We have a 5 month old bitch, and we would like to have another puppy. We have fallen in love with a 9 week old dog.

Is this to soon to have another puppy?

People have done this successfully but it depends on the breeds/temperaments of the two dogs and your own experience, time and committment as an owner. I have two but with a gap of 18 months between them. Still need plenty of energy.
I wouldnt personally but if you feel you have the experience and commitment then you will know if you can cope or not :)

I would not advise anyone to get another pup until their current pup is at least 12mths old, I would rather leave it til about 18 months as Lel said.  I know of people that have done this and had 2 pups together and have had to re-home one of the dogs or have a real nightmare with the whole situation up until the dog is about 2 years old!

I would go further if your breed is at all independant strong willed or anything other than a very submissive goody two shoes, I would wait at least two years and preferqably 3 years before having another.

At five months your pup won't even have hit the stage where it wants to be away from Mum, let alone gone throught the rebelious teenage stage and puberty.  In 12 months time when she is possibly at her worst and your attantion is divided yu will quite possibly be seriously regretting it :D

Only you know if you have enough time to commit 100% to two pups instead of just one. You'll have three times the amount of training to do - the original pup, the new one, and both of them together!

If your first pup is totally house-trained, walks well on the lead, has a reliable recall and good general level of training and behaviour when out, and there's someone home 90% of the time, then it could be possible. But don't do it if you want an easy life!
:)

Definitely depends on the breed, I had two mastiffs within four months of each other and they are great together, no problems what so ever (probably more luck than anything tho ;) ), however two staffies for example...and forget it! I kept two from a litter to show, and soon decided to find on one of them a new home, as they were extremely boisterous together and I had to keep them seperately....its not fair on them unless you have the time experience and facilities. (I bred the Staffies myself by the way and the new home was properly vetted-before anyone jumps on me!) Personally i wouldnt recommend it!

I would just think how much work one puppy is and then probably treble it for 2 together.  However good your intentions are you must be very sure because there is no going back once you say yes to another puppy.  And remember puppies take a long while to mature.  My young lad is 16 months and still into everything you don't want him to have!  He still has a long way to go to mature.

HI

I have three bitches a ess, ecs and a crossbreed they are under two years of age.  The crossbreed has been spayed but the others two i am goin to breed from i can say that i think that its much better as they play and get on great.  As yet i havent had any problems with any of them.  I also think that if you think you can manage more than one puppy then it helps having two or more as it teaches them to be house trained and they have each other to play with but they have also bonded more with the humans in the family.

I hope this is of help and good luck with the new puppy.

<<<<<<I also think that if you think you can manage more than one puppy then it helps having two or more as it teaches them to be house trained >>>>

mmmmm...thats a first!!! How do they do that then?

Archer

How many dogs do u have archer.
I really dont know what u are on about u seem to know everything, if you do then what do u think about havin two pups.

Penbuff, I would also like to hear your reply to archer's question.

I have 4 dogs at present ...3 entire males and a speyed bitch and waiting on number 5...and as far as knowing everything I think you will find my opinions on this are the same as 99% of other posters.
We advise on the side of caution ...what we don't want is to tell someone its fine and then in a year or 2's time that person has 2 dogs who cannot live together and one has to be rehomed or even worse gets injured in a fight.
I have 2 of my dogs who are only 8 months apart in age....this was not my choice.One was gifted to my daughter when she lost a previous much loved pet and struggled coping with the loss.The other was a pup who I booked and I had waited many many months for due to wanting a pup from a precise male line.Would I have done it if I had had the choice...NO!
Archer

Frankly you wouldn't expect to be seeing the potential long term problems yet in immature puppies and yearlings other than possibly lack of discipline and the chaos so many young things together create.

Wait until they get to be mature adults and especially once they have been bred from (I find bitches become more domineering at this time)  and are wying for their places in the grand scheme of things.

I don't see how you can say that housetraining can possibly be easier with several pups, and how on earth do you find time to train three together and seperately?

I walk five dogs together, but having recently been away to a show and tried to walk five that were all similar ages (3 under two and a 3 and five year old) I realised that the reason I find it easy is I basically have 3 Veterans who I could walk on a shoe lace, a sensible adult and a yearling bitch who can still react to cats and dogs across the street, whereas the others know better.

