I have a one year old collie and would like to have this 8 week old collie I have seen. Is this asking for trouble?  Should I go for another 1 year old if I can find one. Any advice would be genuinely accepted.

Actually I would leave it another year or two before getting another dog and then get a puppy.

Always avoid having two dogs of the same age as chances are they will start to fight eventually. And it is better to have a gap of about 2 years in between.

Right, I can go for a puppy.   I thought you might say 2 years as this is when it is recommended to wait to breed.  

I had two dogs that were only 15 months apart in age and quite frankly that wasn't enough, I would wait until your current dog is at least two years old before getting a puppy. The puppy picked up all the bad habits from an adolescent dog who was going through a disobedient phase. Luckily they got on very well all through their long lives, but it was hard work at times. They tended to have a pack mentality when let off the lead and do vanishing acts after rabbits. An older dog that is settled and well trained will have a good effect on a puppy.

The longer you leave it between your present dog and getting a puppy, the better really ;-)

I would advise waiting until your present dog is at least two years old, AND well trained.  Otherwise the pup will simply learn from the older dog, and as with children, they learn 'naughty' behaviour quicker than good behaviour :-)

In addition,  with a smaller age gap, there is more chance of the younger dog challenging the older one, which can lead to fights and large vets bills, at the very least.

Your present dog is still a teenager really and will still need to settle down before he can be a good influence on a puppy ;-)

Firstly, I agree with everyone else - wait!

Secondly - avoid getting any puppy you have just seen somewhere, especially a collie.  Collies are so often victims of bad breeding, whether it be intentional to make money or because the parents are so pretty and so nice and the owners just wanted them to have a litter... either way it can go spectacularly wrong because they can end up nothing short of neurotic!  My older collie is a prime example of this - naturally she is incredibly nervous, noise phobic and bigtime reactive.  She was raised by idiots so is nothing short of a headcase now (although vastly improved since she arrived 21 months ago) but, her sister (possibly half-sister) was raised by sensible people who got help early, and she still shows all the same issues, just to a much lesser degree.  So very much a case of bad breeding, and an intentional one.  It wasn't a one-off bad litter either - there are 3 years between these two girls.

My younger is also naturally very nervous and again was bought after the owner saw her advertised - accidental breeding in her case (through negligence/idiocy) - but that background has made her an immensely challenging dog, so she ended up here at just 11 weeks.

If you are really set on another collie, then I really would wait until your youngster is a bit older, and find yourself a good breeder :-)

Going to disagree with everyone else lol. Have owned collies for 35 years now and it all depends on your individual set-up, the handler, the existing dog and the new puppy's temperament. If your dog is good with other dogs, you have reasonable control/obedience and a good bond with that dog, then I wouldn't wait for an artificial time limit if I'd seen a dog I liked. Obviously, do your homework and make sure that pup has been home reared from well balanced parents who have been health tested (not as common as it should be in our breed I'm afraid). I'd probably go for the opposite sex to the dog I already have but we've got seven collies who are a mix of dogs and bitches (have been up to 12, all living in the home as part of the family).

Thank you for all your replies.  I have worked out the cost based on the one I have at the moment even though my income is static. I will have another collie.  It might end up being nearer 2 years as I need to find the right one.  Any longer than that then I shall have to forget it.  Thank you once again.

Another angle which many people do not consider when thinking of getting a second dog, is the time scale between dogs at the 'end of their life'. If you get your dogs close together, then it is likely that you will lose them 'close together' too. Losing one dog is devastating, but to lose two in close succession, is even harder.

> xmlns="http://www.w3.org/1999/xhtml">Another angle which many people do not consider when thinking of getting a second dog, is the time scale between dogs at the 'end of their life'. If you get your dogs close together, then it is likely that you will lose them 'close together' too. Losing one dog is devastating, but to lose two in close succession, is even harder.

This is what I say to people, if you know you will only want two dogs at a time I advise having an age gap of 5 - 7 years that way you always have a young and adult or adult and old dog.