Hi,

We are considering getting a second dog and would like some advice please. We have a male labrador who will be two later this month, he is a very loving and good boy - to be honest my only complaint with him is that he pulls when on the lead. We have been thinking for some time about getting a second dog but are unsure as do not want to upset him as he is very placid and I do fear that any other dog would be dominant over him, which I wouldn't want.

We have considered getting another Lab or perhaps a Border Terrier. I wondered how others have found it when introducing another dog to the existing one? Our dog is neutured and we thought about getting another male (puppy), do you think that could pose any problems? We are a busy family and I am fortunate not to be working at present so I would always be about for both dogs. Also, if anyone has any experience good or bad of Border Terriers I would love to hear it, I have read up on them quite a bit but unfortunately do not know any personally.

I would be really interested in hearing other peoples views on this as I have always just owned one dog at a time and would really like to consider all options before making a decision. This is something that we have been thinking of for the past 12 months or so and in all honesty will probably take another 6 months to make up our minds. 

Sorry for all the questions,

Thanks,

Lauren

We have just got another dog to add to our family and I am so pleased we did it. Like you I am at home full time. I think that your lab is a good age to get another but it really is personal preference. As to mixing sexes or sticking with one i'm really not sure when it comes to labs but i'm sure someone on here will post some advice soon. :-)

It would be good to train your exising boy not to pull on the lead before a newbie comes along as you don't want him passing on any bad habits :-)

Hi Lauren,

I don't have much advise to offer however would like to say how good it is that you are taking your time over this and not rushing into getting a pup.

All the best
Anna

All ours are 2 years in age unfortunatley i now work full time and the youngest goes with the oldest so it is workable, if you think your dog is a good/adaptable/secure age then yes get another..

We have 4 they are a dream to own but its not without quarrels..but we forsee any issues..

Hi i bought my second dog and it was one of the best things i ever did, he was happy on his own but now he couldnt function with out her. They are husband and wife and you would think they have been brought up together since babies. He did have a few bad habits and they were passed on a little, so the lead thing is definately a must for you poor arms sake. However she was a kind of rescue, i bought her from people who just left her outside fed her the wrong things and basically didnt bother with her at all. When she came to me she was a little worse for wear her coat was dull and crappy she had ticks and no basic command training at all and the worst part she didnt even know her name and at 2 plus years thats bad. When i got her i had to start from scratch with house training, sit ,stay, never been a walk on a lead so she didnt know what to do either. She is now slightly better behaved than my male adolescent similar age to your boy, pulling is still a problem with him, but my gran could walk her she doesnt pull at all. Has the best temperament you could ask for and is dead soft.
          She was a companion for him whilst i was out, got him at 10 weeks and never left his side for 4 months when off work, so when i had to go back he struggled a little my fault mostly, but he is over it now. She is a great dog and also has good bloodlines and does well in the shows, we had a litter from her recently and she is a great mother.
Such a waste of a great dog, but i have her now and she will never leave me. Only border terrier i know of is my vets and he has a boxer too, both males and they get along fine, slight male competition he said he gobbles his all his food now. If i were you id stick to a lab dont think the sex matters too much, but i have dog and bitch together and they are fine. But remember two dogs twice the mess definately lol

Thank you all for your replies - its made interesting reading. The comment about getting my boy to walk nicely on a lead is spot on and something that I am working on. He currently has a halti which I don't particularly like but it does work and stops the majority but not all of the pulling. What I have found is that he will pull to get to wherever we are going, I then take off the halti and he will have a run and a play with his ball he will trot back lovely just leaded.

I did a search on here for tips about walking to heel and saw mention of a slip rope - how does this work? I have looked at my local pet shops and just seen the usual array of harnesses, haltis and gentle leaders. My boy is very eager to please and I think with some consistent training I could get him to walk to heel (he did it unleaded for my at puppy obedience classes regularly when he was small, whether its was because of a different environment though I don't know) I suppose really I am at a bit of a loss of where to start. I have tried holding the lead left handed with a large loop and then dropping the lead and changing direction when he pulls but its not made much difference.