We have a working springer who was working nearly every night but has just come into season, she was so easy to train.  We also do obedience and agility, she is about to compete in a agility and on her silver in obedience.  The crossbreed also does agility and obedience she is now 1 years old and is very obedient she will do everything you ask of her.  The cocker is a show dog now about to start showing, i started her late as she was not very mature and i could not hand strip her coat.  I will say that she is not so obedient as the other two but she will do wait, stand, sit, stay, down and come when called.  She is trained for showing so havent done much obedience with her.  I train them when i get home from work and before i go to work, but someone is home all the time with them.

What dog and how many do u have

J

i have to say in penbuffs defense that it can help having more than one dog as we had a 12 month old cross when we got our staff pup and he was so easy to house train as he copied the older dog. I'm not saying this is always going to be the case but it is what i found same as penbuff.

Maybe so, Voors, but your two dogs weren't the same age! That's a completely different scenario - most people would say wait about 12 months before getting another pup.
:)

I have Norwegian Elkhounds (as does Archer) and these are an independant hunting breed so training in recall especially is hard work and something that needs your full concentration, and even then they are still inclined to be selectively deaf and want to please themselves far more than you.

I have five bitches (oldest 3 spayed at at 5 to 7 years) ages are 13yrs 2 mnths, 10yrs 4mnths, 7yrs 7mnths, 5yrs 6mnths, and 1yr 8mnths.

The age gap is largest between the two youngest as the second youngest was returned to me at adolescence and we still ahve recall issues with her, and in fact her daughter is more reliable off lead.

>two or more as it teaches them to be house trained

I too would love to know how they do this! I have 4 dogs, two of whom are littermates, and they took several weeks longer to housetrain than a single pup.

>but they have also bonded more with the humans in the family.

I've found quite the opposite. The ones that are the same age are far more bonded, when together, to each other than to we humans. It's different when we take them out separately - then they're as easy as one reared singly.

i have 2 dogs with only 10 days age difference,so both are 10 months old wasnt planed bob we have had since he was 7 weeks old missie is a rescue who we have had 4 weeks ,early days ,both same breed its very hard work am lucky i work from home so spend alot of time with them dont know if i could go through pup and young dog stage but good luck if thats what you deside to do

You know i had 3 dogs, one bitch two males and it was a complete breeze, they were all just under 2yrs.

Then the testosterone hit and what a nightmare, (bitch was speyed) but the males were constantly fighting so much i had to rehome one to my father whose dog had just died, every single command they ever learnt went out the window.

Even if it was just one bitch and a male it has been hard going (i dont regret it but i wont do it again) putting each other in their place constantly bickering, it can be from who shares the sofa to who gets to drink water 1st.

Would i do it again?

Nope.

(And i am at home full time)
Not putting you off but in some ways its easy but others its double the trouble.

I guess that i must have been really lucky.  As the springer was the one who helped do the house training i dont know if anyone has found this but she would tell me when she wanted to go out but she would not pee or poo but the new pup would.  I suppose she thought that if the new pup when for a pee or poo she would also get a treat for telling me.  I guess i am also lucky that the springer was and is so lovely with the new pups (she really looks after them) that she also helps to teach them to sit because they copy her but i guess any puppy would normally copy an older dog.

Its up to the indivial what they doat the end of the day. I also know someone who as 8 dogs who are all under 5 years old and they get on really well but again he is a agility trainer so i suppose he knows what he is doing.

Firstly, apologies for joining this thread late so I'm not making any references to what has already been said but we currently have a 5 month old pup(plus a five and a 2 year old) and we will not be adding to this number until our pup is at least 18 months, probably more like 2 years old.
The main reason being that we are just beginning to see a change in the pups behaviour, and we know he is coming up to that age where all our training will go out of the window and he will become a bit obnoxious, stubborn and testing :D We are prepared for this to last until he matures and, in our opinion, it is not even in our minds to think about adding another young pup to the equation - its hard enough work with one adolescent pup never mind two!
JMO
Emily :)

don't do it - my whippet had a litter and I kept one.  My neighbour had another.  I look after my neighbours dog during the day and when they meet it's nothing but play fighting and noise.  I think it is best to leave at least 1 year between dogs.  I have a dog aged 3 and a bitch aged 2, they get on very well and my puppy who is 7 months gets on well with them both, but I wouldn't dream of having 2 puppies together, to much like hard work.  I am also at home all day so have plenty of time to devote to my dogs.  Wait until your puppy has grown and is calmer.

Good luck.

Guest. Do what you feel you can cope with.If you are ready to have another Pup and have the time and patience then go for it.I have a few dogs and  some have less than a year between them and i have a wonderful time with them all and would certainly NOT have things any different.