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

[Sally S Miles]

We did keep our little guy separated - mainly due to size and housebreaking.  Soon she appreciated the limits on ear chewing, her ears were his favorite chew toy and she is very tolerant - so we took turns with who was underfoot and when.  The kitchen got closed off frequently - that was a worry, as that was a good time daily for bonding and such.  No problems. 

It all went smoothly - Journey was merely on the other side of the fence a lot. I also have two cats - everything was good, but I had to have sanity check with some puppy down time. 

We did have daily times with both in the kitchen, this was their bonding time.  This all expanded and I have no formula - I winged it and let them earn play time together, had meals together, and so on in bits and pieces. It didn't take long and was not difficult (until this past week and that's another story).  They do have their own crates and I use them. They play together - although he will never be more than half her size, so far - so good.  We had some tense moments in the early days, he was so little and I fretted over her exuberance.  They had potty time together, but over time have learned that he gets to do some things and sometimes she gets to do them - not every new toy comes in with a duplicate, often they are different.   They are very fond of each other, I swear she just adores him. A year almost to the day apart, she was pretty well trained before bringing in new kid.  There have been minor lapses, nothing like original puppy hood or training needed. She forgets herself now and then - he is very good and teaches her to be faster to respond. I love it!  He brings out something in her that was not apparent previously,  she mothered him.  He pesters her.  Siblings...

Previously if I brought home a new family member it was more like, here they are - now get along.  End of story - but I do take individuals into consideration. 

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

We didn't separate the 2 doodles, either. In fact, Lucy went with us to pick up Oscar from the breeder, so she knew exactly what was going on from the start. Now, Lucy was 3 yrs older than Oscar (who was only 8 weeks at the time), and was well trained, if that makes any difference. We brought Oscar home on Lucy's birthday, btw. Oscar was the gift that keeps on giving :-)

As for Oscar bonding to Lucy over us, that didn't happen. Oscar was our little love-bug from the beginning. One of the many ways he differed from Lucy. That's not to say he didn't bond to Lucy, though. He did. Immediately. We had no problems training him, and with Lucy's help in setting the example, he learned very quickly. DH was afraid Lucy would be jealous of the attention Oscar would get, having been an 'only' dog for so long. And let's face it, its difficult to give equal attention to both dogs in the beginning due to one being a small puppy that needs constant supervision for potty training and safety's sake. In spite of it all, jealousy was never a factor. Lucy was just overjoyed with having a live-in playmate 24/7.

Every dog is different and what happened with any one of us and our 2 dogs from the beginning may or may not happen with you and yours. It all depends on the individual dogs' particular temperaments and personalities. Good luck!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

We're hoping for the best. Yogi just absolutely loves to play with other dogs, and one thing that really helped with the decision was watching him play very gently with smaller dogs. Fingers crossed. I so love Yogi that part of me is afraid of losing some closeness, but to get a second dog just seems right for us, so I'm going with my gut on this one.

Thank you!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

That was a big factor in our getting Oscar, as well. Lucy has always LOVED small, white dogs, probably because she was put in with the small dogs at weekly 'puppy romps' (where she played with several of the white-colored puppies)  when she was little. She was very timid in those early weeks, so the 'big puppy' section was too aggressive for her in the beginning. As she grew we saw how gentle she was with little dogs... and how playful. She was attracted to smaller dogs over larger dogs. Who knew Oscar would grow... and grow... and grow, to nearly 10lbs over Lucy's weight, but she still views him the same way she did when he was little. We're thankful for that!

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Leslie, I'm in the same boat and bringing home a sister for Ellie in early June.  She loves playing with other dogs so very much, which helped with my decision, too.  (Though she has a bad habit of "batting" at smaller dogs, albeit gently, when she plays with them :\ ...so will be interesting to see how this plays out with her live-in playmate.)  I have similar concerns as yours - I'm a little scared because part of me doesn't want to take any attention away from Eloise.  She's my heart dog.  But I keep reminding myself "love is multiplied, not divided" (read that on some other thread here!)

I don't plan to separate mine, other than puppy will be crated when I'm gone, while Ellie will have free roam of the house.  (The dogs might make me revise my plans when I see their personalities together, ha!)  Very exciting that you should have puppy news soon!!

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Julie, pictures of your new pup yet? :-)

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

None yet, Leslie. :)  Well, there are pictures of what I call the "pile of puppies" all snuggled together, lol...so she's somewhere in there.  I'll get to meet them at the end of this month for puppy visit day, so I should have pics after that.

[Julie, Eloise & Beasley]

Leslie, I now have a picture of the girls from my new puppy's litter.  She's one of these four...just don't know which one yet.  :) 

[Adina P]

We've added 'another dog' three times (Thule to Cass, Rosco to Thule & Cass, and Boca to Rosco's life).  Never separated.  Never a big deal. 

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Good to know. Thanks!

[jenn D]

Same here. Never separated except for individual training times.

[Janie, Jackson and Jilly]

We didn't separate ours, they are 14 months apart. We really had no reason to separate, they got along fine. I think putting time into training the first is key because you will soon be consumed with training the second one. Congrats!