Hallo We have a 10 month old female lab that suffers from seperation anxiety and gets over excited when seeing or are around other dogs. We are taking her to obedience training, but she gets very distracted by the other dogs. We are now considering getting a new puppy (also a lab) as a companion, but are not sure if when choosing a new puppy if we should pick a high energy or meduim energy puppy seeing our puppy is a very high energy puppy and should we pick a female or male. Please advise.
Re: Should I get second puppy? My advice would be to wait for a while before getting a puppy , your girl is still a puppy herself and would benefit from being more mature before you add a puppy to your family . At this age it is very normal for them to become excited around other dogs , its all about learning to be sociable , maybe you know someone with an older more calm dog that you could walk with ? As and when you do decide to have another pup , I would advise a male , its the mix less likely to cause any problems .
Re: Should I get second puppy? Thank you for the advice, much appreciated. Our puppy is improving a lot around other dogs seeing we are taking her to obedience training. However her seperation anxiety is still a problem that is why we where thinking of getting a second pup.
Re: Should I get second puppy? Stefan, I'd probably be approaching this by working on your current dog's anxiety directly, using a training/desensitisation approach, rather than by getting a second dog just now. If your girl's anxieties are directed at you leaving her then getting another dog will probably not help her. It's human company she probably wants, not just any company. It might be good to talk with your vet to get the recommendation of a good behaviourist who has experience with anxiety issues. They can observe things happening with your dog and map out a plan of treatment. It is not an easy problem to address on your own and I think some professional, on the spot advice might help.
