for either breed but the shih tzu parent should have been DNA for renal dysplasia and I'd want the maltese parent to have had an MRI to check for Chiari malformation. Ideally both should have had their knees checked for patella luxation as well.

Both breeds can also be affected by a number of health problems which can't be tested for, some of which (cataracts, degeneration of the mitral valve and portosystemic shunt for example) are common across both breeds. As the genetic basis for these conditions isn't currently know it's possible that it could be the same across both breeds, meaning that if both parents are carriers the puppies could be affected.

As there currently aren't any tests for these the breeder needs to have really researched the ancestry and relatives of the dogs they're breeding from to see if there's any evidence of any of the health conditions known within the breed.

Shih Tzu health

Maltese health

I'd have tried to find more (though they seem to be like hens teeth!) properly calm well socialised adult dogs and organised to meet and spend time with them from an early stage. Socialising is all very well but counterproductive if meetings are mostly with other over-aroused dogs!

Also, could have realised sooner that there are some situations where only moist treats such as sausage and cheese were going to compete for attention.

Something i am glad I did right away was pair the sound of my neighbours lovely dogs barking with a delicious treat, so he has always come running for a reward rather than gone to shout through the fence when they burst out the back door and do endless frenzied laps of the garden in full voice.

I wonder what's wrong with having a well-bred, health-tested example of either a Maltese or a Shih Tzu rather than a cross of them? I wouldn't personally go for a Shih Tzu because their squashed faces and the lifestyle problems created by them, but a Maltese Terrier is a nice-looking dog that is generally healthy and robust.

They sound like a good choice and take away the risks inherent in the crossing with a breed that does have some health compromises...
www.yourpurebredpuppy.com/reviews/maltese.html

Our first puppies were both nine months when our first child arrived. Having two pups of the same age was a bonus then--they burned off a lot of energy together in the garden running around. If I did go out without them they never destroyed things in the house because they would play with one another.

Obedience training was harder, it is true, but on the whole I was happy with our decision and going out and leaving them wasn't such a worry in the same way it has been with a single pup.

I currently have two dogs, age 12 and 2, I have had litter sisters, also two with a smaller age gap.
The litter sisters were fine, but much harder to house train. They needed lots of time training, as it has to be done seperatly, they tended to wind each other up more and when one died, they other was distraught with grief.
Personally I think one pup, then another when the first is past the "teenager" stage works best. Hopefully by then dog 1 is calm and well trained and a good influence on new pup. Our current old girl was 10 when we got our latest pup, and I think she finds the youngster hard going sometimes. We are also starting to find walking harder, as oldie won't walk as far as the pup.
Mine are Golden Retrievers, so a bit bigger than your pup will be, there is practically no limit to the mischief a pair of Goldie pups can get up to! bitter experience

"Presumably a "malshi" is a maltese x shih tzu?"

It is, I googled it because my first thought was malamute x shih tzu and I was going what? No!!!!

Lol

tabulah - my mind went straight to malinois belgium shepherd crossed with a shih tzu, which is an equally terrifying thought!

My breeder told me I would struggle to handle two and that thought I should return to a year on, if at all. She did this quoted gently but I think she just wouldn't have allowed me to buy two if I had pushed. Wotsitpup is a 6 month old show cocker.

On the other hand a good friend of mine had two whippet puppies together - who are litter mates. They were a bloody handful when they were puppies - to the point where I found them too much and I'm very tolerant. But......now they are grown up they are v well behaved and calm and unrecognisable. She managed fine in the end.

I would say that if you have never had a puppy before don't get two at once - you really have no clue how much work a puppy is! Meant in a not patronising way - just that I have a 6 month old puppy so I know!

My old neighbour went to a backstreet breeder for a mastiff pup... and cae home with two.

I can't even begin to describe the chaos they seemed to cause. Problem solved though as she and her partner split and he had one dog; she the other! Things settled down then.

I have had 2 dogs at once but got No 2 when No 1 was two years old (she was the same age as him). Two neutered adult dogs totally unrelated, pref one male one female - probably the easiest way to have two dogs at once.

If you must buy a crossbreed/mongrel (and I wouldn't as it's purely breeding for money)
Well, not necessarily. In this case perhaps yes, but crossbreds are sometime deliberately bred for work, or to keep up the numbers of random terriers ratting in the barns.

OP, from what I know of dogs, you're making the right decision in only having one pup. This is a very good post, by an experienced breeder and dog trainer, about having litter mates:
cynography.blogspot.co.uk/2013/12/christmas-puppy.html

Well, not necessarily. In this case perhaps yes, but crossbreds are sometime deliberately bred for work, or to keep up the numbers of random terriers ratting in the barns.

I acknowledge this, but breeding for the pet market? There is no good reason. No breeds are being developed or improved, more dogs go into the netherworld of dubious heritage and more dogs are produced whilst others die pounds every day. It's morally, so, so wrong. As a dog-lover my heart bleeds when I hear of another prospective pet owner buying into the designer dog nonsense.