We have been looking after a friends cocker spaniel puppy and apart from the odd toilet accidents i can honestly say i have found it easier with 2 dogs as they keep each other occupied and they have been having a great time! Does anyone else find it easier with two dogs?

Oh yes but with one grown up and sensible to help with the new puppy raising.

It may be easier when they are both grown up but is quite hard work when the younger one is still a puppy. Well not so much hard work but very time consuming. The puppy has to be walked separately from the older dog, trained separately from the other dog and I find that I am probably giving my older dog even more attention than before so that he isn't getting left out. :)

do they need walked etc seperately? obviously the older dog needs more excercise so will sometimes but we've always done everything we can together. the older dogs good habits tend to rub off on the younger i've always found, lol course the same goes for bad habits :D

Oh yes this is essential and a bad mistake many second dog owners make.  They always take pup out with aunt or uncle and the dog seems bomb proof then one day they need to take it on it's own and the pup falls apart as has been relying on the other.

Also people can forget to socialise them with other dogs thinking that it gets on brilliantly with the one at home with good communication etc, and then finds the pup is aggressive or afraid of other kinds of dogs, ones bigger smaller bouncier or quieter than the ones at home.

I'm not saying that it doesn't have its drawbacks with our eldest being young but i have to admit that twice now looking after 2 different puppies for people (yes i know i'm practically a kennel lol) i have found it easier than i expected and actually quite pleasant. I can see what you mean about the older dog helping with toilet training as ours has taught the puppy to go to the back door when he needs to go outside (not saying we haven't had accidents!)

2 dogs are definitely easier in most ways than an "only child" ;) They play together and wear each other out,they are good company for one another,although i still feel just as guilty leaving 2 of them together when i go out as i did when i just had one :D

As for the walking thing,i never walked them seperately when one was a pup,i think that's going a little over board,with all due respect

Angels i just wish you would hurry up and get another dog :D You know your situation best,and from what i've read on here both you and your dog are more than ready AND capable of having a pup in the household!

I certainly don't walk my newest pups separately all the time, but certainly they need to be taken out on their own regularly, but this can be once or twice a week for a confident breed like mine, one of those is usually training class.

The rest of the time the adults would come too, plus get a longer walk after pup brought home, so pup learns to be alone at times too.

It isn't god for any dog to become over reliant on the gang.

I know I know...we spoke to our breeder who said she would be really sad if we went elsewhere and she is due a litter around early summer but I have to say I don't feel as comfortable with her as I did before so we have made enquiries elsewhere but we'll have to wait and see I won't get a puppy from anyone that I don't feel 100% happy with.

Always walking the pups togethr is a huge mistake in my experience. They become too inter-dependent, and watch each other rather rather than concentrate on the owner. And walking a young pup for the same length of time that a fit adult needs is a recipe for disaster! So it's definitely separate walks most days.

I believe part of my responsiblity as an owner is making sure my dogs can cope well with the things they will run into in life. Part of that is having the confidence and wherewithall to be able to interact with other dogs and people on their own. I've heard a few people at the training club say the same thing as you ktee. Then they bring there puppy in without the older dog or its sibling and all of a sudden their 'well socialised puppy' is under a chair, too frightened to come out and meet other puppies much less older dogs.

Two dogs is twice as much work for me because they both want to play with me more than each other :-D Except on walks, they gave up on the idea of me wallowing in mud puddles with them so they're partners in grime when out. :-D

I think we would walk them seperately until the puppy is able to be walked for longer and we would always enrol in puppy classes again as it is a great place for them to meet other dogs, I really haven't found it double the amount of work I have actually found it easier!

>Then they bring there puppy in without the older dog or its sibling and all of a sudden their 'well socialised puppy' is under a chair, too frightened to come out and meet other puppies much less older dogs.

Thank goodness nothing even remotely like this has ever happened to my dogs,which like i said i've never walked seperately. So obviously this is not a hard and fast rule,as i had never heard of walking seperately until coming on here,and i doubt many others had either.
I ofcourse know that you have to make allowances for youngsters who cant walk as far as the older guys,but other than that no probs on this end.

