I'm currently in a huff with my other half.....

The breeder that we got Geoffrey our 12 week Irish Setter from has five boys left still to home, and I really really want another as she has one more really nice potential show boy left in the litter, buy my OH won't let me as he said we cannot afford it.

I have regressed into a sulky teenager again because I can't have my own way :-p

Aside from the financial aspect (which I think is a load of rubbish anyway) we can quite easily cope with another, the breeder wouldn't let us have another one if she think we couldn't.

Does anyone else have the same problem? I know we'd both have a houseful given the opportunity but he is so bloody sensible at times. Lol.

Men drive me insane! No offence boys! :-)

Rant over now! :-0

Nicki xx

I wasnt allowed to get a dog......he went on holliday and I got mine whilst he was away!!! :-)  I wanted ferrets, he said I wasnt allowed.....I got two a year ago!!!!   I want another pup late next year......Im not allowed ;-)  what do you thinks going to happen????  what is the worse that can happen????  he leaves.....I get LoTS more pets-BONUS!!!! ;-)

Lol, am laughing to myself at that Angelz.

Problem is its his house, he's being a right stubborn git with it.

The thing that is annoying me the most is he keeps saying that he'd love another, SO WHY NOT GET ONE?! :-)

Nicki xx

Putting sensible hat on - now you know that having two puppies at the same time is a really bad idea. You need twice the time as they need to be trained separately and they pay less attention to you and more to each other. This is especially true if you want to show, who will handle each dog in the ring? you can't take both in and they will be in the same classes! Setters take ages to mature too - mine is 4 and still acts like a mad puppy at times! What if they don't get on when they mature? Will you be able to separate them or rehome one if necessary?

Takes sensible hat off - gosh I sound just like my OH, he always talks me out of puppies :-D :-D, so how did we manage to get 2 dogs, 3 cats, 2 rats, a tortoise, a budgie and a horse? :-D :-D

Dakkobear - I know what you mean, I have given a little thought whilst in practical mode as to the showing aspect, as me and my OH both go in the ring I guess we could overcome that practicality, but then would the two be distracted by one another, and who would look after Ruby our older Setter. When we took home Geoff we had to sign a disclaimer saying that if we could no longer keep him we was to give him back to the breeder, but again in sensible mode I know that it would be hard to train two, Geoff is distracted enough by the other two as it is when I am trying to teach him things.

I know its probably a bad idea.........I'm just not very good when I don't get what I want :-0.

It's definately a no no anyway so for now I shall just have to keep coming on here and moaning about it ha ha :-)

Nicki xx

> I'm just not very good when I don't get what I want

Me too :-D :-D

>.........I'm just not very good when I don't get what I want :-0.

You'll get better with practice! ;-)

I know how you feel, luckily my OH mostly ends up giving in, poor man! He only wanted one dog, and we got 2 at once, and now we have 3, and I want a 4th in the winter if Ellie has puppies. But tbh, I wouldn't have 2 the same age and sex like George & Henry again - they fell out at 3 years old, partly perhaps due to Ellie's arrival, but we've never 100% reconciled them and have to watch carefully if they are out together - and this are small dogs. I wouldn't like to risk it with dogs the size of setters!

LOL :) I am really easy going with the day to day household/living decisions etc, but with the dogs i want all my own way :) LOL

finally persuaded my oh to let me have another pup.

I love her to bits but she is very naughty and driving me mental lol i know it will pass but whenever i moan to oh about her he reminds me i was the one who wanted her. He was happy with he two we already had.

He is quick to tell my MY pup has messed on the floor, chewed remote ect ect.

i am also quick to remind him she is MINE when i catch them cuddled up together lol

I've got two littermates, dog and bitch, they are currently 10 months old and from the time we realised we had to keep two, our lives have been a nightmare. There isn't enough hours in the day to deal with both as ecah ahs to have time on their OWN (and I don't work), it is SO difficult, neither is doing anywhere near as well as they should do because they are two, neither is really close to us, just to each other, and it's really, really depressing. Especially when you see other pups (especially the littermates) the same age and notice the HUGE difference -they are MUCH happier, more confident etc. I feel useless and so unfair -yet I am pretty experienced when it comes to bringing up pups and I've gone through littermates once before. You are SO lucky to NOT have littermates, to have the CHOICE! I'd not have littermates if I was paid a million, but of course as a breeder you have no choice if there aren't enough homes available. I reckon it will be another 2-4 years before these two are anywhere near as trained and confident etc as they should be, so I won't be able to breed again until then either.

Forgot to say -I'd run a mile from a breeder that was willing to sell two littermates, especially of the same sex. It is NOT responsible and not many would ever consider it. It's no fun, just problems, and when they grow up they are quite likely to start fighting as they are the same age and same sex. I can't stress enough how AWFUL it is to have littermates!! :(

In total agreement with Marianne.. I kept litter mates nearly 4 years ago.. not because they were unsold.. I wanted to keep both a boy and girl from the litter.. Huge mistake.. neither Xanthe nor Ollie were socialiseded or trained to the level of all my other dogs.. they were both in their own little world, and never bonded with me.. only each other.. at 14 months old running & Playing in the woods across from my house.. with no interest in me.. Xanthe impaled herself on a fallen tree and died.. The guilt will never leave me.. and Ollie, known the country over, as the Spawn of Satan.. at nearly 4 years old.. has no interest in anything but his own little world, which I have never been able to penetrate..