Anyway I seem to have lots of questions again!

Thanks,
lauren

A slip lead is basically like a check chain, and lead all in one, but of rope.  Only any good on a dog that already walks nicely.

Yep you want your first dog trained as well as you would like before considering getting another, ideally two or three year age gap will give you least problems.

The clue to his pulling is he gets to where he wants to go, and faster he thinks. 

So when he pulls do a left about turn, so that you almost tread on his toes (making him back up), and walk in the opposite direction, as soon as he pulls again about turn, and keep doing this until he hangs back and doesn't pull.  He will realise that while he is pulling he isn't actually getting anywhere. 

You may find that you are going back and forth the same twenty yards of pavement, but it is worth it to get that light bulb moment.

When he is pulling less, but still tending to forge ahead stop dead and don't move until he is back by your side, then step off again and repeat and repeat and repeat.  Occasionally put in about turn a time or two again when he forgets/tries it on.

This is where the head collar comes in as there will be times you simply need to get from A to B, so allows you to stop the pulling, until you can do the training.

Hi I have two dogs. There are lots of good sides people already mentioned. but mine are very close in age and I train them for beginner competition so it is less than ideal but the points might be worth considering. I knew getting pups  was not ideal but was prepared to go for it and I am glad I did.   However here are some ideal that I didn't appreciate before being a two dog family.  

Ideally leave at least 3-4 years between the dogs so the older one is fully matured. AS well as the difficulty of training two young dogs having two close in age if all goes well they will grow old together, so you have the extra care and expense of two elderly dogs.

The extra little down side also outside the obvious like the cost, vet bills etc... I find are:

with two I no longer find the one to one relationship so easy..each dog wants to be my one to one dog and they are competitive so I find that hard. They are very close so they lead each other on. If I am out and one is distracting me by needing attention the other would take advantage of that time to be getting into trouble. Walking two is not as relaxing as walking one because each needs attention. I like to give mine each a little one to one time and they love it. I don't find I fir in the one to one as much as I wanted to and when I do I can never enjoy the time so much as I did with just one dog because the dog left at home sends me thought waves reminding me it should have been their time for attention.So like kids they can pull you two ways.

The relationship I had with my older dog changed when the second dog arrived which is a shame and I had not expected it. I think with two or more there could well be some level of compromising.

I find some places I love to go to walk one dog loves but the other dog hates so it can be restricting or you can still go but feel the one dog is not really as happy there as you would like..so some  balancing out the activities for each dog. . In this I have a couple of friends who have two dogs, each having one with issues and this changes the activities they can enjoy with the well established dog to the extent that having a dog is no longer a social activity ( they liked to get out and meet other people with their dog ) 

The different personalities can complicate things too. I have one who is very sensitive to my voice and I must be sweet and encouraging/excitable with and the other who needs a deeper firm calmer voice.

Cleaning up after two dogs after walks etc is more work for some reason than cleaning after one. Same with bathing. If they are going to roll in something nasty they do it together.

And if one dog is sick or at the vets you heart hurts twice as much, for you and the poorly dog and for your healthy dog who is their close companion.

When you go away some places that take dogs will only take one dog.

And if for some reason your two dogs did not get on you have the problems of dealing with that issue.

These are not reasons not to have two just just minor changes that I found unexpected. Mine certainly enjoy being double trouble! But it is fun all the same.

Cleaning up after two dogs after walks etc is more work for some reason than cleaning after one

It was meant to say Cleaning up after two dogs after walks etc is more than twice the work for some reason than cleaning after one.

Ah Barbara that makes sense about the slip lead now, I wasn't really sure what is was. I can see where I have gone wrong with his pulling, I usually turn to my right so he has to walk all round me but if I were to go left as you suggest I will be cutting him step short which should (hehe) irritate him into doing what I want. Yes it is definately the case that he is getting where he wants to sooner as is very content once hes had his run and play.

