LOGISTICS!! Lots of questions - would love advice :)

[Jennifer Goaring]

So I have the second doodle bug going BAD... and am trying to figure out if it is good idea for us or not. Sammy is a wonderful, almost 1.5 year old ALD who is medium sized and the most laid back, loveable dog I have ever met (and I grew up with dogs and my parents always had 2 or 3 at a time -- many different breeds).

But I do feel like Sam doesn't get enough play time and would love to have a buddy and for some reason -- I am up for a little more craziness in my household (I am mom to 4 boys -- ages 3 thru 12). The boys adore Sam and are totally on board for another dog... my husband is less so (but he wasn't on board for Sam either and those two are great together). He has not said anything to suggest I can't go forward with it (he isn't really like that anyhow) but does look at me with that "are you sure you want to do that?" look.

I love the idea of a girl dog given I am the only female in this house full of guys! And maybe even a slightly smaller dog (though honestly, I think Sammy is the perfect size -- just don't think we'd want to go any bigger). BUT... I have an opportunity to take on a pup that needs a guardian home -- he is already 1 year old, he is a HE, and of course the breeder is local (hence the guardian home thing) so we would sign a contract that gives them breeding rights and then the pup would be ours to keep forever after. It is a nice situation in that we don't have to pay for the puppy up front and he is older and trained (I think if I wanted a new 8 week old puppy my husband really would put his foot down... but I know better than to go that route). The breeder seems lovely via e-mail (and my hubby spoke to her on the phone).

My worries are... introducing a male pup who is not fixed to Sammy... right away I am assuming the new dog will be alpha as Sammy is a really submissive dog... and I don't know if that is a bad or good thing -- may be fine but I see lots of discussion on here about female-female pairings or how getting 1 of each gender works way better. So I still prefer a female... BUT, maybe I am wrong about that stuff. I also don't think I want to be a guardian for a female as then we have to deal with watching for signs her her going into heat and when she goes to have puppies she will be away for much longer and I think Sam would not like the long absences assuming they grow to be good buddies. So for a female, I would need to consider just finding an older pup that is fixed that needs a home.

Sam still sleeps in his crate at night -- he seems content so we have just never changed that around. I am wondering if the new pup sleeps in a crate and do we just put the crates next to each other? I also crate him when I go run errands and I don't yet trust him all over the house because he still really likes to chew on things... so I guess they both get crated until I figure it out -- I wouldn't allow the new pup more freedom than Sam as that doesn't seem fair -- even if the new pup is better about not eating things he shouldn't.

What about meals? Do they get fed together? Is it pretty easy to train them to leave each others' food alone? Same goes for toys... do they just share them all? I imagine if they are being too crazy in the house, I can just send them outside or put them in time outs in their crates... hmmm. The more I write the less complicated it seems. Just treating the new one like we do Sam.

I am talking to the breeder tomorrow and maybe making a trip this week to see her dogs. Wish me luck!

Jen

[Clifford, Cloud, Jake..and Kim]

I wouldn't worry about the boy-boy issue, we have two doodle boys and they are both laid back mountains of fluff.  After fostering five females, I can tell you they can be just a pushy and dominant as any dominant male.  I would say go meet the pup and see if you connect with him.  As far as the other issues, it sounds like you figured that out already - but keep in mind Sam should still be top dog and get some special time doing special things he really enjoys.

[Tracy L Boring]

Jen,
We added a second ALD last year. I really wanted a girl dog, but based on the criteria that I gave the breeder, the dog of our dreams ended up a boy (Our first ALD, is a busy bee, so I went with a very laid back dog for the second one.). The two dogs bonded very good right from the start, and are best buddies. They spend a lot of time together, but will separate when they want alone time. The 2 year old will go into his crate by himself, and the other knows he wants to be alone. They are pretty respectfully of each other, when they need space. Day one, they worked out who was the alpha dog, and have never looked back, or have never challenged the original decision.
I feed them both at the same time. I never had to train them to leave the others food bowl alone. They just kind of did that on their own. I generally buy two of each toy, but they have always shared them. One dog likes tug toys and the other is all about balls. It is pretty cute to watch the younger ALD play tug. He really has never liked it at all, but he plays with his buddy. He will not tug on it. He just holds the end, and lays down and lets the older ALD pull him around outside. The funny part is that the older ALD is 34 pounds and the younger ALD is almost 60 pounds. The only thing I have really had to work on with them was no running in the house. They really gave me clear signals that they wanted to interact (play bow, and mouth wrestling near each other), and I totally missed them, so a time or two, I had a 34 pound dog running around the house and a 60 pound dog running around the house. I make sure I catch the signals now. They also have a play room they can mouth wrestle in, just incase it is raning outside. Aside from the run time outside, we take them to obedience training once a week, and agility training once a week. My eight year old son trains the older ALD, and I train the younger one.
I am so very glad that I added the second one. I can not imagine only having one dog. I really, really would love to add a third. Ha, ha.
Good luck. I think Sam needs a buddy. Are they about the same size, and do they both have the same kind of coat?