2 years later. I again kept litter mates.. Beanie and Hunter.. this time I seperated the pups, and they had very little contact with each other for nearly 10months.. walked, fed  & trained seperately.. in fact Everything was done seperately.. with only a half hour twice a day together.. training.. no playing was allowed.. that was the hardest year of my life.. and never again will I keep two pups from a litter.. its simply not fair on them..

again.. I would never ever sell two pups to one person.. the closest I allow is a 2year age gap.. preferably longer..

Littermates are not enjoyable.. Its too much hard work to enjoy them.. and you lose out on so much..

as some will know i bought 2 litter sisters last year who are comming up to 16 months old whilst i love them and they will never go i now see how bad it was too have 2 together they are not interested in human company like my other dog and always want to be together and are very quiet and miserable when parted.

they have just recently gone up for boosters and are nervous when split but are mad and chaotic when together and as for recall when there out forget it but luckily i live on a small holding with a 2 acre fully fenced feild so they cant run off otherwise i think they would normally its me chasing them!!!!

although it sounded a good idea at the start in hindsight i would of got one and the other much later on. but as i said i still love them but they are very unruly and very rude and arrogant dogs lol

whatever you decide good luck!!!

Hi all,

Thanks for your advice, I like to think that I know a reasonable amount about dogs and generally am quite level headed when it comes to them, but after reading your stories it seems that I would be totally unprepared for another chap from Geoffreys litter, prepared for the fact that it is double the work, but no so much for the social and emotional implications on the dogs. I now agree that I would be stupid to get another pup from that litter. I most definately have my dogs interests at heart and this would not be in their best interests. We do want to breed from Ruby in the future (not to make money might I add, but because we would like to keep one), but this would not be for a long time yet as Ruby is still young. I do sometimes worry that my dogs have too close a bond, of course I want them to get on, but they look to each other for everything almost and another dog would add to that.

We was never going to have another pup from Geoff's litter as OH was determined, but thanks for making me see sense guys, he will be pleased as I will stop moaning at him now! :-)

Nicki xx

> I will stop moaning at him now

Ah well no one said you had to do that !! For goodness sake don't tell him he was right - you'll never hear the end of it :-D :-D :-D

Marion x

>> Ah well no one said you had to do that !! For goodness sake don't tell him he was right - you'll never hear the end of it :-D :-D :-D
>

LOL :) :)

Dakkobear - Ha ha no way! I haven't told him and I won't for sure! :-) I have just suddenly stopped mentioning it......

:-0

Nicki xx

For what its worth I,d just concentrate on your new boy
I,m sure he,ll keep you well occupied without the work of another pup.
One pup alone is hard work if you get another especially a littermate it will be much more than double trouble,just enjoy what you,ve got and keep us very jealous onlookers updated on his progress.

Hehe thanks pavlova I will, I am biased but I have to admit he is growing into a very beautiful boy :-)

Nicki xx

I know of the puppy sulk, I have been doing that for a little while now...
I did do it when getting my first but in the end ended up taking my other half for a "holiday" in Finland (thats where my girl comes from) and taking him to see the parents of our puppy to be :).
He was admiring the daddy and went very quiet when I said well that is the father of our puppy, I'm glad you like him...
It worked and I now have my girl!
She is now 2 years old so I think it is a good time for a friend :)

I have been getting the not yet-treatment but it seems my dogs breeder has come to save me as she has asked me if I would like to have a puppy on breeding terms!
So REALLY it is not ME who wants one but the breeder wanting us to take one of hers....
Kind of.... Nothing to do with the fact I asked about this litter, honest!

I agree with having a single pup tho, you have more time to enjoy him and can do the puppy times again with the next puppy joining you!

Ive got two but not litter mates there is 8 weeks between Cocker & BC. We have had to exercise them apart from v. early. It has helped that OH owns the BC and walks him to work. I own the cocker and do the same for him. They do share walks now but not for over a year to get the dogs trained in who owns whom, and to be obediant with "their" owner's.
I will always try to keep two dogs at a time but never litter mates.

I can do an amazing sulk if I feel hard done by, with extra sad sighs.
But Im also prone to doing things first and consultating later, my 50th to me a sports car nearly wrecked my marriage, so do be careful. Even i can learn when to ast rashly and when to be cautious. (now!!)

I know how you feel,my hubby will say no to me when i want another pup.
But i keep at it and ware him down eventully and he says do what you like...you will anyway.

I have the opposite problem: my husband is asking me when I'll be getting another pup, and although I'd love one I haven't the time to commit to one yet. So I'm the one saying no!

