Whens a good time to get a second dog?

Hi everyone,

Its just a pipe dream, but...

i would love a second dog eventually, but dont know when is the best time.

colin is only 5 months and coming along great. he would love a little brother or sister to play with, but I wouldnt want him to feel put out or for his training to suffer.

any thoughts on the best age to consider this...


I would love another mini (black) or maybe a standard schanuzer. ... but ofcourse colin comes first!


xxxxx

Aw, I think a playmate for Colin when the time is right would be great. Bet he'd love it too, he sounds lovely.

I wouldn't consider another pup though until Colin is fully grown and mature, both physically and mentally and fully trained as well. He is still only a baby of course, but then you know that already.

Depends on the individual dog, of course, but possibly around 2 - 3 years old would be a good age.

Just enjoy Colin whilst he's still a puppy and focus on his training. Puppyhood doesn't last long.

Just my thinking anyway, I'm no expert!

Pepper (my Schnauzer) was 2 when I got Gozo. She's a minx and I had said I wouldn't get another until she had 100% reliable recall, but when I realised we'd both be old and grey before that happened I gave up the wait.

Gozo was a doddle by comparison, sooooo easy going and well behaved so when he was only 1 along came Enzo, who is also a dream compared to his big sis!

Thinking about no.4 next year, but then I really am going to stop....honest!

J.

Pepper sounds fabulous!! such a character I think I would love her

I remember youve got affens, Ive just googled them they are so cute!!! ...another option!

I think we will wait like you say until ive got his recall sorted (fingers crossed!)

He just loves other dogs so much. Weve recently lost my mums westie very suddenly, who, despite a rough start, grew to be his best friend. I can see he misses her

xxx

I think at least 2 years, my dogs have 3 or 4 years between them and I still have 5 dogs, ranging in age from 15 years - 5 months. If you get dogs too close in age then you will end up with 2 oldies together with age related medical issues (my 15 year old is deaf, has cataracts, is on heart meds and has arthritis) and the possibility of losing them at a similar time.

Hi,

Ideally I'd leave about 18 months to 2 years in age between dogs. For me personally, I had Zane first, then Ellie 4 months later (she was 4 months younger than him). It wasn't intended, but she'd have been drowned had I not taken her. Then 8 months after bringing Ellie home, I took on Yiannis who was only 3 months old at the time. I had him from B'ham DH and he was due to be PTS.

I've had no end of rescue and foster dogs going through my door but those were the first three I had altogether as family pets.

Unless you have an immense amount of time to spend with your dogs, I'd certainly wait until Colin is quite a bit older - at least another 12 months.

It's incredibly hard work to raise young pups who are almost the same age. It's fantastic that they all grow up together but you have to consider the different levels of training and development all the time.
You also have to make sure that ALL the dogs (whether 2 or 20) focus on YOU first. A lot of people who have a multi-dog household don't realise this and the dogs end up taking more notice of each other than their owners.

I'm not saying you definitely shouldn't go ahead and get another one now. But I think you'd be both surprised and shocked and just how much extra work comes with young dogs together.

Good luck with whatever you decide.

Laura xx

there is a year or so between my 3 dogs and it seems to work for them and me.

Get a standard next

I want to get a 2nd dog once Milos older and fully trained who knows what age he'll be lol We also need to wait until we get a house as we couldn't have two dogs in the apartment :/

I want to add a Rottweiler to the family however OH wants another staffy

I'd happily have 3 or 4 dogs when the times right... OH doesn't know that yet

I thought you and thee uncle were thinking about a chow chow? Oooo or a cocker spaniel

I think it depends on the individual personalitly of your current doggy

I have 2 BCs and there is just over 16 months age gap between them. Our youngest is 6months old now and we are planning on adding another in a year, maybe more, maybe less.

Good luck wit whatever you decide x

I wouldn't get another dog until your current one was fully mature. If your dog loves other dogs and you get one now (as he is a pre-adolescent), odds are your boy will focus far more on the new addition than you. Not great from a training perspective.

Young dogs really bounce off of each other and the younger dog will be influenced by the older one. This is great when the older dog is mature and relatively well behaved, but not so great when the older dog is still a pup and still somewhat of a 'blank canvas' (in terms of not fully mature, full personality has not yet developed, still training, etc.) because the pup will pick on undesirable behaviours.

You have the horrors of doggy adolescence to get through yet. That could potentially last until your dog is 18+ months of age. Get through that then think about adding another.