Hi Everyone, Joey is now 9 months old and has mellowed out, even so much so, that i have forgotten how crazy the first few weeks were and how tired i was (I can't even remember the puppy blues -thank god!). We have always wanted to get Joey a sibling. We definitely would want to get another lab. Just wondering, what are people's experiences with getting a second dog? What age do you think would be most appropriate? Would there be a difference between getting a female or male, if we already have a male dog? Any help would be much appreciated
For me, about two years was when I started thinking about it, because at that age, my two existing dogs walked beautifully on lead and were generally trained to a really good pet standard with strong recall and stop, as well as sticking close on walks without me worrying. Luna came along when W&S were nearly two and a half, they hated her on sight and it was a fraught couple of months until they accepted her I don't think the sex really matters; Joey will either like the new pup or he won't.
It depends I would say when your dog is three years old is ideal. The dog is up for play but a good role model for the pup. Tatze was 15 months when we got Gypsy and it was quite a challenge as they over played so we needed to separate the room to give them both space for time out. Now Tatze is nearly five the pup doesn’t get to play with her much. She’ll play first thing in the morning but that’s about it. I don’t think the sex makes any difference at all. We’ve had every combination now. I find the boys more straightforward ‘tho. .
Based on my experience, I’d recommend: don’t overthink it! We’re still with one. He’s 6 yo. I think the time for a second pup has passed cos I think it would annoy our boy now. When I look back, we should’ve taken the offer of his half brother (owner couldn’t keep him) when our boy was almost 2 yo - they would’ve had so much fun together! We were worried cos our boy had poor recall at the time. But in retrospect I think we could’ve managed it well. Oh well...
I introduced one pup when the resident dog was 2. He was well trained and a very sensible laid back 2 year old.i also introduced a pup into the house when one dog was 12 and the other was 10. It was fine you just have to make sure that the dogs at home are trained and get the same attention they are used too.i am careful about introductions and don't leave the pup unsupervised ever until all the dogs are happy with each other.
My oldies showed the pup the ropes and helped him feel less anxious. The old male Doug taught the pup Rory lots of things and accompanied him on some of his tiny puppy walks which improved his confidence. Doug has been dead a while now but I still see Rory doing things he learnt from Doug it's nice. Moo the 10 year old taught him to play bitey face and cheeky things. I just have moo and Rory now and despite the large age gap they gave a really lovely relationship
My lab is six and she's adapted really well to puppy. They sleep together, play together. The play fighting can get too boisterous and we do have to split them up at times when they get too frantic.
