Hi everyone

I have an 11 month old male black lab, Cooper, he's an absolute joy and is fit and healthy. He gets plenty of exercise and time from me as I only work part-time he's hardly ever on his own. As much as I do with him I feel there are times when he gets a little bored and needs extra stimulation if you know what I mean. When we're out on walks he loves to play with other dogs and I feel he is desperate for other canine company. We don't have kids to run around with him. 
We are debating whether to get him a little friend. Before Cooper we had two Border Collies, second one brought in when first one was Coopers age. so I'm used to having two dogs, they were devoted to each other and it is lovely watching two dogs play and interact with each other.

Anyone reading this I'd really appreciate your advice:
What's the best age for Cooper to be to introduce another dog
Any particular breed to look for/avoid, I am thinking of a young rescue dog not a pedigree or puppy.
Any age/sex, I was thinking of another boy to be honest.
Any rescue centres in the Midlands that anyone can recommend

He gets on with all dogs and likes to play like all labs. He's a sensitive soul and very passive so I need to be careful that the new addition will not change him too much or over-dominate him

Plus importantly we are going on a 10 day holiday abroad on sept 25th, Cooper is booked into kennels where he will be able to play with other dogs.  I'm wondering whether it would be better to wait til we get back before we look for another dog or if we get one soonish, they will have had enought time to bond and it will be ok to leave them together without us.
Sorry this is so long!

Any advice much appreciated
Margie

Only get another dog if you want one, the fact he enjoys playing is normal for a puppy/adolescent, a full time companion may enhance his life, may simply be accepted or occasionally be negative.

At any rate it is best to wait until he is fully mature allowing ideally a 3 year or more age gap (depending on how many dogs you wish to own at one time).

My oldest two are a year apart and have always been joined at the hip! I found it particularly hard work having an adolescent year old Golden Retriever male at the time of the new puppy, but she did seem incredibly easy, or maybe it was just that she had a companion... Funnily enough, the day the puppy came into the house was the last time he chewed anything at all so it worked for him too :).

I have heard an ideal gap is 2 years, but I also feel if you can devote the time to separate walks/training etc, it can work. another gundog type breed would be ideal choice for an energetic lab I feel. It's totally your choice and especially if you wish to go the rescue route, who knows what kind of dog will be the perfect fit. Perhaps that would be the fun of the search.

The only problem I can invisage if you get another adolescent male is that they may have a little trouble deciding who will be the top dog. A younger dog coming into a home with the older dog will usually defer to them.

Good luck with your search, let us know what you decide.

I always recommend people wait till their first dog is at least 18 months before adding another.

The thing is:  Yes, he might enjoy playing with other dogs.  But that's not necessarily a sign that you should go ahead and get another dog.  Think about it:  The more he finds other dogs fun to play with, the less fun he is likely to find you.  Buying him a doggie pal could well be a recipe for disaster since he will get all his kicks playing with them, and you will become something of an irrelevance for him.  It's impossible for a person to want to play tuggy quite as much as another dog will want to play, and we just can't compete as play partners.

Instead, if you're finding him under-stimulated, then I'd suggest you look into more training for him, or participating in a dog sport like agility or gundog work.  That will stimulate his brain but it will also be something that involves working closely with you - a human - and so learning that people can provide rewards and fun also.  Dogs turn to other dogs for stimulation if owners aren't providing enough...

At 11 months, he's only at the beginning of adolescence and you may not yet have seen all that adolescence will unleash on you.

I have a toy breed.  When he was 18 months old I moved away from a multi-dog household to live on my own with him.  I bought him a friend of the same breed, the new puppy being 10 months old direct from breeder when I got him (didn´t make it as a show boy).  Unknown to me (OK, my fault I wasn´t sufficiently observant) the new dog systematically bullied my first boy until, after 4 years, he almost killed him.  I won´t go into details here, but I found a wonderful home for the bully boy where his needs are being met and he is very happy.  My original dog is often lonely but I daren´t take the chance of getting him another companion so have to make sure I give him plenty of play time with me.  I´ve owned dogs (in the plural) for years and never had anything like this happen before but it´s certainly made me stop and think!

Hi
Some really good points made. I tried a training class when he was younger but really didn't like the trainer who loved the sound of his own voice, and didn't feel we got much out of it apart from the obvious socialisation. I'm going to look into to local groups that do agility as I think that might be something he'd enjoy.

Thanks for everyone's replies. I'll let you all know how things go.

You are in the exact same position as me, except Nando is 13 months. Now, what I do have to say is that whilst I totally agree it'd be fantastic to have two dogs, your hard work is only just beginning with your pup. Nando does keep showing me more glimpses of his future lovely personality, however at the minute he is still a nightmare at times.. like most teenagers!

It is hard not to look at your dream dogs on both rescues and breeder's websites however what I would definitely say is that for the sake of another 6 months- 1 years wait, you can spend your time *perfecting* your dog so that you can get full enjoyment out of training your new addition in a year or so. Nando is obsessed with other dogs but more and more he is getting that people-orientatedness that my breed tend to have and I do think he'd bond with a companion, he is not losing out by not having one.

Maybe start to have a look at gundog rescues when he is a bit older? I know of a beautiful working lab that was obtained from a gundog rescue at the age of about 6 months and so she had all her basic training and was well socialised around other dogs.

poppygirl, where abouts are you based?  Someone here might be able to suggest a better class for you, or an agility class?

Hi thanks for your reply. I agree with everything you said. The more I think about it and read what people have to say, the more  I think I need at least another 6-12 months with Cooper on his own. What I am going to do is try to find a good dog club and vary his training and exercise, which I try to do now but probably need to step it up a bit. He's such a good lad and has a great personality that at this stage  bringing in another dog could well have a detrimental effect on him and also affect the dynamic in the household.

If and when we decide to get another dog I will definitely consider Lab rescue, they are great dogs.

Thanks again for replies

Hi I live in between Stafford and Lichfield, Staffordshire.  Any advice on good clubs or trainers would be much appreciated.

Thanks
Margie

If you go on the Obeduk.com site they have a list of clubs on the home page.

You can also look at:

www.apdt.co.uk
www.cleverdogcompany.co.uk
www.puppyschool.co.uk

For agility:
www.agilitynet.com  (And click on Clubs A-Z - very small link at the top.)

Do go and watch every class on your shortlist (without your dog) before choosing one.

Thanks to everyone who responded, some very good advice, much appreciated.
Margie