[Beverley S. LaLonde]

I have four Goldendoodles Harlee is 6 yrs. 90 lbs.A Therapy Dog with Delta & R.E.A.D., AKC Canie Good Citizen & Agility Dog, I have Ms. Chloe she goes 50lbs. and is 3 yrs. old AKC Canine Good Citizen & Agility., Li'l Buddy a petite Golden Doodle 25lbs.AKC Canine Good Citizen & Agility,  two years old, and Little Miss Fergie F1B Goldendoodle will be one yr.in Sept 2011.She will start her training with a class in April for AKC Good Citizen then Agility Training. All of my animals are fixed so I can not vouch for a stud dog getting along with other males.Fixed there is no problem. As far as feeding I feed all of my dogs when seperated in crates other wise the more aggresive dog will get more then he needs.I started this with two standard Schnauzers and continued through the years. I could not imagine just haveing one doodle as they are so out going and wonderful. Good Luck and happy doodleing.

Bev, Harlee Boy, Ms. Chloe, Li'l Buddy & Miss Fergie

 

[Aimee Santa Monica]

Hi Jen!

I TOO have been infected with the 2nd doodle bug !

I am a mother to 3 young boys , ages 10,8, & 5.    And our 1st pup , Storm, is a male- we've had him for 10weeks.

 

I thought about being a guardian home to a female pup. But we just got an older female pup, Ayla, instead. She was 16 wks old . That was a little over 2 weeks ago.   They played rough the 1st week, Storm got kinda wild with nipping her! Now he does'nt do that. We had to take away Storm, alot. (Also, my 5 yr old had to jump on the couch to get away from pups nipping socks!) Thank goodness that has stopped!  They now eat side by side-  but we could'nt do that the first week!   It's so cute to see them play together.   

Ofcourse the 1st few nights were tough of her whining and barking!  But then i remembered her breeder said that she likes a towel over her crate.   So i just sit infront of her crate (both pups crates are side to side) for a minute and tell her "Go to sleep" and she curls up and puts her head down. I put the towel over the front of her crate (both crates looks like a travel kennel) and  shut off the light and close the door.  So far, it works!   It gives me time with my children and husband.

I am so glad i did'nt get a younger pup this time-  she does so well walking on the trail with me and potty training is getting better. 

 

 

[Adina P]

Oh gosh...so many things to cover!  You seem overwhelmed at the idea but excited too.

To me it always comes back to training.  Whether two dogs are intact or neutered/spayed, male or female if each has training and you set boundaries and give them time apart and work with them individually I think you can do just fine. It's all about whether you have TIME for this.  Some intact dogs do fine with other males.  Others need a little more firmness and boundaries. 

I feed my dogs separately...and I think that is generally a good idea.  Not in different rooms but just so they can't bug each other.  My pup is crated and my older doodle is fed in the same room but neither can access the other's food.  If toys are around then they will use what they get and sometimes play fight over a toy and sometimes wrestle over a toy and sometimes REALLY fight over a toy.  In a perfect set-up, I would not let the dogs interact for a few days. Keep them separated by baby gates and crates and leashes and tethering.  Let them get to know each other via smell and let the new dog get to know the 'routine' first.  Of course we never did this but I also didn't have babies or kids around to complicate things. 