Well we're still walking our 2 separately at 4 & 5 years of age because :1. We both enjoy the one to one interaction. 2. One loves to retrieve his ball, the other likes long steady walks. 3.Safety! Together they weigh more than me and if they did do a sudden "lunge" together there's no way I could hold them. I did actually try it once in January 2005 and ended up on the ground on my front hanging on to these two dogs for dear life. :rolleyes: Since I am now 64 I have no intention of repeating that performance. ;-) So, consider the size of the dogs, too, it is very very relevant.

Also if one dog has issues then it is best not to walk the other with it as bad habits can be passed on.  My freind has a bitch who appears to be agoraphobic and growls and lunges at things on lead.  There is no way she woudl walk another with ehr even if she was able to.

They will both be cavvies!

i have three dogs & always try & walk the puppy seperate, however due to health problems in my bitch & the dark cold nights i have been walking the two boys together the majority of the time. i thought my puppy was doing really well & was calm & confident, however it was only last week when i walked him on his own i realsied how much he had been relying on his elder brother!. he was quite nervous & scared of cyclists, joggers & pushchairs, whereas with his brother his didnt bat an eyelid.
so i have made a concerted effort to walk him on his own this week & he is improving.
i do think it can work both ways tho- i did use my eldest boy to help socialise him 7 get him used to adults & Children as my eldest loves them & just sits calmly to be fussed, while my puppy was nervous of people at first he learnt from his brother there was nothing to be scared of & people were actually quite nice & gave him lots of fuss & treats.
i think often its a balancing act.

Hi i am new to the forum i have 2 great dane bitches, sadie a harlequin dane 7 years old we rescued her when she was 4 years old and a month away from starving to death.
           We also have chloe a black dane who is 2 years old we had her from a pup and they get on great and even eat together.
two dogs are company for each other but also twice the expence but worth it.
        regards mick.

So when you have a new puppy and already have a dog, then you should walk the puppy seperatly until he is sure of himself alone and has good habits and then slowly intergrate the other in onto theyre walks? As its not fair on the older one eitehr is it if theyre walk is constantly interrupted by a weaving puppy!
That sounds like a good idea as like mentioned earlier, a puppy will rely on the safty the other dog provides and not actully deal with anything himself!
I would want to walk them together to establish that we are one big family not seperate groups of family if you see what I mean :) :)

With mine I walk the pup with the adults and also alone a few times a week, so it is only extra walks for a short while a couple of times a week. 

When they are walked together they get a puppy length walk and then the adults will go out again after pup is taken home, so they don't always have to put up with pup either.

I find rearing a puppy much easier when you have the help of a well behaved adult/adults.  Puppy mouthing is hardly ever an issue.

totally agree with brainless, helps with mouthing, toilet training, even how to behave on lead, sitting, staying etc i think. they see the big one and say, "oh, thats how its done..."

or the grown up tells them off for innapropriate behaviouri.e jumping up like a loonatic while i am waiting for calm to put leads & collars on. Clara will get fed up of this & will tell puppy off so he sits & WAITS CALMLY.

Ah your post made me laugh Clara as my oldest collie often told her daughter off for this. Gem couldn't quite contain herself when it was walk time and would race round the garden and then jump at all the other dogs. Meg put up with it for a minute or so then gave a frustrated sort of yowl and pinned her down. A much more subdued Gem would then sit nicely for her collar and lead without a word having to be said by me :D

It's like having an interpreter when talking to someone who speaks another language.

No I think two dogs are much harder than one...or they certainly are when you are out.  They lead each other on more so you can have pack mentality to deal with.  And also you have two to train feed clean excersise etc..  They are competitive for attention for activity  and like kids they always want the same toy.

It certainly is different having two, there are advantages and disadvantages.

You always have to share your time rather than having the one to one relationship you can have with one. You still have to give each that one to one attention so you double the amount of walks and training sessions you need to fit into the day, need two dog training clubs so that they each get a class to go to and when you give one the attention training and one to one walks the other tugs away at your heart strings!  When you go away some places will accept one dog but not two.  And you can find they have different taste so one might like going some places and say might like to be around other dogs but the other might not.