Hi I'm after some help/advice, I'm the proud owner of a bichon frise (nancy)  I plan to get a 2nd dog after the summer when nancy will be 18 month old, Not sure what dog to get I have been thinking of a couple!!!!!! toy poodle, another bichon, mini schnuzer, shih tsu, Ideally I want a dog which will be playfull and friendly company for nancy, Do bichons get on well with other dogs, Nancy has been a bit spoiled and gets a lot of my time,  Has anyone been in the same position, Thanks in advance

I have allways been advised to get the same breed if looking for company for my dogs, as different breeds want to do different things.  Your present dog should now be old enough to accept another but be wary of rough play between them until your new pup is able to look after itself.

All the bichons I have met have got on well with all dogs including large ones.

Choose your breed according to what you like, with regard to character, grooming needs etc

Many of us have two or more completely different breeds who provide good company for each other.  It is often a plus if they are different ie in terms of group/sub group, because you may avoid some "pack" tendencies eg if gundogs/hounds go off to hunt.............

Sorry Tohme

Perhaps that response came out wrong.  I have different breeds but basicaly they fit into the same groups herding or droving and so get on very well.  As a novice owner years ago I was told to stick with the same breed until I was sure how each would react.  No offence meant.  Mine is a mix and match set up.

I have a 2 1/2 year old westie male (castrated through medical reasons) I am also thinking of getting another westie pup at the end of the year or early next year as I am going on holiday in September feel really excited as hubby has agreed.  Would it be better to get a bitch next or male he is really good natured with kids is it better to use the same breeder for nature or is it the way you bring them up?  Any help please.

Hi ronniethescot,

I am in the same position as you.  We have a 14 month old male Bichon Frise who gets on well with all other dogs and would love some company.  I have also been wondering if we should get another Bichon or another breed completely (or a rescue)  We looked after my mums dog (a toy poodle) whilst she was in hospital recently and our Bichon seemed to love having another dog around and seems to miss her now she has gone back to mum again :-(

Its funny really because all the breeds that you mention are the ones that we have considered for our Bichon, or perhaps it is because they are all non-moulting :-)

Anna

Was the toy poodle bigger than the bichon? At 14 months is your dog fully trained, My dog is 11 months and It looks like we have turned the corner now, I had no idea it would take so long to house train, My girlfriend's family have had poodles in the past, they seem a lot easier to train.

Hi Ronnie,

Yes we had a lot of housetraining problems with our Bichon too, it seemed like it was never going to happen at times :-(  I have read on a Bichon website that they are amongst the 10 worse dogs to housetrain.
I think it was something like 8 months before he completely stopped doing it inside and asked to go out all the time, although if I leave him in the morning for 30 minutes whilst I take my daughter to nursery, he nearly always wees and poos in the kitchen whilst I am away :-( but that is because he is so stressed when I leave him.  He always asks to go out if we are in :-)

Yes the toy poodle was smaller than Benji (our Bichon) and she is 10 1/2 years old but they got on extremely well, although she put him in his place a few times (even though she hasn't a tooth in her head :-) )

We have had poodles in the past (Toy ones) and they are extremely easy to housetrain in my opinion.  If you go for a poodle though I think you might be better with a miniature poodle (which is a bit bigger than a toy poodle and a bit more robust)  Poodles are extremely intelligent and we have had no problems with the ones that we have had. :-)