Hi, I have 2 cavi's - 1 bitch (16 mths) and 1 dog (11 mths).  I would really love another dog puppy, but do you think it would be too much to cope with??  Any advice appreciated .

I would definately wait for another 12 months
Archer

Not too much but too soon,  what you ahve to think of is that you will end up with all your dogs as oldies and dying at about the same time.  this will be very expensive and heartbreaking.

Why not wait another 4 or 5 years before having another, and then a shorter gap so you have two pairs who are close to each other.

I have five but mine are all two to four years apart in age.  Oldest 13 and youngest 18 months.

Yes!  Far too many!!  It's the mantra I repeat several times a day when mine are under my feet!  "Arrggghhh, there are too many of you"!!!

My kids moan about livng in a kennel and the people being outnumbered nearly two to one by the canines.

I would wait a little longer as well ..i own 4 cavaliers but they age range from 5 down to 10mths ..they are pups for such a short time i like to see them enjoy it........

I know people who run on two from every litter they breed, fully show train and show them and then keep their pick of the two, passing the other on to a friend or member of the family, or, part with them both after training. This on top of their other 7 dogs makes life much more fun for them and they couldn't see their home without at least 10 dogs!

IMO all depends on your skills as a trainer, the amount of time you can spare for one to one time with the dogs as well as group play and whether you have a very good pressure washer.

Each to their own lol (says the woman set to recieve another 2 pups by this time next year lol)

I too have cavaliers.I waited until my 2 bitches were 2 and 3 years old before I got a dog.He was 5 months when I got him and the previous owners got shot because they couldn't handle him as well as their other dog,however with care and attention and the proper training he is now a little sweetie ,although he still craves attention which is down to him not being loved in his old home.Anyway what you have to think about is do u have the time to devote all your attention to a new pup as well as giving your TLC to your other 2  who are still very young.I think you would be wise to wait.

I would love to be able to do this, but once I have kept a pup that is it it is here to stay no matter if it turns out well or not. 

Will never make a top breeder then because I can't make room for more/better dogs until the oldest dies :D

If I could in hindsight I would no longer have my oldest two bitches, they would have gone after their litters, and I probably would have kept a bitch from my second oldests second litter as well as Kizi from her first.  I can always include their breeding at a later date thoughby using a dog from th4e litter or having something back from the bitches decendants (though Australia is a long way to go for a pup:D ).

I would have rehomed Kizi after her second litter having kept   a Champion daughter, and now one of her offspring.  So of the dogs I have now I would only have the two youngest.  Probably would be looking to retire my Champion bitch to a pet home this year, as she isn't intereted in being a mother again.

I would likely have kept something from tha bitch from the litter I didn't keep one from (a sister is an Australian Ch, and has produced Champions for her owners, and a brother who I handle now has 2CCs), maybe parting with her, depending on how well she had done in the ring and in the whelping box. 

So I would be on 3 maybe four dogs to the five I actually have, with the capacity to keep a pup from each of the two half sisters offspring.

Thankfully for my biscuit crunchers they have homes here for life, no matter how well or not they may do in the ring.  It does restrict my breeding plans and scope for what I might like to do if I could , but showing and breeding are secondary to my love of the individual dogs.

I do not in anyway condemn a breeder who would do as I suggested (as long as they rehome the dogs with their needs at the fore), as they then can make more of a contribution to the  breed in expanding their efforts n maintaining and improving.

I couldn't do it either. My dogs are as much a part of the family as children, partner, mum dad etc. If i keep from a litter i get far too attatched to let them go.
However, i do understand why people do run on from litters and then keep the "best". Some people are more for the showing than the companion side i guess. Its their choice.
We have set a limit to 9. I have room for three more pens in the garden, have enough space in the house and time for them individually. Any more than that and i couldnt cope i dont think. Unfortunately i have run out of sofa space and have to sit on the floor for Eastenders but i dont mind, they need family time and if that means a sore bottom, so be it lol.

For me once they get past about 14 weeks they are mine.  I remeber how hard it was to let the bitch go to Australia after she had been her for 14 1/2 weeks, and also a pup who I ran on due to peoples holiday commitments, and she broke her leg.  Very attached I got to her.  When they are a litter I can be sensible and tell myself they are going, thank God I ahve never had a singleton pup, as I don't think I could part with it unless it were male of course.

Really I am already over my limit with 5, as had planned only ever to have four at a time.  The rule then changed to no more than 4 under 12 years of age.

That means I can't keep another for another two years, so second litter from my youngest who is 18 months (won't wait two years to mate her as leaving it to over 3 I think is why her Mum is so difficult to mate).

I had a pup with me till 15 weeks once, a tummy upset forced me to keep holf og her till after i had had her jabbed and everything. I was so attatched but had to let her go, i had promised her to my niece! I still get to see her and she has turned out lovely. Thing is, i don't think i could do it again.
Im sure i will eventually end up with more than 9, maby pay someone to do the cleaning out of the pens so i get that extra 2.5 hours in a morning lol.

