Do We or Don't We

[Pat McShane]

Well my wife and I are sure we want one doodle, have identified and met with a great breeder who has a wonderful litter of standard sized multigen australian labradoodles and two brothers are available.  We are both 60, kids have gone off on their own lives, live on 20 fenced acres in the country. 

Since we will both have work lives away from the home for another five years, and we do like to cycle and travel, we are attracted to the idea of adopting both brothers.  We had a 12 year old lab that we had to put down a month ago and miss having a dog so we know what is involved with one dog, but are trying to work through the decision to have two, litter mates.  Any advise?

 

 

 

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

There was another recent discussion on the idea of adopting littermates. I will try and find it or someone else may post it before I do. However, there are several on doodlekisses that have littermates and love it. I have a two year old doodle and recently added a 4 month old doodle which does require more work, more expense, etc but is definitely worth it. Two true puppies at once though will likely be incredibly exhausting. If you are having doubts, maybe get one and then 6 months down the line if you still are considering a second, then start looking for a sibling.

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

ditto Lindsay. Maple was 10 months when got Lucky who was 4 months ( we are 50 and 54, both working). Everything fell into place nicely for us but this sounds like a tremendous undertaking. HOWEVER! what if they keep each other company and they don't have any crying nights after leaving the litter - because they're taking some of the litter with them? Interesting. Definitely search the sibling/littermates blog on doodlekisses.
Keep us informed!

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

I agree with this. Also, I find it is much more difficult to train with two....and to train two at the same time would be a huge challenge. We had our first Doodle completely trained before we brought our next puppy into the house, and it's still hard. Good luck and keep us posted on what you decide.

[Jeanne, Tura and Dolly]

The biggest problem mentioned when I looked into it was that they bond to each other and not to you. So you must separate them and spend time with each one on training and play and it is difficult because they just want to play with each other... That said, if you have the time and energy.....there are success stories out there and maybe someone in this group can share them with you. I opted to wait before adding number 2.

[Allyson, Peri & Taquito]

A great resource for you might be Michele Barton. She and her husband are about your age, the kids are gone and they got two siblings (a boy and a girl) from my breeder - a different litter born a few weeks before my Peri. They also live on a bunch of acreage and I think you should send her a message. Might be a good resource for you:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/profile/MicheleBarton

I do think it would be hard while you are potty training. It was hard with one, believe me. Most people seem to wait until one is house broken or a year or two old. I would probably do that. Peri is now 18 months and I think it would be an ideal time to add another doodle. But contact Michele and get her thoughts! I know she LOVES Gus and Molly to pieces.

[Patty, Roxy & Spencer]

I'm going to be 60 and my husband is 64. I'm not working outside the home, so I have lots of time to devote to a dog. When we decided to get a Doodle puppy after about 2 yrs following our last two dogs' passing, we thought maybe litter mates would be a way to go. I wanted two dogs again because they get to do logs of doggie stuff together and hang out together just being puppies. After a lot of thought and talking to the breeder, we decided to just get one and then add another one later. Our last two pups were both over 16 yrs old when they passed, so it had been a long time since we'd had a puppy and didn't really remember what a lot of work it can be. Also, as mentioned, litter mates tend to bond with each other first and you have to do a lot of separate training and one on one time with each. We added our second one when Roxy was 11 mos. old. Spencer was 17 wks when he came to live with us. They are actually from the same parents. This has worked out really well. With Roxy we got to go through the discovery of training a young pup and the surprise of all the differant stages they go through. Now with Spencer when he's going through some of the same stuff we can recall Roxy and know what's on the horizon and know how to deal with it. Also, Spencer follows Roxy's lead most of time and he looks to her on what to do and not to do. We worked a lot on Roxy's training and now she's helping us train Spencer. I'm glad we waited to get the second one. It is so great having the two now. They give us so much love, laughter, and fun. Good luck and enjoy you new Doodle or Doodles.

