First off, who has different breeds of dogs at the same time? what breeds do you have? do you have big and small breeds?

One day i would love to get a black lab, they have always been my fave breed, we currently have a 4 month old sheltie puppy who i love to bits (my first dog thats not actually my parents) the thing is though he is my boyfriends choice of breed, we only have a small house and i think it may be unfair to a lab to keep it in a house this size (although we do occasionally dogsit for his aunt's lab)

Are there any problems with having say a large puppy lab size and a small older dog a lab pup at a few months old would be bigger than leo... i know how rough pups can be, has anyone had problems with a big pup being too rough with a smaller older dog?

Another question to lab experts, i would obviously do a lot of research myself before getting a lab as with did with Shelties, but are there any lines that are smaller, or produce smaller labs than others?

If there are lines that produce Labs who are much smaller than the breed standard calls for, they are probably from an unreputable breeder or a not so good breeder who may not be careful about other things either.

You just have to watch the puppy with the older dog anyhow so it doesn't harrass the poor thing. And with a much smaller dog, it takes some time to get the message across to be gentle and that it must not paw and nip at it.

I have a 13 yr. old Lab, a 4 yr. Chihuahua and a 2 yr. old Chi. Then I added a Doberman puppy. He was very rambunctious and it took a lot of extra caution and getting after him to be careful with them. He finally was safe to unsupervised with them at around 5 or 6 months I think. I've kind of forgotten. He's now 9 -1/2 months old. He really gets it now.

But those are extreme size differences. I don't think you'd have as much worry with what you're talking about, although you'd still need to watch out for the Sheltie.

If your house is small, but you have a nice yard and someplace fun for the dog to go for exercise every day, I wouldn't worry. My house is small too, but have a lot of acreage and other wilderness around me.

Good luck and do look into a well bred Lab who's parents have been health tested for all the things Labs can have. You can find out all kinds of stuff through your breed club.

Carrie

I have 2 labradors and a jack russell, the jr is only 5 months old, and they all get on great together. When we first got our jr. we got a crate for him, because of his size and the size of the labs, we felt for the first couple of months it might be best when we were not there for the pup to be in a safe place just in case they cuddled him a bit too much :) He does not go in his crate anymore he much prefers to share one of the others baskets, even though he has his own ;) so yes if you have the room and commitment  for more than one dog then big and little do mix.
carol

We have two BC males, one large GSD female & 4 males cavaliers. Never had any problems with them, except my BC's who are the oldest are terrified of puppies until they get their adult teeth ;)

My friend who has the danes has also had a cavalier & Dandie Dimonts & they all live in the house. She never had a problem with mixing them together

A lot will depend on the attitude of the older (& smaller) dog. I've got a very small Jack Russell bitch who has no problems whatsoever with lively labrador pups. Mind you she has got sufficient "attitude" to put a stop to any behaviour that she deems has got out of hand! She absolutely loves the pups, but is more than capable of putting them in their place should the need arise.

It makes me smile when I read about correcting rough behaviour from a puppy by walking away and ignoring it. She takes a bit more of a direct approach and they still love her! ;-)

Not sure whether a Sheltie would have this kind of attitude though.

You shouldn't have a problem buying a smaller type labrador (with all the health checks), plenty of people actually prefer the smaller type. They wont win you any shows but will still make great pets or working dogs.

We have Tibetan Mastiff's, newfoundlands, Dogue de bordeaux, a yorkshire terrier, a Tibetan spaniel, and a Lhasa Apso puppy that I collect next week, they all live together with no problems, when the big one's are asleep the pile up with each other usually useing each others rump for a pillow, the yorky and the Tibetan spaniel wedge themselves in the middle between the for extra comfort and warmth, the only time they are seperated is at feed time as the yorky thinks she is a rottie in disciuise and guards every one food.

I've got a hybrid and 4 boston terriers. You can usually find two of the boston's cuddled up on Taz's (hybrid) tummy and my other two boston's are cuddled together. :)

Working type labs tend to be smaller than show type labs but the working type can need more mental and physical stimulation. 

Hi when I got my first house I took my 18 month old sheltie dog with me from my mam and dads, and then I got a black lab bitch pup, they were the best of friends (they have both now sadly passed away) but if that is what you want I would definitely recommend it.  Jules

we've got a smallish drakeshead lab bitch, a lab cross spaniel and a staffy bitch pup and we're getting another staffy boy pup this sunday.They all get on really well, but cnady the staffy pup definitely wants to be boss, but poppy my lab x is 7 and is definitely in charge at the moment.:)

Well at the moment Leo is only 4 months so it wouldnt be for at least a year and he may change but he's a very playful boy, at his puppy party he wanted all the toys. I think he has enough attitude to let anyone know he's boss.............now i have a year to convince the OH he wants a lab lol

I have different breeds. Penny - a Gordon Setter (large), Lucy - a small mixed breed, and Tamino - a Swedish Vallhund (small).

Penny is quite rough in playing (body slams, hitting with her paws, ect.) and she plays rough with Tamino who is coming up to 7 kg(roughly 15.5 lb), and Tamino loves playing rough.  But Penny is always careful not to be too rough, even when Tamino has her neck and is trying to throttle her :D. 

Lucy on the other hand very rarely likes to play rough, she likes to chase Penny and to be chased by Penny, and Penny never plays rough with Lucy.  Still Penny never catches her, Lucy is as fast as our friends Whippet and she has more stamina. 

We have another two friends, one with a Staffie, and one with a Rottie.  When we walk with them Penny has no bounds, they body slam each other and hold each other down, having great fun.  Both I and those owners like these walks as so many people are afraid to let their dogs play with ours. 

I think that there wouldn't be a problem as long as the Lab puppy gets to play with other larger dogs.  Leo will be able to tell the pup when to stop. :)

                                                                                                                                      Kate

We have  2 staffies and a lurcher, plus my sisters dobie spends half her life with our dogs, so we have an array of size of dogs! :)
I think big and little go really well together they can all play together absolutely fine, although Tizer mu lurcher doesn't join in the play fights with the other 3.  They seem to understand hes more delicate than they are! :) We are also thinking about adopting a FCR X GR, who is a reject dog from work, so think he will fit in just fine with our  mad bunch too!

Well when I lived with my parents we had Spanish Water Dogs, which is my breed and Pomeranian's which my mum breeds rarely.  They get on brilliantly but there again Pomeranian's are a big dog in a small dogs body and they tell the Spanish what for all of the time.

I have a mix in my house with 2 shih tzu and a dobe .Find myself laughing at shiddies trying to out run dobe and then dobe trying to hide under tables and chairs.Think dobe forgets what breed she is half the time.

Pam

I have a very small yorkie and a rather large st poodle,think you can all guess whos boss.

we have two adult lab bitches, and a staffy bitch and dog pup and they all get on fine, although the babies play rough with each other it is only fior fun.:)

i had mollie the pom and storm the dobe together when mollie was a puppy she used to hang out of poor storms ears and rob his bone or ball and he used to grin and take it so as long as you are careful both small and big dogs can get on together

ginastarr