My boys and I went today to visit the litter of pups. This isn't the first litter, but for the first time I fell in love with one of the pups. We certainly weren't planning on another dog and the boys obviously didn't feel quite the same attraction to the little darling, but I am sorely tempted.

We currently have a springer - Charlie the (5) and a cocker (18 months). My son works the springer and this winter he will introduce the cocker too although he is unclear whether he will work both together. My youngest son and I both go beating on a fairly regular basis and we share the daily dog walking between us, depending on his training schedule. We have a kennel which is home to the cocker although the springer lives in the house at night. They are both good natured dogs, although when we brought the puppy home it took the old boy quite some time to get used to her.

Can you guys help me out here? What are the pro's and cons of having 3 dogs? We intend to breed from our cocker if she turns out to be the good working girl we are hoping for, but haven't thought through whether or not we would keep one of the pups. I could certainly have a go at training a dog for myself rather than just standing on the sidelines and there would be plenty of opportunity for me to work her in the future. One of my only concerns is having a pup and working too. Our last pup arrived for the summer holidays and there was someone with her for 3 months solid. They are only left for one day a week and someone is home for best part of the day the rest of the week. Would having 3 dogs alter the dynamics of our 'family' considerably?

I would be interested in your opinions - this could be a life changing decision make!!
Jacky

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hi jacky i see what you mean, i look forward to seeing your answers too,

Well if you decide to get your puppy you will have a household like mine, 2 springers and a working cocker. I was quite happy with my 2 springers but our working cocker kind of fell into our lives the way some dogs do. I would not be without him and 3 dogs has not changed our household that much. My eldest springer likes time to herself and so is quite relieved to have the other 2 ignoring her and crashing around the house, the youngest 2 have a ball playing together but they still play happily with my eldest when she feels like it.
I find it tricky to switch them about at training but that is because we going to a training class, it was OK when our working cocker was a beginner but now he is happy doing advanced work so I have to give him plenty of work without annoying my springer who loves her training and hates to miss out.
My lot don't live outside and the only real downside to having three is less room in our bed when I let them in for a cuddle in the mornings, apart from that I reckon springers tidy themselves away so neatly (mine sleep under a chair or under the desk) you hardly notice the extra one. I did have to put my foot down when the local SSPCA where I help out as an education volunteer had a pair of working cockers in, I was soooo tempted but 4 would be pushing it.
There is nothing cuter than a springer puppy and I think you always start to look for another when all your memories of puppy destruction etc. fade and you only remember what a cute puppy he was.
Also new puppy would be company for your cocker in the kennels.

well as i live at home with my mum ( so much cheaper that way :D ) my mum always said ' if you want a dog youll have to move out you aint havin g a dog ' , that changed when my fav bitch(lab) at the kennels i used to work at had her first litter, 6 black and 1 yellow, it was my day off and as i didnt drive my mum took me to see them fatal mistake, she said that night ' if you want a dog itll have to be the yellow one but you have to pay for it, vets insurance etc, feed and clean up walk and train etc etc' so at 8 weeks tess came home, when tess was nearly a year we adopted a 6 week old springer with water on the brain, sadly at 7 weeks he had to be put to sleep as the pressure in his skull was building up so much that he could no longer see, hear or walk, my mum obviously was very upset about this and when my fav springer bitch had her 1st litter i couldnt resist in buying my mum polly at 8 weeks she came home and the house was never the same again wall of deaths round the living room, bum tucking round the gardening tearing through the living room etc first a black and white blurr followed by a yellow one highly hilarious to watch mum wasnt best pleased though, nearly two years ago after going to clip my nans dogs claws for her toby came home my mum was disgusted to find that my nan had been feeding her cav the same amount of food as my lab and springer put together plus extra, toby was only meant to stay until he had lost weight but he is still here, sadly we nad to rehome polly, as she became to much to handle and started fighting with tess with young children in the house it wasnt possible for polly to stay, after we rehomed polly mum said 'no more spaniels weve had nothing but bad luck with them' but home came jack and 8 months on would we be without the three? never, if you happen to lose one of your number for one reason or another you notice how much quieter ( if thats possible :) ) the house is, okay the walks, and training take much longer as does grooming and bathing, feed bills, vets bills, insurance etc all go up, but is it worth it, absolutley every penny we could never be without our three, will the three turn to four? well im working on it ;)
tanya

hi gundogs do you think a ratio of 2 dog and one bitch works better most of the time or is just luck of the draw,My 2 yr lab bitch is soooo laid back its unreal i dont think i could ever see her trying to asert herself as top dog but equally i wouldn't like for a young upstart to come in and make her misrable, now sam my lab/springer mix is s different kettle of fish as he is quite firery and could stand up for himself so i'm caught bewtween two minds. i'm currently looking into the possibility of fostering for canine partners so perhaps i will have a chance to see what works out for best when i'm ready for my next member of the family

we originally got polly as there was a big age gap between tess and polly, tesss is very laid back too but is surprising top dog, this was the problem of tess and polly, polly wanted to be top dog but tess wasnt having any of it, as polly was timid outside we didnt think it a good idea to have polly as top dog as we thought that it could lead to problems when out on walks if we for example met an unfriendly dog, which at sometime or other we would have done. Toby came to us casturated so we had no problems there, and when jack came to live with us he worked his way up the pecking order but tess isnt having any of it and is still topdog, we keep re-enforcing the fact that she is top dog and all is working out fine, we had jack casturated as he is a cross and didnt see the point of keeping him entire.
our arrangement of two casturated dogs and one bitch is working out fine, we have also had other dogs come to stay, my brothers spaniel bitch which tess wasnt to keen on mainly as she kept trying to assert herself as topdog, archie my brothers boxer dog who jack and archie play all day and archie is very much at the bottom of the pecking order, but unfortunely as archie hasnt been round for a while we decided that it was probably best that he doesnt come any more as jack and archie are the same age jack has been casturated but it is his house so we would just be asking for trouble, i have also bought home an 18 mth old lab dog from work and this worked out fine,
i think if you can work out who is topdog out of your two and keep number one happy you will have no probs, the only prob we have is bitches on tesses turf elsewhere she isnt bothered
good luck with your choice
tanya