I am dreaming about next year and was browsing info on how I would prepare myself to ease a second dog ( almost certainly a puppy) in with my present dog.  I am really pleased to get to this stage - Meg will be 8 next year and her early years were a huge learning curve with me nearly giving up several times.  However here we are with her getting on in years and both of us enjoying agility.  I want a second dog so I can continue doing agility for as long as I can - my age being a factor here too!   However searching  on here I was surprised to see that nothing came up -  I turned to the Champdogs blog too - and this subject has not been covered there either yet.  By the way - the only link to the blogs is through the thread that is bumped up to the top occasionally - it would be nice to have a link on the index too -

yes, it's been discussed regularly so you should find something...

how is Meg with pups?  You could try and introduce on neutral ground and perhaps travel them home together (separately but in the same vehicle).  I use a crate and know which of my dogs are fine with pups, but am careful they're not going to play too enthusiastically!  I never leave them alone together.  Ensure Meg doesn't feel pushed out.  At Meg's age the choice of sex for the pup will be your decision.

Not sure how you've managed this far without a second dog ;-) I'd only done agility (well, competed) a short time before I got a little rescue!

If Meg had been an easy dog I would have thought of getting another one ages ago.  However she has been difficult - now I accept her as she is and I know how to handle her.  My husband however has had to get used to the idea first though.  He does want a dog that he can make a fuss of without the fear of being snapped at - Meg is not often a cuddly sort of dog especially at this time of year when she feels at her most insecure.  She snapped (half heartedly) at my trainer the other day because he was taking too much of her space and she had one eye on the other dog in my class who she feels is a threat.  I really don't know how she will be with another dog in the house.  It may be the best thing for her - or she may hate it - a gamble that I haven't felt like taking until now.  I don't know how long she will be fit enough to carry on with agility - she is on top form at the moment - I don't want a gap between dogs otherwise I might never get back into it.

Maybe I put the wrong words in the search section - but there seems to be no general advice on here or main site. 

Not trying to put a dampner on things but please bear in mind that if you do get another dog it might not want to do agility ,so  the dogs needs,both current dog and new dog,must take prescedence rather than wanting to continue in an activity that you  clearly enjoy.

If you have serious concerns about getting a new dog then can you perhaps loan a dog from someone to carry on doing agility with.Several people compete quite successfully with dogs that they don't actually own or live with.

Also what will you do with the new arrival if Meg is unable to live happily along side it? You say yourself it will be a gamble but is it a gamble with a backup plan.

Please understand that I'm not trying to upset you but I have been involved in agility for a number of years and  have seen some people aquire new dogs to satisfy their own egoes rather than putting the dogs needs first and very often when these dogs don't meet the mark they are rehomed.

Seriously Japmum I have thought long and hard about this - there are so many what ifs that I can't be that negative otherwise I wouldn't step outside my front door!!   I am starting to research - long before I have even found the right dog - and I am hoping that a friend of mine may have a litter about the right time for me next year - both parents being good temperament and agility dogs also - so I am not worrying about getting a dog that doesn't like agility!  
If for some reason I can't get Meg to settle with a new dog - and that may not come until the pup  reaches maturity anyway I am pretty sure that the situation can be resolved.  I don't have an ego!  I am still competing at grade 1!  I could go up on points but just keep having one more try at getting that elusive win.  I really enjoy the competition and the company!  I have had a great year learning so much - can't imagine giving it up and getting my zimmer frame yet!!!! 

Didn't mean to offend you at all and the trouble with discussions which aren't done face to face is that the tone in which they were meant can get lost in translation.

I,m sure you don't have an ego,was refering to some in the sport who have, but you are clearly torn about wether or not to get a new dog. There are never any guarantees that a dog will take to any activity that we wish it to pursue ,regardless of it's parentage.

I was merely asking if you had thought about the possibilites and clearly you have, so good luck in your search

Thanks japmum - I am not offended  :-)   I had a lot of help on here in the early days with my dog so it is always my first port of call when i want to find out something.   I don't come on here so often these days - just a quick read!  

