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Post by shanniebananie on Dec 4, 2020 14:44:16 GMT
We are very strongly considering adding a second chocolate lab to our home. If we get the one we want, she is two years old. We already have a 6 year old female. I have never had two dogs at the same time before and I am hoping to get some tips from veteran multiple dog owners.
How do you handle feeding?
Do you walk them both at the same time?
Do they share bones/toys?
Where do the sleep? (our current baby sleeps on our bed)
How should we introduce them?
Anything else I have not considered?
TIA!
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schizo319
Pearl Clutcher
Posts: 3,030 
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Post by schizo319 on Dec 4, 2020 14:56:36 GMT
We feed one dog in the kitchen and one in the den. Our Husky can be moody about anyone being too close when she eats.
I do walk both dogs at the same time. I highly recommend a leash coupler if your dogs are the same size, makes it so much easier to walk them. I can't use one because I have a little and a big dog.
My dogs do share most toys, but my older little dog has a couple toys that are HER babies. We trained the newer one early on that she was not allowed to have "Moxie's Beaver" (hilarity ensued because my husband and I have the humor of a teenaged boy).
Our little dog sleeps in the bed and the husky sleeps on a memory foam pad next to DH's side of the bed.
I would introduce your dogs on neutral territory, take them for a walk together first thing. That way they get used to being together without either of them being territorial and there are other smells and sights to keep them from being obsessive about each other. I saw that on a dog trainer show (Caesar Milan?) and we use that technique to introduce foster dogs into the household (My mom fosters, we failed at it - which is how we ended up with the Husky). It works REALLY well.
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Post by tyra on Dec 4, 2020 17:27:56 GMT
Getting a second dog was the best thing we did! We adopted our second this past April (she was our second fosture failure lol). How do you handle feeding? Do you walk them both at the same time? Do they share bones/toys? Where do the sleep? (our current baby sleeps on our bed) How should we introduce them? - Feeding: Bowie (our first dog- 3yrs old) eats in the kitchen. Addie (new one- 1yr old) eats in her kennel. Both are a touch food aggressive, so we do that to prevent any issues. We don't free feed, they eat at the same times each day, any left in the bowls gets picked up. - Yup, they both get walked at the same time. If DH and I both go each of us take a dog. If it is just me (usually), I use a 2 dog leash. One leash that separates out to 2. They walk wonderfully on it. - They share toys, Addie tends to want whatever Bowie has. Unless it is an antler, Bowie shares easily. We don't have many bones due to an issue with a dog that we used to have (he passed). If I give bully sticks Addie gets put in her cage so they can eat them in peace. Otherwise they go to their own beds to eat treats. - Bowie sleeps with us, Addie in her cage. We tried one time to let them both sleep with us, Bowie was NOT amused and quickly kicked her out of bed. She also loves to rip apart paper, toilet paper, etc when she is left to her own devices, so until she outgrows that we will be in her cage at night. *ETA- Addie and our 3 year old have a very special relationship. He calls her his "best girl"  So I have a feeling that she will be sleeping with him when the time comes. - We introduced them away from the house. DH had Bowie, I had Addie, and we let them sniff and check each other out on the sidewalk. Then we went for a long walk, talking turns letting the dogs lead. This way butts could be sniffed without pissing off the other dog lol Then we let them loose in the backyard. They were BFFs from that point on! |
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Post by 950nancy on Dec 4, 2020 17:35:35 GMT
My best tip (from someone who has always had two dogs) is to make the dog who has lived in the house the longest the top dog. When we enter the house, the puppy is generally the most obnoxious but gets pet second. Always pet the old pup first. Old pet always get first choice of a lap if they want it at the same time. Old pup get his bowl set down first. Treats first, leashed first, etc. It establishes the old dog as top of the pack dog and dogs have a pack mentality. It can be hard to do when the new pup is so cute and new, but the old pup needs to know he is still important to you.
We always introduced the pups outside for a few minutes and then come inside. Making sure the new pup has been walked or exercised first might also help reduce some of the energy. We feed and walk at the same time. We have herding dogs who need walks so we'd be outside forever if we walked them separately. Ours walk well together and we have a dual dog leash. We let choose where they want to sleep.
The dogs will figure out most of the little things on their own. The important thing is to make sure old dog doesn't feel replaced.