 

As long as you have ways and means to separate when needed and time to maintain the training of both as INDIVIDUAL dogs...then I think you should be fine.  It might take a little more work with an intact male (to prevent marking now that he joins a new family with a new dog, to prevent escaping after a female in heat, etc) but if you're up for it and you have TIME on your hands...then you will be fine.  I would personally rather have an intact male in the house than an unspayed female.

[Adina P]

My only concern is your statement: "But I do feel like Sam doesn't get enough play time and would love to have a buddy and for some reason"

 

I don't think Sam is suffering AT ALL.  A mellow dog is not pining away for more play time.  They are just happy to be chill with their family.  So if that is your primary reason I think you should think about it longer.  But if you simply WANT another dog for YOU and the rest of the family wants another dog...then that's a better reason, in my opinion.

[Jennifer Goaring]

So... Sammy is mellow.  He relaxes easily.  But he ADORES other dogs.  Our neighbors across the street had gotten a new pup -- a English Mastiff I think.  She was so CUTE with her "too big for her" paws.  So they were introduced at the neighborhood park and got along so well that we then would meet on purpose whenever we had a chance and I then offered to have her come play in the back yard at my house.  Our neighbors loved this because it wore her out and Sammy had a great time.  He plays well with other dogs (that is why I loved the puppy classes as well).

 

So I remember thinking that even though I thought another dog would be great -- at least we had this great pup across the street to play with... then the neighbors up and moved at the first of the year.  Boo hoo for Sam.

 

So yes, he can be very mellow -- but he loves other dogs.  I also just think it would be fun to have another dog.  Weird as it sounds -- I kind of enjoy all the chaos :)

[Jennifer Goaring]

Why would you rather have an intact male than a spayed female?  Just curious.

 

Lots of good info -- thanks.  I definitely could keep them separated a bit if I wanted to -- at the very least -- Sammy is allowed to roam everywhere at times and the new pup may have to stay gated in the back part of the house (family room / dining / kitchen area).  We have that gate up all the time still but then let Sam thru it to go hang out upstairs int he play room with the boys when they are all up there.  Again, I would have thought of keeping them separate much.

 

Jen

[Adina P]

I've never had an intact male or female adult dog so I'm not speaking from experience.  But the female's cycle scares me.  The thought of her possibly dripping blood grosses me out.  Though I've heard it isn't always bad.  Plus there are fewer health risks (in my research) to an intact male than to an intact female.

[Jennifer Goaring]

I think the new pup is a bit smaller. Weirdly I am not sure what Sammy weighs these days -- I need to go play Wii Fit and weigh him again! (Did you know you can add Mii characters for your dogs on that game... tee hee!)

The new guy is 35 pounds which seems really small to me. Here are some pics of the new guy:
http://www.evergreenmanorlabradoodles.com/Mojopictures.html

My page has pictures of Sammy (for some reason I can't recall how to add them to a message... hmmm).

Thanks for the reply. I would like to take them both to classes too just to get them on board with the same signals and Sammy needs some refresher work. He isn't great at "stay' and I'd like to re-visit "leave it" (we don't use it much but with two dogs, I may find it is useful). I have twin 8 year old boys so would bring them both with me to classes to help train the dogs. Do you bring both dogs together to classes?

I keep hearing about needing to do one on one time also -- I don't think I would have thought of doing that so much on my own... but it makes sense.

Thanks again! My co-workers think I am crazy.

[Adina P]

I have never taken classes with my dogs.  I've done the training on my own.  And one dog at a time -- I can't even imagine getting reliable results taking two dogs to a class.  I think there would need to be an adult with each dog even if you brought a child for each dog.  I've helped teach 4H obedience and most kids are not really ready to REALLY train their dogs...it is good for them to learn how but it is the parents that have to do the work.

[Jennifer Goaring]

Well given Sammy has already been through the basic classes and this would be more of a refresher and chance for my son to practice with him... and then I could work with the new dog and my other son... the classes we went to last time had lots of kids and parents working with dogs including a family with two young girls who each had a new puppy to work with and one parent was there to help each week... they did well.  The instructor is really good with kids as she does 4H stuff as well.

We could always try it for a week and if it is a disaster, I could do them one on one instead.  Just thought it would be nice to have the trainer to help me out with questions if I have any that come up with the new dog.  She is very talented and has a lot of knowledge and background.