Adding a 2nd dog

[Sabrina and Bentley]

We have a 3 yr old doodle who we love and we would like to add another one. Any advice on bringing a new puppy in? Should we let Bentley come with us to get him? Should we let the puppy sleep in our room? Bentley does. Do we need to hide Bentley's fave toys for now?

Would love to hear from those who have brought a new puppy in. I work from home so I will have plenty of time for training.

Thanks!

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

There was a similar discussion just last week regarding all things relating to adding a 2nd doodle. Here's the link:

http://www.doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/how-to-add-another-dog-to-...

Personally, I think 3 yrs old is the perfect age to add a 2nd, as that was Lucy's age when we added Oscar. We took Lucy with us to pick up Oscar, and there was lots of curiosity on Lucy's part on the ride home. We never separated them, and they did just fine from the beginning. All dogs are different, though, so what worked for us may not work for everyone. Lucy slept with us, too, but we kept Oscar in a bedside crate the first week while he acclimated to our house and routine. After that first week we moved him to his crate downstairs at night (near the back patio door for easy access to go out for potty). Lucy also had/has a crate next to Oscar's and she helped get him use to being crated at night (she loves her crate). Oscar graduated to sleeping with us after about a year (it may have been a bit sooner, I've forgotten the exact timing).

As for Lucy's toys those first months, we were concerned Oscar might eat something he shouldn't since he was so very food motivated, so we only kept his toys out for both dogs to play with. Soft toys that Lucy would have destroyed prior to Oscar, seemed to stay intact with Oscar around. Lucy's only real interest in them was with playing tug-o-war with Oscar. Bully sticks and Sam's Yams, Lucy's favorite chew toys, haven't made an appearance since Oscar's arrival, as I'm just certain he would swallow them whole :-o  It all comes down to getting to know your puppy. Oscar will swallow anything that will fit down his throat, so we are super vigilant to keep things picked up and out of reach. We never had that much of a problem with Lucy. She's a chewer but not necessarily a swallower.

Training Oscar was a piece of cake. Since Lucy was already trained, she led by example, and Oscar usually just followed after her. It was pretty cute watching them respond to commands in unison.

You kind of have to just play things by ear as you go. Amazingly, you'll know the right thing to do and the timing when its right. Everything falls into place, at least it did with us.

Good luck and enjoy (adding a 2nd doodle is SO MUCH FUN!).

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

After reading Judy Keith's post regarding soft toys, I wanted to add that Oscar's soft toys weren't around for long. Once his adult teeth started coming in, they were gone! Its balls, antlers, Kong Extreme and West Paw Design toys around here now. Nothing soft or easily destructible.

[Sabrina and Bentley]

Thanks for the feedback. We went ahead and added a second puppy. We realized that we had some trips in the fall and wanted to make sure the new guy was trained.

We are so in love. The first two days I was having major regret as I forgot how exhausting it was to train a puppy and constantly following him around while he explored. Bentley, our fist dog has reacted to him better than we expected. He came with us to pick him up and did a lot of sniffing. They run around the yard and play just as we had hoped.

Thanks again. Now I'm heading to the Puppy Madness group to get some advice! Ha!

Sabrina

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

We added our second when Meg was 1 1/2, and I want to say it was rough going for a bit with the potty training but we finally got through that and right now I would say it is one of the best things we ever did.  Crate training started out a nightmare, poor Polly would scream so bad I would have to keep going in to make sure she hadn't somehow got caught and being hurt.  It is probably not the correct thing to do but she was in Meg's old crate and on the fourth night I opened it up and let Meg go in with her, they snuggled up together and I never heard another peep.  Both girls were happy with that arrangement, we did it for about three weeks and I took Meg back out, we have never had a problem since, Polly is 10 months now and after she has her last night potty she heads straight to the crate. 

All soft toys at our house ended up in the trash after Polly came, she still destroys them so it is bones, antlers, balls and Frisbees around here for now.  When Polly out grows destroying soft toys we may go back...but them Polly may never out grow that.

Again, we had a bit of time that was rough but we were watching them together yesterday and commented about what a great thing it turned out to be, they are quite close.  Good luck with your decision.

[Leslie, Yogi & Maci Bear]

Judy,

I'm curious why you say it was a nightmare at first.  Was it the age spacing, or just a matter of the temperment of your new puppy?

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

The problem here was that I have never potty trained a puppy before, seriously.  Every dog I ever had was either rescue and already house trained or kept outside and naturally wanted out there to go potty.  It was not true of Polly so the first time for me and a big plus to add is that my husband is not helpful on this at all. We got there, it just took a bit longer than I expected and then we had two or three after accidents, even a month after the last one.  All past that now and she knows exactly how to ask to go out and has staying power if we are not at home.  By the way, when we are not home we don't crate her, we gate off the kitchen and hallway and both girls stay there, no accidents, chewing or other bad behaviors.

The crate training was a nightmare because of how she screamed in there, it was not just pathetic, it was frightful because she seriously sounded as if her neck or something was caught...that completely changed when I let Meg in there with her, never another peep and she still loves her crate, when it is getting later than normal for bedtime she actually paces a bit to let you know she wants in there.

Again, I am a bit older, scared myself for a few weeks but so glad we rode it out, wouldn't trade either of my girls for anything.

[Sabrina and Bentley]

Thanks Judy. The constant barking in the crate is an issue that I'm trying to work on. He is only crated at night and he's in our room. Our older dog was never really crated, so he sleeps in his bed in our room.

We haven't left the puppy alone yet in his crate to leave the house, today will be the first day. I'm scared that he will never stop barking and whinin and stress our older dog out. Any suggestions for working on this? I was thinking maybe I need to put him in and walk away for short periods of time? Not really sure.

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

I just wanted to add that we did take Meg with us when we picked up Polly.  They played a bit on Polly's turf, bonded in the car on the way home (even though Meg was aghast when Polly got carsick in what had always been Megs are...she wouldn't even look that direction) and once we got home the only time they aren't curled up and sleeping together is when Polly gets to warm and heads for the kitchen tiles.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

That's funny, my 2 never sleep curled up together. I often find them touching, though, at the feet or backs in all manner of positions.

[Debb, Lucy & Oscar]

That's funny, my 2 never sleep curled up together. I often find them touching, though, at the feet or backs in all manner of positions.