It's so true that one dog is never enough, I'd have a house full given the opportunity, we have a very large fully fenced garden and are surrounded by woodland. I think we will stop at five though (currently on 3), but I will be taking the advice from everyone not to have one of Geoff's litter mates :-(

Nicki xx

There is some lovely advise given here,and glad you have decided to do what you consider is best for you and you doggy family.May I just add we were going to stop at 3 but now have 5 and an elderly JRT,and not adverse to at least one more and even another after - however I would like to add litter mates on the rare occasions do work.Shadow and Myia are from the same litter.Initially we were booked just for Shads,did the 750 mile round trip to visit the litter,made regular phone calls etc.Then the breeder - great lady and v well known in her breed said in passing that she had to decline a prespective owner.As a joke re mark I said oh perhaps we can BOGOF offer!!!!!We both went quiet,thought about it for a week or so.Was aware of all the negative issues with litter siblings,lots of people in the breed gave great intakes of breath,tutted etc.But we brought both Myia and Shads home with us.They initially spent time together for the initial couple of weeks but we seperated them when they went into their kennels at night and they bunked with my other Woos.They are the most loving,happy well adjusted woos - well myia still loothes Silvana but then we can't get on with every one!!!!We trained them individually,went to ring craft seperately but played and had fun together.BTW the BOGOF OFFER NEVER EXSISTED.lol.

Hi Guys,

Well.....been to an open show today with Ruby, and have been talking to all of the friends we have made up to now (only our fourth show), and it has made me dog broody again! Hehe!

Still definately won't be having one of Geoff's littermates, but all sensibility and practicality aside I do want one! :-)

Nicki xx

just to add to cornishmals post...i too have littersisters, i am not saying they dont have their moments but on the whole they are no different to my other 11!  They adore each other but will take every opportunity for a cuddle on the sofa with me, so i dont feel that they have bonded any less then my others to be honest.

It is however VERY hard work...but worth every second when they both mature into well adjusted, well mannered and lovable companions :)

I am not sure if i would ever do it again but for me it wasnt a complete nightmare...just very tiring

No difference to the other 11!!! youre a saint! mind you I would love another Bc for me and a spaniel for me too.

It is however VERY hard work...but worth every second when they both mature into well adjusted, well mannered and lovable companions :-)

But that's IF they do. I have actually got 3 sets of littermates. The oldest are 7 years old and I cannot walk them together as they revert to being tiny pups and forget everything, don't listen etc. Rest of the time they are fine -but they are Golden Retriever crossbreeds, so fairly easy going dogs. A lot will depend on the breed. For some breeds it is far more likely to work than for others.

The second set are Malinois, no problems at all with them because they were separated for the first 18 months of life, the dog came back to me then. But the third set that I mentioned earlier, Malinois 10 months old, they are a very, very serious nightmare, our entire lives are ruled by trying to get them BOTH to grow up into normal dogs -at the moment one of them is nothing like a normal dog (not helped by being badly scared during a vet visit, that triggered it all -but things like that cannot always be predicted), and the other has just entered the second fear stage and is having problems which requires a lot of time spent with her getting her over them -very common in the breed, hard enough when it's one pup, but when you have TWO -it's so bad I can say hand on heart a lot of people would have given up by now and had one of them put to sleep. The problems are that serious. We WILL get over them, I know we will, but it will take years, not months. I'm counting on them both being normal dogs by the age of 4 or so. And yet this pair I have spent ten times more time on than any other pups I've ever had in my life, bought or bred. But other than at home in the kitchen, that one room only!, I hardly exist to them.There is no bond from them to me. So again I can't stress enough what CAN happen -it just isn't worth the risk.

> I think we will stop at five though (currently on 3),

Well with dogs averaging a lifespan of 12 - 15 years or so you had best start spacing them out if you aim to stay with just five.

To do that I have to have about 3 year age gaps with mine.

My current youngest arrived a good year sooner than sensible (so up to my maximum five) and I will have a long wait now before I can keep another, with the oldest a fit nearly 12 year old.

Hopefully Myka (now 2 3/4) won't be too old for a last litter when Kizi is no more, as she could live to 17.

Hi Brainless,

We will stop at five, that has to be our maximum I think, although I do want to have a litter from Ruby when she is old enough, so that I can keep one of hers, that will take us to four, unless of course we have trouble finding suitable homes for the litter, which I am well aware can happen.

I'd have more given the chance, but I want my dogs to have the best of everything, and financially five is what we would be comfortable with.

:-)

Nicki xx

> I'd have more given the chance, but I want my dogs to have the best of everything, and financially five is what we would be comfortable with.
>

It's also about how many you can give the same level of attention to.

I can walk all five together, though not so much off lead as when I had fewer as you need eyes in the back of your head to notice who is where who has done  poo etc.

They tend to be less obedient enmasse.

Hi Brainless,

You are very right, my partner and I are fortunate that I am only working for a few hours a week at the moment at a kennels (training to be a driving instructor - which will also be good as I can work my own hours once qualified) and my partner only works four days a week too, which means that the dogs are getting a lot of our attention.  This is also why I think that if we were going to have litter mates now is the time to do it as I have the spare time to devote to training them seperately.

Thanks for your advice.

Nicki xx