How to add another dog to your pack

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Sorry, wanted to post this here as well as on the multiple dogs forum :

We are getting yogi's brother/sister in early July. (Due date is this weekend). I had asked our trainer about getting a second dog, she said its important to keep them separate a fair amount of time.
So I'm wondering if you guys did this, how did you accomplish it? I'm trying to think how a day might go if I have them separated some during the day. Would puppy be in a separate room in his crate instead of out with Yogi? Would yogi be partitioned off when we play with new pup? Right now Yogi has run of the house, so just now sure how to approach this.

Any thoughts or experiences would be helpful

[F, Calla & Luca]

My dogs were not litter mates but really neither are yours. Luca was 14 months old when 4 month old Calla joined us. They have always been together although they have their own crates when I am out. But for almost five years now we go on car rides, walks etc. as a threesome. Luca had about 10 months of training when Calla came and her training was haphazard not formal. She is of course generally more obedient. So if Yogi is somewhat trained I see no reason to separate them.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Yogi is well trained(for 8 months ;-). I think her suggestion was about allowing the new pup to bond with us, not just Yogi. I am curious if it is important to do as she suggested. Yogi will be 10 months when new pup comes home

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

We never ever separated......it is so important not to show preference to the newbie...just so Yogi's nose doesn't get out of whack. I can assure you, he doesn't / won't recognize the newbie as a brother/ sister. The older residents always help to teach the younger. It seems they follow by actions ( and this can work against you as well!). I would maybe separate just until a Vet check has been done, for Yogi's health safekeeping. But if they get along from the start, I see no reason to separate. It will be a different story if Yogi gets a little jealous. But cross that bridge if it should ever come up.
Just out of curiosity , ask the Breeder her reasons !
So, name for newbie? BooBoo? ;)

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I think we are going with Maci for our new addition. We were going to leave the sex open, but i have read a lot that a female and male will generally get along better.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

Leslie, we currently have all males - not our choice but happenstance.  Our first mix group was male/female and it has been male/male ever since (16 years).  It so happens that the cousin dogs are mostly male and again, no problems.  The few female dogs in the family do rule the roost!  I grew up with female/male, male/male, female/female with no problems at all. All of our dogs have been neutered and the only issues we have ever had were from my dil's then adult unneutered male and Clancy.  Since Clancy was an adult rescue, we do not know his background.

[Miss Ellie]

Good one Ro...I like it!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Isn't boo-boo the name of that silly girl on one the channels? Real country like?
Anyway, I liked the idea of Bear, then I could just call out yogi bear for both of them :-)
But I'm 80% sure I'll pick a girl. So it's Maci Bear and Yogi Bear.

[Rosemary (Ro) and Enzo]

LOL...I think you are right...Honey BooBoo? My head was in the old Yogi Bear cartoons...wasn't Cindy his girlfriend? Love Maci! Cute!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Ro, yea we thought about cindi briefly :-). Also like Daisy, but felt maybe it was too popular a name. Maci Bear should be born this weekend!

[Marie and Hoka]

We have accomplished this several times over the years without bloodshed! :) Both with puppies and new adults.

We do always separate for just a bit, but it is the puppy that is cordoned off... the older dog gets the usual run of the house.

We keep the puppy gated in the half-bath adjoining our family room for a few days, with an open small crate in the room.  We let them all sniff each other, etc through gate. We hang out in the room as much as we can, going back and forth between the areas.  The older dog doesn't seem to care about losing just one room!

We make sure someone is always paying attention to the "old dog" too and they don't feel left out.  We feed the "old dog" first, greet it first, etc.  You can usually get a feel for how they are going to be.  Since Yogi is still young and rambunctious, you might need to make sure the puppy is not trampled when you do finally let them together.  We had usually been introducing a pup to a dog about at least 3-4 yours old.

Take up ALL valuable toys, bones, etc before the new pup even arrives.  Yogi can survive without them.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

I like this idea too of using a larger guest bathroom for the puppy to be gated. Does it hurt the human bonding though? Does puppy whine and bark being left alone?

[Marie and Hoka]

We kept going in and out.. and I confess I slept on the bathroom floor for 2 nights.  What a softy!!! We made sure someone else stayed with Moxie upstairs.  Eventually we moved Moxie and Hoka together at night to our master bath.  It all worked out well.  But during the day we did use the bathroom, so they could see each other , etc but still have some separation.