Since Odin''s breeder is planning to breed from our boys sister and, if all goes wel,l it's certain that i will get a puppy from that litter i just wanted to share some of my thoughts an worries and hope to get some advice from experienced "multidog" holders The thing is i'd love to get another male. Firstly because Odin is an entire male and we want it to stay that way so with a second male we wouldn't have to worry about seasons etc(especially because Odin will be the "uncle" of the puppies so anykind of "accident" would be an absolut no go there) and secondly I'm planning to work with the new dog so no missed Working Test etc because of getting in heat twice a year. So where is the problem? get a boy then! most of you will say now after reading these lines well our Odin is not the most layed back dog when it comes to other entire males. He's really good and nice with most other male dogs specially after he met them more than once(regular training partners, neighborhood dogs....) but there are some males he just can't stand and he get's really agressive when meeting them. So do you think bringing another male dog in our home will cause problems?
I've always found it easier with boys. I know that If I had tried to introduce a girl with girly i have now she would have left home. It was hard enough to introduce a toy boy. She stayed on the sofa for 3 days and refused to eat. After about a week she decided he was fun after all and she now abuses him regularly and is his playmate. Its funny watching a 2 year old pup trying to sleep when a tiny 12 year old feisty little lab is trying to batter him awake with a stuffed squirrel. I think my next dog will be a boy too as like your dog my youngest is and probably will be entire. I always found labs like living with other dogs and careful introduction and managment in the first few weeks really helps. I don't let the pup sleep with the older dogs staight away and am just careful and monitor everything. I love having more than 1 and 3 is my perfect number. It works for me. Also I think my own labs have benefited for having a stable happy dog to teach them the ropes. I have always waited until the training of the resident dog was good and that they have gone past the teenage crazy stage. If you have a good routine it really helps I think I would go for a boy too I find them a lot less complicated than girls.But saying that I have never seen anything more soppy and lovely as the way my older male dog dotes on my female, she can get away with anything he just indulges her totally. I have thought about adding an older neutered female into the gang at some point as i don't want to get to out numbered by boys. I love having 3 it is hard but I have never been happier. 2 was great though it opened up a whole new level of dogginess and my dogs were so happy. It is expensive though so save your pennies. Don't get them too close in age it can be a proble, as you will get double vet bills that can happen as they get older. An age gap of about 2 to 5 years is good and has worked well for me Good luck
I've never had more than one dog at a time and as your dogs will be closely related it is probably the safer option unless you can make arrangements for them to be separated during seasons. My concern would be that Odin can be aggressive with other male dogs which could lead to problems with another male in the household.
I've got two entire boys. I would think that with careful introduction you're unlikely to see aggression. Puppies get a free pass for awful behaviour from most dogs. My concern would be that somehow as the pup grew he would join in or learn from the aggression. You would need a more experienced person than I to tell you if that's a possibility though. I only say it because I've seen dogs from the same household kind of back each other up when being a bit feisty. In the main though I've found having two entire males a lot of work and a complete joy best of luck!
Hi Christoph, I had two half brothers for many, many years, and they were inseparable - never a cross word between them! There were only two problems with them - one being that if there was a bitch on heat, they would give each other a look and then disappear off into the distance (I soon learnt to always keep one of them on the lead when there was a bitch in heat around). Secondly, as Barbara says they did use to gang up together - they obviously felt much stronger together than alone, and this could be a bit intimidating for other dogs. Bitches tend to be a bit less antagonistic than male dogs, so if Odin is already a bit aggressive with some male dogs, you might well want to think about taking on a bitch instead. And of course you could always have a bitch spayed, which would solve problems with Odin trying to mate her, and would also mean you wouldn't be missing out on working tests twice a year (been there, and it can be very disappointing). I have my old dog Bones together with Poppy for nearly a year. She went through one heat, and we had Bones stay with friends for about a week during that time. It was fine.
Hahaha thatone made me laugh! Thank you all for your input! I'll have a chat about that with our breeder/trainer but i think if we carefully introduce a new male puppy to our family it shouldn't be a problem and Odin will get used to him. Well we'll see.
We are a multi dog household, was 3 but now 2, but with a new pup coming in 2 weeks time. So back to 3. They are all bitches, this can be a problem with seasons when we are working on shoots. When introducing a pup into the home with other dogs, just need to monitor interactions closely for a few weeks, they soon learn to get along and find their pecking order. As for male dogs, there is a possibilty of a bit of aggression between them, this will need to be monitored. If your present boy is a bit agressive towards other males, this could a problem. He could dominate the new puppy, which will not be a good environment for him. Are you sure that you want a pup from the same closely related breeding. Sue.
My Tatze has a new pup to contend with every year, she takes it in her stride. This video is on Twiglet's first day with us - http://vid1106.photobucket.com/albums/h371/BoogiesAlbum/IMG_0279.mp4 My friend's dog, Zaba, didn't like Twiglet at all. He growled at her and warned her off. Now that she's virtually the same size as him he'll play fine - he just can't stand tiny pups. They are all different, but they all adapt in their own way
