Hi

I have a 12wk old shih-tzu.  He is adorable and settling in really well.  I would like to add a Cocker Spaniel to our family in the near future, so i have a couple of questions.

1)  Do you think these breeds are compatible?  Teddy doesn't enjoy a lot of exercise, tho it's early days as he's only been out for a week.  I know a spaniel will be quite the opposite.  Is this workable then?

2) What is a good time to add another dog to a household?  Should i wait til Teddy is say a year or longer, or better younger?

3) Is there anything else i need to consider, i have two children ages 6 & 8, have a garden etc.

Many thanks

>What is a good time to add another dog to a household?  Should i wait til Teddy is say a year or longer, or better younger?

Personally I'd wait until Teddy is about 2 years old because you need to concentrate 100% on each puppy to get them well-trained enough (obedient, not just house-trained!) to be civilised family members.

The best advice is to wait

You're still in the lovely puppy honeymoon period and your boy will go through many changes on his way to adulthood.

Personally I wouldn't even consider another until he's 2.

If this is your first dog, you will probably find that he greatly informs your thinking for the future eg what traits you like, what size you choose and what training works!  You will also have a much better idea of how your children interract with the dog - and what they'd like from the next one.  By the time they are 8 and 10 they might like to consider something like dog agility or be more interested in helping you train the next one.

My dog was 4 when our pup arrived and he was young enough to enjoy it and old enough to remain sensible.  The last thing you want is for your older dog to revert to puppyhood and forget all his training.  The added benefit of my age gap is that my eldest was completely self assured and comfortable with his position in our lives.  He didn't mind being ignored for a little while whilst we concentrated on toilet training and managing the baby shark. 

Like others have said, it's best to wait until the first puppy is fully adult and mature before adding another. You've still got the teenage stage to come for a start. :) Now cockers as gundogs want a fair bit of exercise and I'd imagine a Shih Tzu will not. I have one toy breed and one pastoral breed and they have to be walked separately or they would not get the right requirements of exercise. Which is fine as I have several dogs so have to go for several walks anyway but it would be a bit annoying really if I only had two dogs. :)

I agree with the above,i have a dog of nine, a bitch of four and a bitch of just over ten months and it seems to work.
I would walk a new pup at different times for a while anyway so you can train them more easily. if there's another dog with you they pay less attention socan make it quite hard work. 

> What is a good time to add another dog to a household?  Should i wait til Teddy is say a year or longer, or better younger?
>

a year or more definately, probably more like 2. you'll also need to think about the sexes you want, if its mixed sex then you will have seasons to contend with, if its same sex potential fights- though this is reduced the bigger the age gap in many cases.

Pretty definitive then!  Thanks for the advice, will definitely wait til Teddy is older.  Teenager...., oh no, when does that happen?!!

Yay!! another shih tzu owner, I have 3 of them.
I agree with the others, I waited till my first dog was a year old till i got another. I cant offer any advice on cockers, but shih tzus are like a box of chocolates...you cant just have one!!!

Thanks Furbaby, yep, Shih-tzu's rock don't they!!  Actually i am torn between another Shih and the Cocker....will see how things pan out...did you find yours tricky to house-break?  Teddy is great when i take him out and obviously understands he needs to do a wee to get the treat.  But then he'll come back in and go again and expect the same prize,  looks so proud of himself too.  So i reckon he's got the concept of going outside but not quite grasped the fact that the indoors is not his personal litter tray as well.....!

Took him out for the first time today which was quite hilarious - he's so friendly to the other dogs and we got some good reactions/behaviour from them, except a Yorkie who started off great, sniffing and checking him out, then started flurrying on top of him with her paws until he was kind of pinned down underneath her.  The owner didn't inspire much confidence and said "she should be okay with him"!  So i bottled it after a while and picked him up as the Yorkie wasn't on a lead and Teddy was, so the owner didn't have much control.  I know it's a big faux pas to pick them up (also other owners hate it, am sure they think i am some precious small-dog-owner who feeds him a la carte dinners on the settee) but i thought i'm not having him freaked on his first trip by a bad experience.  Anyway, no harm done, he has to meet other doggies but have to say, my heart is in my mouth when i see one bounding over on the horizon towards us!