[Lynda Kamrath]

I'm probably not the best person to ask, but we do have a lot in common. Seven + years ago, my son's shepherd died leaving our standard poodle alone. He had never been alone for a day in his life, and all of us were gone to school or work during the day. Bruno (the poodle) was obviously depressed and lost his voice from crying so much. He just laid on the couch all day and was loosing weight. We decided he needed another dog and that is how we got started with doodles. We got a labradoodle puppy for him and he came right back to life. Three years later when he was on the way out, we got another puppy for Hondo (the labradoodle) and he did not even seem to notice when Bruno died. He was too busy with his puppy. Hondo died last month (liver failure) and even though we are both retired, we have busy schedules and Groucho Too (the goldendoodle) was also depressed. He sat at my feet for a week while I was on-line looking for another doodle. Now we have a puppy for him, but he is still pretty thin and hasn't been bouncing back like the other dogs did with a new puppy.
Alike? My husband and I are 64 years old and both retired, but many hobbies to keep us busy. My husband is a biker and rides his bike several times a week. He used to ride with Hondo, but now the dogs walk with me or we go to the dog park or the beach while he rides his bikes (road and mountain). Like children, I prefer to have them a few years apart, but we have learned that dogs raised with other dogs become very dependent on their canine companions. Would your puppy be left at home alone while you are at work? We also live in the country (but only one acre), and the puppy cannot be left alone for more than a few minutes. He is into everything. We do leave both dogs in a large laundry room when we are both away and that seems to work okay. But there are a lot of considerations. Good luck and feel free to ask me any questions you think I may be able to help you with.

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

rI am by no means an expert on this but I am 66 and have two Australian multigens. One is almost 3 years, the other 7 months. I would suggest you ask yourself if you want two dogs that are very bonded to you, or dogs that are bonded more to one another. I think the amount of time you spend training, and how much time they spend alone together, will impact the bonding. As others have mentioned, siblings will bond to one another. You might have to take time to train them separately. Mine are wonderful companions to each other. Your comment that you miss having a dog leads me to think you might want to start with one and add the other later.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

We have 2 GoldenDoodles, 2.5 y/o. They are liter mate sisters. We purchased them right after we moved back to Ohio from Florida. At the time neither of us were working. I'm 52 and DH is 61. For the first 6 months we were both home all the time. After that, DH went back to work. We spent the entire 6 months focused on the puppies. Potty training, house training, obedience training, socializing, you name it, our lives focused around the girls. Now that they are a little older, I'm still surprised at the amount of time that they consume. I also do our grooming, which is very time consuming as well. I have said over and over again I'm not sure what we would have done if both of us worked full time. I always follow that up with, Oh, if we both worked full time, we would not have gotten 2 dogs. I think that the one thing about getting 2 at the same time is you do not go through the puppy phase twice. However, you have twice as much of it at the same time. The first 15 months is challenging. They need lots of exercise. They need lots of time outside to play and work off all that puppy energy. What I've been told is getting liter mates isn't a really great idea. Particularly 2 of the same sex, and of the 2 sexes, if you have to get two of the same, don't get females. They will never determine who is the boss. I haven't encountered a lot of issues with any of that. I think of all of the things you mention, the fact that you both work all day is going to be your biggest challenge. You are going to be getting up several times during the night for potty. Having them crated all day is going to mean that your evenings are going to be crazy. Potty training is going to be very challenging unless you have someone come in during the day. You mention that you still travel quite a bit you are going to need a great support system from family, or a great boarding kennel and that is going to be expensive with two dogs. Or like us you will have to plan all your future vacations to places where the dogs can be included. You mention 20 fenced acres ...... I personally do not let my girls outside without my being out there or watching them through a window and I only have a 1/2 acre fenced. I wouldn't let them wander 20 acres because I would be afraid of what they might encounter as far as wildlife, not to mention briers in the coat etc. All of that being said, it is really great that we each have a doodle. It was great being able to train them and each of us have a dog to train. I've gotten involved with Pet Therapy, and have finally found my retirement passion. So, not to say it can't be done, if you have the desire, the energy, the money and resources necessary to do it! They aren't the type dog that you can just "have". They demand attention, they want to be with their people, and they require a serious time commitment. Let me know if you have any other specific questions. Always happy to pass on anything that I've learned.

