Second Doodle! Give me your sibling advice!

[Kristen Eric Lacey and Paisley]

Wow it has been a long time! I just logged on here and it seems like I haven't posted since Lacey was 10 weeks old. The last three 1/2 years have absolutely flown. Every day with Lacey is a gift. The predicted 45 lb. doodle turned into a 85 lb. polar bear right before our eyes. She has been an angel to us. Probably the most well behaved pup and is more than we could have ever asked for. In the meantime my husband and I have gotten married and purchased our first home.

After years of saving, we have finally saved up enough to get Lacey a doodle sibling. We are going with the same breeder we got her from (can't remember if I am allowed to say where on here or not). We adore them and have stayed in contact with them over the past few years.

We picked out a name for our little girl. Lacey's sister will be named "Paisley." We quickly fell in love with the name and feel it compliments Lacey nicely. We will pick up her sister the Thursday prior to Christmas and will meet her the weekend before. We are not sure what pup will be ours, but I posted some pics. She is an F1B goldendoodle and has a beautiful apricot coat. I am also including an updated pic of Lacey on here.

Rambling aside, I am asking for tips and tricks for bringing home the second pup. How can we make Lacey still feel spoiled even though her daily routine will be changed severely? Any advice on crating the puppy (Lacey is done with her crate)? I know they won't be best friends immediately but do you have any suggestions on easing them into their relationship?

[Melissa and Lulu]

Your Lacey look similar to my Lulu. She's very beautiful. Unfortunately I don't have any sibling advice but I'm sure they will end up being best friends. 

Lu is 37 pounds at 20 1/2 weeks. I was wondering how big she might actually get..I know females are known for being smaller than males. She has grown so rapidly. I keep telling her to slow down and enjoy being little, it isn't working. You'll gave to let us know how she does with the pup. I'd like to get another doodle soon. They are the best dogs!

[Cathy and Daisy and Harper]

I have read that when you bring puppy home, you introduce them at neutral turf so your older dog is not as territorial.  Your dog is much younger than mine when I brought puppy home and it was not an easy transition.  Eight months later it is much easier.  My trainer told me two females are a little harder because they are hard wired to be very territorial.  We crated the puppy quite a bit and that gave my older dog space. My puppy is 10 months old now and loves her crate. She goes to it by herself when she is tired.  I love the name you picked out! It does go with your other dog. Best wishes!

[Judy, Meg & Polly Wolly Doodle]

My girls are 13 months apart in age and Meg was about 1 1/2 when we brought Polly home.  We took Meg with us to get Polly and they had a long drive home together (You may want to make sure to have some paper towels and cleaner spray with you).  The point though is that they did meet on neutral territory and ha time to get a bit used to each other before coming in the house.  We put Meg's crate up for Polly but for two nights Polly sounded as if something was in there with her murdering her, it was horrible.  Finally, out of desperation I put Meg in with her, instant silence, they cuddled up and we never had another problem.  Meg's crate it more than roomy enough for that.  Over a period of about six weeks, as Polly was growing I took Meg out of the crate but bedded her right next to it, eventually life got back to normal and Polly did very well.  My girls still curl up together frequently.

I was advised about two females being territorial but it has never been an issue with mine for some reason. Polly takes first choice on toys, even if Meg has if first and Meg lets that happen.  Meg takes first choice on cuddling up with us and when that happens Polly curls up at our feet. We may have just lucked out on that but I think a lot of why they are close is that time in the crate together made some serious bonding.

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

If your Lacey is as well trained as it seems, this should hopefully be an easy puppy.  She should just follow Laceys lead as far as potty training.  I agree with introducing them on neutral territory, like outside.  We took Lucy with us to pick up AnnaBelle.  When I walked over to the car with AnnaBelle, Lucy growled at her.  That was my first indication of things to come.  It was not an easy transition.  Lucy did not are for AB one bit.  I had to sort of be the referee for the first several months.  They would do better outside (and fortunately it was Summer time), but in the house, Lucy was the boss and decided what was ok for AB to have or do.  I kept a little puppy area playpen set up to keep AB in when I could not have my eyes on both of them.  AB slept in her crate in our room for a month or so, and then we transitioned her to Lucys bedroom.  Lucy wasn't crated any longer but it wasn't a problem keeping AB crated.  Every situation is different, so your Lacey may just take right to her, but just know if she doesn't right away, it will get better eventually.  I think she was so little that Lucy just really didn't know what to do with her.

[Jane, Guinness and Murphy]

Congratulations on your new puppy!  For me the key was getting the first dog pretty well trained before you bring the second one home....and you've done that.  I'm a huge believer is using the crate a lot during the potty training phase....and I found it helps when the two Doodles get overly excited as well.  I did save some time each day for "one-on-one" time with my first Doodle...either a short walk for just some play time while the puppy is crated.  I still do that once in a while.  I'll take just one of them for a "road trip" which is their favorite thing to do.

[Nancy, Ned, Clancy, and Charlie]

The puppies are all adorable and so is Lacey.  Giving each one alone with you time is important so that each one feels special.  I would also let Lacey and the puppy be separated often - I'd often put the pup inside an ex-pen with her crate so that she and Lacey can be by each other but not in each other's face.  Puppies tend to 'bug.'

[Bonnie and Kona]

Lacy is just beautiful and those puppies are darling! Have a wonderful time with your growing family.

I have only one suggestion. My two are 10 and 7 so I've forgotten lots. haha!

Be sure to take the dogs out individually. We have not done that. Our older dog is perfectly happy to go out alone or stay home alone but the younger one has extreme separation anxiety if Kona isn't around. If I take Kona to the vet, my daughter tells me that Owen howls pitifully until we come home. Big big mistake!

If I had it to do over again I would definitely be sure to take them on walks and on car rides separately right from the start every week. We've had multiple dogs for the past 20 years and this is the first time we've had this problem. I just think it would be easily corrected if we had made these efforts.