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Post by sabrinae on Dec 4, 2020 18:23:59 GMT
I’ll second most of the advice. Definitely introduce outside on a walk. I will say take a look at personalities because older dog may not be comfortable being alpha dog. They will usually work that out without too much interference. It did work out for us that the puppy deferred to the older dog and even now a year later will wait for the older dog to eat before going to eat himself. With two females it may be a bit more challenging and you may have a bit more wrangling for alpha dog. Make/female pairings tend to be a bit more relaxed with each other. I also wouldn’t leave them home along by themselves without crating at least one if not both for a while. I had a friend come home to a blood bath when the dogs had an alpha challenge while they were gone — it had been several months since they brought the new dog home and the dogs had been fine. Fortunately both dogs were ok though one lost an eye.
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carhoch
Pearl Clutcher
Be yourself everybody else is already taken
Posts: 2,992
Location: We’re RV’s so It change all the time .
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Post by carhoch on Dec 4, 2020 18:30:46 GMT
The first time I had two dogs was by accident we found a puppy and we have always had two dogs sense , we like it so much better .
They keep each other company ,they play together it’s great.
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momto4kiddos
Drama Llama
Posts: 5,151
Jun 26, 2014 11:45:15 GMT
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Post by momto4kiddos on Dec 5, 2020 1:19:27 GMT
I've heard that it's best to introduce them somewhere other than your home. We have two, we got the 2nd as a puppy when our older one was 2. They were introduced when we picked up the puppy.
The older/female will put him in his place if he tries to touch her food. He figured out pretty quickly he shouldn't bother. They're fed together about 6 ft apart in different spots in the kitchen. They know which spot is there spot. Toys are shared, the male is a little bigger and steals whatever she has. She doesn't seem to care.
They're both crate trained so that is where they sleep. If the new dog was crate trained at any point it might be best to have her sleep there until things are more settled in the household.
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Post by simplyparticular on Dec 5, 2020 3:16:13 GMT
Lots of good tips here, my only addition is to take cues from your older dog.We tested two possible rescue dogs with our 8 year old lab GSD mix this summer. A younger female lab-boxer mix, and a male hound. She didn’t react well. Both made her anxiety ramp up, tail tucked with the boxer, and very territorial of us with the hound (who was very demanding of affection from everyone around).
In consultation with out vet, we’ll accepted we”ll probably remain a one dog family. Her insecurities in her second home aren’t worth upsetting to that degree.
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Post by buddysmom on Dec 5, 2020 4:02:59 GMT
We added a second dog several times but it was a pup, not an older dog.
Each time the older dog (and the pup) were thrilled and were best friends within five seconds-no special introductions, etc.
But they were all males, more easy-going.
We currently have one female lab; she's 11 and probably would not take well to a younger dog-but she's a drama queen anyway. From my experience females (both dogs and cats) are more difficult to introduce to new ones.
When we had two dogs we always walked them separately. They were too big and strong (Golden, Boxer, Lab); there would be 200 lbs of dog taking "me" for a walk.
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Post by its me mg on Dec 5, 2020 6:00:20 GMT
We are very strongly considering adding a second chocolate lab to our home. If we get the one we want, she is two years old. We already have a 6 year old female. I have never had two dogs at the same time before and I am hoping to get some tips from veteran multiple dog owners. How do you handle feeding? My girls were fed seperately until they got used to each other. I had two chocolate labs. Do you walk them both at the same time? Yep. Do they share bones/toys? Isn't that the fun part of having a brother or sister? someone to share toys with!? Where do the sleep? (our current baby sleeps on our bed) on top of each other, usually. little one was usually curled up and touching the big one in some way. How should we introduce them? Ours was a pup, so we just took the big one with us to meet her and see how she reacted. She was mellow so we decided to take the pup. Anything else I have not considered? It's like having children -- the first one you freak out, you follow the books, you look up the milestones and odd things that happen to them. Second one comes along and all is fair in love and war. The little one has the big one to look up to and model themselves after, so it was really no big deal, besides the fact one was a puppy and got into puppy things. TIA! |
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dogbyte
Full Member
Posts: 117
Feb 23, 2018 3:45:52 GMT
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Post by dogbyte on Dec 6, 2020 0:23:30 GMT
I am on my 8th & 9th dogs. I still go to Leesburg.com frequently. Tons of free reads and videos. Not just for those of us with working breeds.
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Post by crittsmom on Dec 6, 2020 6:36:17 GMT
Yes, introduce on neutral territory. Most of all don’t give up and give it a couple of weeks. Ours are the best of friends now.
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So I have a feeling that she will be sleeping with him when the time comes. 