Which is why I have faaaarrrr too many :D  My dogs are here for life,

Hooray I have finally met some people like me :) I am afraid that if I suggested moving one of ours on there would be major dramas from the kids.  Although god knows Molly has pushed me to the edge.  I love them all for what they are including their faults and I hope I never get to the point where winning becomes more important than the dogs themselves.

Faults?!!!
There is no such thing!!!!
It is perfectly acceptable to eat the dyson that came through the door three days previous! The most expensive bone they ever had.
Carpets, skirting boards, door frames, shoes and any other item we deem as not edible are there for the dogs to gnaw at throughout the day.
The ironing pile is a bed.

I could go on......

I have 2 dogs and we have thought about having 3. Sefa is 2 1/2 and Sam is 1 and has had quite a few health problems but is on the mend now, I mentioned this to the vet and she thinks 3 's a crowd!
Ange

My livingroom at the moment (use your imagination) Silence, but for the sound of a crackling open fire.  One black lab spread full length of a 3 seat sofa, one black lab tightly coiled into the tiny space left on said sofa. One black lab, 4 leg in the air, head hanging off another sofa. One yellow lab and one chocolate lab huddled together on a duvet (spooning).  One yellow lab on another duvet infront of TV. three black labs spreadeagled in front of fire. Oh yes and one black cat curled up in the clean washing on top of the puppy crate. All sound asleep. Bliss.

Ange,
You know your dogs better than any vet. Im sure you will make the right decision regarding making a third addition to the family, you know whether Sam could cope with a new puppy or whether it would be just too much.

I make a point of letting anything the vet says go in one ear and out of the other when it comes to decisions like this. They do not know your dog on a personal level, all they know is what pops up on the computer screen.

Of course in their medical field, some vets are absolutely brilliant. I travel 25 miles to my vet because she is the best i have come accross while living here.

I wouldn't make any decisions based solely on what this vet thinks.
But thats just my way of doing things.

I hope not, i'm die to pick up my 3rd on Friday. However i think as someone has said perhaps too soon. You haven't got them through adolescence yet! My two are 3 and 2  and are reasonably well trained and the next one is a 9 month old rescue springer, so we are already past the initial tolet training and stuff.

As others have said, it really depends on the age of the dogs you already have. I have 3. The newcomer is such a pain in the **** just now that I'm glad the other 2 are older. Youngest is 4 months. The other 2 are mother and son aged 6 1/2 and 2 1/2. I don't think I could have coped with Seska so well if Chance was a year younger. I have had 6 at one time. 3 of them litter mates Now THAT was hard work ;) We eventually re-homed the male keeping only bitches for years after. I think 6 was too many for us and wouldn't have that many again. Well, maybe .. well one more won't be adding too much...hmm...maybe when Seska is old enough I might just keep one.. NO NO NO!!!

That is a very good point. I was quite deflated when she said that but you're right she doesn't live with them on a daily basis.
Regards
Ange

Sorry the reply is in the wrong place it was meant for thedark.

Now the kids moan loudly about the dogs, especially dog hair. but if I usggested letting one of them go it would be as if I was disowning one of them :D

I must say that I find it extrodinary how people with kids especially let go off dogs.  Ian has quite often said that the only reason Thomas stays is because of the kids (the fact there is more chance of him going than him doesnt dawn on him).  We knew he was too spotty at 10 weeks but I had got his collar with his name and address on what was I to do :)  He is my number 1 boy and I wouldnt swap him for anything.

I think now though in order for me to keep one it would have to be the second coming so I probably never have another one :)

Well my daughter just announced this morning (getting ready for work) that she hates the dogs, every last one of them, as they were playing around the living room and vocalising. 

She had just disocovered that the Carton of Orange Juice she had left on the Living room table last night had been eaten by them!!

She said I won't have to put up with their barking, stealing my food, and not be covered head to toe in dog hair!!!!

Now this brings me to a phone call I had last night from a puppy owner.  Now is it just me, I love to get puppy updates and calls from new owners, but I always get sinking feeling (especially at this age around 9 months) in case they are calling to say they can't cope :D

Now I listened politely asked about all the usual areas of concern, reminding that at the Kevin stage a bit more discipline would pay didvidends.

Well seems little girl is lovely, does dig holes, and annoys her elderly sussex companion at times, but is devoted to him.  they were worrying about how shw would cope when he dies!  So wanted to know when they should have another.  I said two years time would be best.

They did wonder about the Black Elkhound (not recognised in UK, and quite rare in Norway,  where it is a hunting dog almost exclusively and of rather sharper temperament than our easy going Grey freind).  The reason they asked is because he and his wife ar both Religious Ministers, and of course dog haior and black robes can be a nightmarte, especially as Miss Elkhound has just had a huge Puppy moult and looks like a mangy bald cur :D