Im thinking about getting a companion dog for my 9 month old goldie bitch
Has anyone done this and what are the ups and downs (apart from the obvious) of dog or bitch?

Thanks

Hi do you mean another puppy or an adult dog. If you mean a puppy then I would leave it till the pup you have is about 18 months and has reached the level of training that you find acceptable. If you mean an adult that is fine but be very sure that the dog is of good character and temperament.

Thanks Jackie
I was thinkiing about another goldie pup...my goldie seems lonely despite my being with her all day!

How well-trained is your Golden? I wouldn't recommend getting another dog until her training is as you want it to be, because she is unlikely to improve much with a pup about! Many years ago when our old labrador bitch was about 9 months we got a dalmatian bitch puppy as well. We only did this because the lab had been a joy to train, and was no trouble at all. She and the dal were best friends for 13 years till the lab died.
:)

luckily to say, and I think its because I am with her all day. she is coming along very well, I was wondering if the puppy would learn from her, or would my bitch regress?

Your bitch is more likely to try to get away with doing what the baby pup does, because she's still only a pup herself ...

Hi,

I have 4 Goldies, and I would definately wait till your bitch is older she is only 9 months isn't she??Still very much a baby herself and she may yet go through an arkward teenage stage which could last until around 16 months and suddenly become very  much a handful until they grow out of this stage.
Golden Retrievers are also sometimes very slow to mature and you might have wished you had waited.
Perhaps you know someone with a good tempered dog she could meet up and play
with? but remember no long walks 30-40 mins max (15 mins there 15 mins back is enough at this age) but your breeder probably already explained this,and no rough play  because of the development of the hips.

Briony:-)

Briony:-)

Thanks Briony, my bitch gets a good 30-40 minutes a day on the beach if its not too wet and horrid, otherwise two 20 minute walks one am and one pm. She has alot of energy and at home, apart from the occassional playtime with me in the garden doesnt do alot!!

I am home with her all day, and my thoughts about getting a companion for her revolve around her looking so fed up! Ironically, shes a really happy and well behaved girl, very obedient and wonderful to have around; I thought she would like a play mate, but the general feeling Im getting is that I should wait. She makes "friends" on the beach very easily, and that makes me think she needs another dog in her life. Guess Im just too human.

My breeder says it would be fine to get another dog now, but I initially posted on here for opinion and thats what I got, and thats good!

Appreciate your response.
Nessie

Hi,

Glad we could be of some help,but please be careful too much free running on the beach and the amount she is getting is putting her hips at risk even more so on damp compact sand like running  a dog on concrete.
My Goldens are pet dogs first and show dogs second and  I personally never give them that kind exercise at this stage its too risky for their hips but thats my opinion.

Briony:-)

Hi nessie.
I have a 8month old lab and we have just got another pup, 3 weeks ago now.
We didnt get the new pup for our lab we got her because we wanted 2 dogs, my lab was already trained to exactly how i wanted her. I did some up waiting untill she was older but again we decided against it.
Anyway it has been fine, yes our lab for the first day or two tryed it, if i asked her to do something she sort of turned her noise up at me, but with a lot of fuss she soon realised that the pup wasnt taking over. The pup has learnt from our older one, she is only 3 months old today and already completly house trained.
I am also at home all day and i enjoy the company of the 2 of them.

Good luck in what ever you decide.

Debbie

Briony, i think my goldie is going through that awkward stage that you described, she is 15 months. Up until a year she was a little angel, and i was starting to think that i'd be very lucky, but recently she has been a little madam to put it politely.
Nessie, my BC (Megan) was 16 months when i got my 2nd pup, and megan was trained, more or less to how i wanted her to be, however, she did regress slightly, although she is better now. Personally i would wait just that little bit longer, because your pup really hasn't matured yet and may develop a kevin personality before long! If you do get another one, be warned, it can be very hard work!!

Hi LucyandMeg,

This is exactly my point.You may have what seems perfect young dogs now, but the 2 posters above have not gone through that teenage  stage yet,although one of them has already got a second lab and the other other was thinking of a second Goldie and the 1st being only 8 months.
You of course may get no problems,but if you do and you don't when exactly that Kevin stage kicks in or for how long it could last,you suddenly find yourself in a difficult position
possibly twice the trouble .
They are extremely hard work to devote and keep up the level of training,
My goldies are 6yrs,18months,9months and I have a 5 month old,I know at first hand experience just how hard it is .While mine are showdogs, I still have to put an awful amount of training in because of the ages of the youngest.They also need to be train separately and don't necessarily learn off each other coupled with the fact the 2 youngest are on restricted exercise for the 1st year very limited off lead running because of their hips you need to keep their brains busy and not think its just easier to exercise them tobgether and tire them out thinking they have each other ,saves walking them separately and 2 youngsters can easily get over excited in play.My youngest one is actually not with the 9 month old but indeed the 6 yrold.
I'm lucky in the fact there are 2 us that work from home and 2 us train the dogs.

I'm sure people have brought up 2 younsters with no problems but I wanted to people just to be made aware it may not be plain sailing and better to point the pitfalls out now, then make decsion whether to still want a 2nd puppy quite so soon after the 1st if you do thats fine wish you all the best;-)

Briony:-)