Thanks for that - i will give it a go.

Lauren

Tenaj, I think thats is what i am unsure of to be honest, the whole family have a really close relationship to our boy and as a result he is a bit of a cuddly softy which we love (he does actually think he is a lap dog and comes up for a cuddle at least twice a day) I don't want to jeopodise our relationship with him but do think it would be fun for him and us if we had another dog. Hadn't considered going away with more than one dog as it is something that we would do and that could pose a problem as we do all like to get away together.

Made me laugh what you said about the clearing up after two dogs is a lot more than double the mess - I queried the same with hubby last night as remembered when we went from one child to two - the mess was horrendous and then the third - well that just beyond it really!!

Thanks again,

Lauren.

You find those issues less when there is a big age gap, as once your dog is older and fully trained they don't need the intensity of input.

Time can then be shared with a new pup without the older one losing out, as the time with the well trained older one is quality time, and because he is well trained he will get his own time and together time with you and the new pup. 

Any loss of your attention is made up for with the relationship your dog can have with another of his own kind. 

He will in fact not be as reliant on you for company and need you less.  Now some peopel need their dog to need them, and prefer the exclusive relatiosnhip of just oen dog.

we've always had 2+ and found that as long as your considerate to the original dog having "competition" they tend to really like it (obviously there are exceptions). its the same as having a second child i guess, you just need to make sure the firstborn gets attention to and isn't blocked out by the new cute baby. i'd say get a bitch though, much less likely to cause upset as she develops. as to the dominace thing, if he lets himself become dominated its up to him, the bitches have always ruled in our house no mater who was there first, the dogs just seem happy to yield to them, thata a mother son combo, then when Cassie passed our other bitch took up the lead. after both of them we got a dog who was alone for a bit then we got Kizzy, he adored her (only time he ran off at the park, i was terriefied, he'd run home to see his baby), she grew up and bossed him around and now shes boss of our boy and her daughter, Tio totally gives way to the girls.

I think when you have a dog that has pulled you for a long time it is very difficult to teach them not to. I have tried stopping and changing directions etc every time the lead tightens but it didn't work for me - maybe I wasn't consistent enough, it's very hard to measure the exact same degree of tightness of lead.

Anyway I have a different approach. I taught my dog a position I wanted. It is alonside me but I don't mind him being in front as long as his bottom does not pass my leg. The point is that I taught him this position - I say "with me" - off lead at first at home and then when I'm out the lead never tightens, if he comes out of position I simply stop, say "with me" and he comes back. The thing is if the lead never tightens he can't pull. It is taught as a new exercise, not related to the previous game of I pull and mum pull back. I'll admit this is not as good as having a dog that never tightens the lead but it works for me.

Just a thought. Think about it.

Any loss of your attention is made up for with the relationship your dog can have with another of his own kind.
yep that's exactly it. It is  different relationship but still good..like having a new baby changes relationships and time and attention  distribution but soon settlers down into a new way of life.

Two on your knee is warmer in the winter so saves on those heating bills. 

With the pulling it is possible to improve. They tend to not realise we want them not to pull and when it clicks that we want nice walking they soon pick up on it.  With my first dog I walked him up to school with me to drop off and pick up from school.. and I always had deadlines to meet. So although I thought I was training him not to pull I was actually training him to pull.  So I had to try something else to teach him not to pull. Instead of teaching what not to do I  taught him what to do..so where I roughly wanted him to be, which is what I do with my two now. If the pull I stop and tell them to remember their manners and when they return to my side the walk continues. But only when I have the time or I confuse them by rushing. If I am in a rush I use a halter which really seems to calm mine down.

Hi,

I haven't been online for a few days. Just wanted to thank everyone for their advice - walking to heel is going very well and we seem to be seeing an improvement. With regard to getting another dog. Did view a couple of litters at the weekend of adorable little bundles but have decided that at present we will hang fire and see what we think in a couple of months.

Thanks again,

Lauren.