[Pat McShane]

Hi Again

Thank's everyone for taking the time to share your experiences and thoughts.

We continue to lean towards getting two litter mates and here is part of our thinking as to why.

Many have suggested waiting and getting the second pup later and that certainly is an option. However we are reluctant for two reasons; the first is that because there will be two from the start, our absences will be minimized because they will have some of the pack members (each other) still around even though there human pack members may be gone for a portion of the day.

Secondly, our breeder, who is well respected on this and other boards, expressed serious concern for pups of different ages unless you wait a year and a half. Her concern was that the older dog may view the younger pup as a play toy and thus she has concerns about the older dog unintentionally hurting the younger one. So from her experience and perspective get two now or add one in 18 months.

As to the bonding with each other and not to us as well as training, our plan was to train them independently of each other as well as doing other activities individually. So yes you do need to take actions to build a strong bond between us and them but she feels that it is very possible.

And to the issue of potty training, we have two good friends trained their pups within the first week of bringing them home. That is not to say that we will have the same experience but hopefully we will.

The space that we have for the dogs while we are away for a part of the days is heated studio attached to our garage, which has a cement floor but big windows that the pups, even as pups can see out. We also plan to put in a smaller fenced area that would provide them with a potty space.

So that's our plan for better or worse but we would still welcome your thoughts and ideas.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

While it sounds like you have thought it through and have a plan in place and it sounds like you can provide a wonderful home, you just really need to be ready for anything. We have had puppies on here that have eaten holes in the drywall, eaten the woodwork, chewed holes in just about everything imaginable, are huge diggers, can jump a 5 foot fence, you name it and there have been puppies that have found a way. So, with either one or two puppies you just need to be prepared to be flexible.

[Sally loves Maple & Lucky]

Pat - You certainly are a going about this in a proactive way and the environment you have for the dogs sounds like a win-win.

We are in our 50's and have two females but from different litters. They are 6 months apart, the youngest a G-doodle at 11 m/o and the older a L-doodle now at 17 m/o. We brought them together when the younger was 4 m/o and so no concerns about physically hurting a tiny puppy. But I can see the logic.

Even though they are NOT litter mates, they are extremely close and we are gradually introducing separation to them. They are in obedience class now and we work them with plenty of dogs between them. They established alpha and submissive roles from the first day and we promote that with every action. We also train them that WE are the ultimate Alpha in the family - we do not talk to them when we get home until we have hung up our coats and sorted the mail - since we feed them london broil as a topper for their kibble, we make sure they see us taste the beef before them while their bowls are on the counter, etc. They have the run of the backyard and really enjoy their playtime together. The only time I check on them outside is when it gets TOO quiet, which is sometimes a clue to a hole being dug!

Housebreaking was a breeze. I handled it the same way I potty trained my boys. I dedicated (and I mean there was no other event or goal) a few days to each dog and kept taking them out and rewarding while repeating the words. My dogs have been trained to "find a spot" (#1) and "make a stinky" (#2) on command if I need them to. I took the day (friday) off work after I brought each dog home and the 3 day weekend covered about 90% of the housebreaking task - only a couple of accidents after that. They really are smart dogs!

As for working, we both work full time and use the train to commute into the city. We have a pet sitter come to the house at noon each day to play with the dogs outside. It's a wonderful thing. Sometimes it seems expense, but when things go wrong with your dog, the pet sitter is worth his weight in gold. Several times I've come home to dog beds hosed off and drying on the patio, and fresh towels in the crates when they were sick. He also is our sitter when we travel - he visits 4 times in 16 hours. The girls get to stay in their home and it's cheaper than a kennel (for 2 dogs) with no side effects of illness and trauma.

Go for it! It will work out.