Hi,

New here, this site is a great source of information, I have already learnt a lot from it.

We am getting a new Rottie in the next few months as we have just moved house to a very large home with a huge garden and we think now is the time to get a new friend for the home so it can have plenty of room to play.  The trouble is my girlfriend would also like to have a Cav King Charles to pet and spoil.  I am just a little concerned as my girlfriends brother has a male rottie and so really we should be getting a female rottie so they get on, well that it what we were told anyway.  Would the Cav King Charles (what sex?) get on with our new female rottie?  This is something that is troubling me as I would love to treat my girlfriend to her lap dog but I fear they may not get on and if we leave them on their own for an hour or so could we trust the rottie?  Any help would be appreciated, thanks for your time.

Paul.

rottie dogs and bitches usually get on with anything big or small so i wouldn't worry - i have a dog and bitch rottie and they like all dogs and i have a boxer puppy who is the boss in our house - the only thing i would say that a rottie will need a lot more excercise than a cavvy so you may end up walking them separatly which can be abit of a bind. My male rottie was brought up as a puppy with lhasa apsos and he thinks he is one as he's always trying to get on my lap!!! ha ha!!! rotties are very biddabble usually so if you were thinking of getting the two puppies at the same time they will just grow up together and you rot will think its a cavvy and the cavvy will probably think its a rottie and they'll get on great!! just one thing more to add - if you re a new rottie owner thei suggest you get some info on rotties as what makes you think that a cavvy wouldn't be safe with a rottie???

I've got a very large rescue GSD(neut female)& four male cavaliers & two male Border Collies(all entire)

The GSD is the alpha & treats the cavaliers like her puppies

As Cavaliers are very gregarious we've had no problems except that my collies are always terrified of puppies & run a mile from the little ones when they are young. I never leave the BC's & the others together as there would be no house to come back to :D the BC's have a very large indoor kennel. The Cavaliers are left with the GSD for very short periods(20-30 minutes) & when we have a puppy it would never be left alone with the adults & we have indoor kennels(crates/cages call them what you like)that we put up when we have a puppy(helps with house training too)

I don't really like bitcey whes but had no choice when we rescued the GSD

Their shouldn't be a problem with a rottie & a cavalier except that they will develop a love of the other breed which can be embarassing when the rottie(or GSD in my case)rolls upside down for every cavalier they see ;)

There is no reason why the Rottie would want to hurt the Cav, but if Rott is a pup at same time as having a Cav pup it could unintentionally.

I would get one and wait at least 18 months or Two years before getting the other.  This will make it easier with pecking order, as size has nothing to do with who is top dog.

If it were me I would get a male Cav first, and once it was Grown up, Well socialised and confident, then introduce the Roittie baby.  My reason for this is that the Cav being a small breed is likely to be mentally mature sooner than the Rott.

LOL Cavaliers are born mature ;)

They are very intelligent little dogs that are mistaken for pure lapdogs which they are not, they are still spaniels in a small frame.

My cavaliers took little house training cottoning on to the praise outside none inside very quickly & they learnt obedience the same way my BC's did. 18 is quite a long time for a cavalier to mature 12 months I would thing would be enough.

I would never have two puppies together(did that with one of my beardie litters & never again)

So would you agree the Cav first? :D

Yes, then when the cavalier has trained them get te rottie LOL

I have large breed dogs and small, when i go out they are always seperated.not worth the risk I Have a stair gate up so the can still see each other.

Hi all,

Thanks for the replies.  I think the idea of having them seperated is quite a good idea but it was not my first option.  In a perfect world I would love them to get on together.  If I was to pass on the chance of getting pups and got them slightly older, maybe 18 months for the Rottie and 12 months for the cav do you think it would be ok?  I am thinking a getting the Rottie first but this is just a preference really.  Would it not be wise to have an older Rottie and a Cav pup??!!  My girlfriend is bending my ear about the Cav being a pup and being the generous loving boyfriend (or is it just under the thumb!) I don't want to let her down.  What should I do!!?
Thanks,
Paul

Get your girtlfriend the Cav pup, aqnd wait 18 months (lots of time to research breeders, especially re health and temperament) to get the Rottie boy.

As an experienced owner I would never have two pups together or two adults close in age.  A good age gap more often helps with any status/dominance issues.

PS
Obviously the Cav should be chosen with equal care as to temperament, health and breed standard.  :D

My neighbours have a Rottie and a 16 year old Yorkshire Terrier and the Yorkie is the boss in that house!  So if the Yorkie can cope with the Rottie, I'm sure a Cav would (although bearing in mind that each dog is different - I'm talking theoretically!)

I looked after a freinds elderly toothless Yorkie when I had pups here just before they went to new homes.

She mostly stayed in the crate snoozing, but I let her wander about when she wanted and the pups who towered over her, being about 3 times larger respected her when she told them to leave her alone, even though she was tiny and had no teeth.

Dominance and status are not a size thing, which is why haveing two of such differing size of same age could be more of a problem, as the smaller breed can't instill respect at that age, as they are equals, and also if they decided to both want to take charge, the smaller dog wouldn't necesarily back down to the larger, and of course it is the smaller one who would come off worst in a status fight.

An established adult small dog will have no trouble licking any pup into shape, whatever the size.

I agree, that's what I meant in a not so well thought out way!

Although the idea of having two pups growing together seems lovely, it certainly isn't all fun!! I am not sure if you have experience of training dogs/pups, but if you have i am sure you will agree that puppy training, whilst good fun at times certainly isn't the easiest thing in the world! Dogs can pass on good and bad habits, so by having two untrained dogs it is likely that they will share more of their bad habits, as they haven't yet developed good habits. Also, you really need to build up a bond with one before you introduce the other, otherwise you run the risk of them becoming too attached to each other, and then training them will be made harder as tehy will be more focused on each other than you. Having the cavalier first seems better, not only because they mature quicker, but i think they may be slightly easier to train than a rottie, and so give you good grounding in dog training, if this is your first - or if you haven't had a dog for a while. A Rottie, whilst being lovely dogs, will be slightly harder to train. Something to note, for the first year or so a rottie pup won't need too much exercise, becuase of growing joints, so you will be able to exercise them together for a while if you have the cav first.