Second Dog Advice

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I foster a ton with my own two dogs.

1. Give the older one more breaks! Puppy needs to NOT be allowed to annoy it. Very slow integration is best.

2. Give the older one the same amount of attention and solo walks it used to get.

3. like others said -it takes time.

My dogs generally prefer older puppies/adults (with established personalities and an understanding of boundaries) to puppies who have not yet learned boundaries. Some puppies are better at that than others.

This will cause problems.

[Anonymous]

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Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I foster a ton with my own two dogs.

1. Give the older one more breaks! Puppy needs to NOT be allowed to annoy it. Very slow integration is best.

2. Give the older one the same amount of attention and solo walks it used to get.

3. like others said -it takes time.

My dogs generally prefer older puppies/adults (with established personalities and an understanding of boundaries) to puppies who have not yet learned boundaries. Some puppies are better at that than others.

This will cause problems.

We aren’t doing that. At first, puppy did not join walks. Then he started with one walk, then two. Now he goes on basically all the older dogs walks because he’s old enough to keep up just fine. We let the older dog pick the destination and of younger dog if being a pain about being too dsitraxtible, I hurry him up. He seems to want to tag along with big brother so it works out okay. I wish I could let them off leash more — I’ve done it a couple times where I left them run around mid walk and they had a lot of fun. I just don’t trust the puppy that much. The biggest problem I’m having now is that puppy wants to wrestle on the walk home and I’m telling him no, wait until you get home.

[Anonymous]

Normal for a puppy.

[Anonymous]

OP - I don't think what you are seeing is unusual. Younger pup might be a bit much for the older dog right now.

I went through this twice. The first time is when our first dog was about 9. We found out she was sick (bladder cancer) not to long after we got our 2nd. They were together for less than a year.

The older dog was a lab mix that my wife and I adopted before we had kids. She was a great dog, but never really took to the 2nd dog. 2nd dog was a Jack Russell/Beagle mix.

Jack Russell/Beagle mix is still with us and will be 13 next month. We adopted a pup during COVID. Some sort hound. Hound turned 5 in March.

These two get along well and will play together and such. Sleep together on my son's bed at night and generally are happy together.

Good Luck!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:To answer the feeding question — we had no issues. They each have their own bowl and know which is theirs. They get fed generally at same time and puppy is a slower eater. They often check each others bowls after to see if they left anything which has never once happened. It might be harder with a grazing dog — you might need to figure something out for that. They share toys and beds and it’s all been fine. Puppy does tend to steal bones from big dog which we think makes big dog sad but there are like 10 bones in the house so he could always just get another instead of sulking like he does.

Lol, same.

[Anonymous]

We added an older puppy with an almost 9 year old dog at the end of July. Our older dog gets along with all other dogs but it still has taken her until recently to start to play a little with the puppy. After crate training etc they now sleep touching and are mostly side by side in the house. The 3 days, 3 weeks, 3 months adjustment rule has held for our experience and we’re so happy to have two dogs

[Anonymous]

Is it better in general to get another adult dog? We have a 5 year old dog and would love to get another one. Our dog is also very social.

Puppies are a lot of work, we would probably want to get an adult. Obviously we would have meet and greets first to see if they get along.

[Anonymous]

We got a second dog when our dog was 4 - he did not like her for about 3 months - she was a terror and we had to keep her away from him. Nipping and trying to chase him off their food, the couch, people. Once she settled down he accepted her and now 4 years later they are def buds but he won't let her snuggle with him. If she tries he twitches his coat and gets up and walks away, but the older dog had very bad separation anxiety when we left him and it went away with his co-dog. wE didn't leave them alone when she was a baby.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Is it better in general to get another adult dog? We have a 5 year old dog and would love to get another one. Our dog is also very social.

Puppies are a lot of work, we would probably want to get an adult. Obviously we would have meet and greets first to see if they get along.

It really depends on your preferences and dogs personalities. You can definitely find an adult dog that can fit into your family.
I foster a lot of young dogs and puppies with my 9 yo dog. It's hit or miss - some puppies are annoying, so my dog gets grumpy and corrects them a lot, some older pups are testing boundaries and question who's the boss (then I have to set the record straight), but with most he just coexist peacefully. I currently foster 2 young adult dogs, they bond with each other, and occasionally play with my dog. All 3 are happy with that setting.

[Anonymous]

This is OP: I am happy to report that the dogs finally seem comfortable with one another and the older dog actually seems to enjoy playing with the puppy. I make sure to crate the puppy for naps and breaks so the older dog has some alone/rest time too. They haven't slept on each other or anything sweet like that yet, but they do more than coexist -- they do play. I am so happy!

[Anonymous]

Its just a matter of time, patience and managing them.

We have a cat and a dog. When the dog met the cat he literally screamed and the cat ran away.

It took over 6 months before they could be in the same part of the house at the same time. At first he body slammed her (they are both small) and tried to chase her, she would bat him on the head.

Now, a year later, they each curl up on my bed, they drink from the same water bowl, he steals her kibble, she doesn't mind etc.

Time, patience and management.

[Anonymous]

It took several months for our first dog to adjust to the puppy. This was rather surprising and we felt pretty bad about the whole situation, but applied many of the tips mentioned up thread and now the two happily coexist together. It just took lots of time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Its just a matter of time, patience and managing them.

We have a cat and a dog. When the dog met the cat he literally screamed and the cat ran away.

It took over 6 months before they could be in the same part of the house at the same time. At first he body slammed her (they are both small) and tried to chase her, she would bat him on the head.

Now, a year later, they each curl up on my bed, they drink from the same water bowl, he steals her kibble, she doesn't mind etc.

Time, patience and management.

This made me lol. We recently had our dog in a house with a cat for the first time and my (very large) dog was TERRIFIED of the cat. Would not go up or down the stairs if the cat was there and would run away if it tried to approach. After a week or so he took interest and would get closer, by 2 weeks they were totally comfortable together and would sleep on the same bed.