I can find lots of advice about what to do with bringing a puppy into the house with another dog but nothing on how best to prepare the existing dog -

> nothing on how best to prepare the existing dog

I'm not sure there is a long list of routine things you can do to prep your existing dog as in most cases it requires adapting to individuals AND there's not a huge amount you can do in advance but here's a few thoughts :)

Sometimes it's about adapting your routines and your spaces to allow an extra dog plenty of 'room'.  Room to eat, room to train, room to sleep etc without taking anything away from Meg.  Does that make sense?  You want to create some gaps before the new dog comes so that Meg doesn't feel like she's losing anything to the newcomer.  For instance, if you currently spend all your free time with Meg then she'll notice the puppy taking your attention away, if Meg is currently allowed upstairs but that isn't practical to continue when the puppy comes then stop it long beforehand, make space on your sofa for both of them, or none of them.  Add the extra beds/crates in advance.  If puppy training is every Tuesday for an hour, then start leaving Meg before the classes start, and before the pup comes home.  Get your baby gates in place early etc

Teach a few new instructions that you think will be useful to manage dog interactions in your home.  It can be really useful to ask one dog to go one way as you instruct the other to go a different way so following a finger, or left and right is useful.  'Wait' is sooo useful in a multi dog household - try feeding one treat to Meg and another to your husband/the fridge/a chair etc - no I promise I'm not mad!  Meg needs to know that not all the good stuff is coming to her and she needs to know that 'wait' means it's not your turn, yet.

Talk to your chosen breeder about Meg way in advance, a good breeder will help you chose the right puppy to complement her, and will be willing to provide additional support if you need it.  A good relationship with your breeder will also mean that you can get puppy smelling items each week to bring home so that Meg can get familiar with a new smell.

Not every dog will approve of a new puppy - some adults really don't like them much and find them a bit alarming.  I know I've talked about my middle dog before (have a rummage for my posts if you can) he really isn't comfortable with other dogs getting too close and he took a while to warm up when the new puppy came along.  He had incredibly complicated rules about what he would allow, where and when - even to the extent that his acceptable play circle was app 8 ft across and only in one spot in our garden.  Prior to that my nitwit of a 28kg gundog would take refuge on top of the garden table and pretend he was unconcerned by the mini hooligan that had arrived in our midst.   He's now 5 years old and has only just started choosing to sit next to the puppy on the sofa        ... the puppy is two years old!!!

Patricia McConnell has a good book about managing a multi dog household.  Some of her advice is aimed at trouble shooting an existing problem but there is a lot in there that you could use to prevent a bad situation from developing.  Might be worth a look and it's a pretty short book, more of a pamphlet!  Hope this helps :)

I had a 15yr old cocker and brought in a 9 week old mini long dachsie, the year before my Mum had bought the same breed and she spent alot of time around at my house so the cocker got used to part time company first and gained a new lease of life into the bargain.

In the 9 weeks lead up to my pup coming home I would talk to Kim the cocker about Rhuari and using his name lots,there wasn't much else I could do, I have pics of their first meeting in my kitchen, Rhuari lying full stretch on his back looking so tiny and Kim looking at me as if to say "what have you done now", subsequent dog meetings have been on neutral ground but with Kim's age and how I knew he had been on first meeting my Mums pup I felt a controlled home meeting was fine.

Everything went well and they lived together for nearly 12 months before Kim passed away at 16.5yrs old, he had taken a liking to all things small, dog beds,toys,gaps he got stuck in etc., I made sure he could get away from the pup by placing a barrier up across the kitchen door that Kim could jump but Rhuari couldn't, I didn't have crates or puppy pens in those days.

Since then I have brought home several dachsies,some pups others adults and had no problems with introductions and don't leave them unsupervised for several weeks and then they get paired up with another dachsie, usually of the opposite sex as buddies for company when I am not here which is rarely these days.

Are you planning on the same breed/size for your next pup? Good Luck with your search and bringing your OH around to your way of thinking.

Thanks dogs a babe - I hadn't thought about going upstairs - Meg goes mostly where she wants - but the puppy won't be allowed that freedom until being house trained!