[stephanieb96]

Hi everyone! I'm an owner to a 2 year old labrador. He is really small for being a labrador but he is a happy and healthy dog. He loves all dogs and people in every sizds and hr has been very gentle to my bunny. I've been searching about this topic all over the Internet but I have only found about mixing 2 sizes. I want to know if a toy/mini poodle could play and cuddle with an older labrador. I wish to buy a female toy poodle (and spay the male). I want a dog that likes to cuddle, do any of you have a female dog that is like that? What do you think about having these two sized dogs? Will their walk (pee)-schedule be similar? Do any of you have a small poodle, how is it? Should I wait more than 8 weeks to bring the puppy home? Tips and advices are welcomed.
Thank you for your time

 

[PoppyKenna]

I had a Lab mix (she was about 50 lbs) and brought home a tiny little terrier mix. My terrier was about 4 lbs when I brought her home and she grew to her current size of about 12ish. My Lab was very gentle, like yours, and they were the best of friends until my Lab passed away last year. Holly (Lab) was just really, really awesome at knowing exactly how Sophie preferred to play, and never overdoing it.

I don't think it's an issue mixing sizes as long as the larger dog isn't aggressive or prey driven. It doesn't sound like your boy is, so you should be fine.

Potty schedules will probably be similar eventually, but of course a puppy will have to go out far more frequently and sometimes in smaller breeds that stage of needing to go out constantly can last longer (not always, but it happens).

As far as age, I wouldn't bring home any earlier than 8 weeks. Many breeders keep toy puppies longer so they can keep an eye out for hypoglycemia, but as long as your breeder is aware and you're able to watch for it yourself it shouldn't be an issue.

Your boy is very handsome, by the way! He has the kind, wise eyes that remind me of my Holly.

 

[stephanieb96]

Hi! Thank you for your answer! I'm so sorry for your loss
what do you think about the gender difference then? A big male and a small female? (He doesn't hump on anything.. yet atleast!). And how did you introduce them to one another? Thank you!

 

[PoppyKenna]

I don't think the gender would matter too much. The only thing I've heard as a caution regarding gender was having multiple females, but I had three females at one time (two spayed, one not) and never had a problem.

Most of the time humping is overexcitement, especially if the dogs are altered, so gender doesn't really matter (females do it too) and it's pretty easy to just remove the dog from the situation for a few minutes to calm down.

For introductions, I honestly just brought my new pup right into the house. The dogs sniffed each other; my Lab was the most interested and they bonded really quickly. I never even considered the need to do careful introductions with dog-friendly dogs and a *puppy* until I brought my Cocker mix pup home and he had some major problems with my current dogs -- but he has some behavioral challenges anyway; as long as you don't overwhelm the pup most would do just fine.

A good way to start intros would be outside, or even behind a barrier like a baby gate. If the pup is tiny, sometimes you can just hold and let the dogs sniff each other. Play it by ear, as it were. With your friendly, dog-savvy Lab and a reasonably well-bred and well-socialized Poodle puppy, you'll probably be just fine no matter what as long as you take it slowly and watch for signs of stress (yawning, shaking, whale-eye, excessive lip licking, etc.)


Oh, and of course when you get your puppy you'll have to come here and post pictures! Poodle puppies are soooooo cute.

 

[stephanieb96]

Haha you're so cute ! Yes I'll come back with pictures but it will take a little while, I want to have everything ready for when it arrives. One last thing (for now hehe), I'm a little worried for the times they will have to be alone for an hour or something later on. If my bigger dog Courage gets a little clumsy while playtime and hurts her.... but at the same time I don't want her to be in a crate during that time either. How did you do?
Thank you so much!!!

 

[Hannahspups]

If you're worried about her getting hurt, for a while you can put a baby gate up and keep her in the laundry room or wherever. That way she's not in a kennel and they can still see, smell each other your lab is so adorable

 

[mathilda]

make sure you either separate the dogs during heat or think of castrate one of them.
with such a big size difference, mating can be very dangerous for the small dog lady.

Or you chose a second male.
A lot of male dogs get along pretty fine, I can't say that all the time about 2 female dogs.

 

[FourFurryPaws]

I would supervise them at first, just to make sure they are ok! We have like a 95 lb Lab, and a 30 lb lab/dachshund mix. He is very happy and hyper, but she dodges him like a pro when he jumps from excitement. He did mount her when they first met (they are both neutered/spayed), but she just growled and ran off. I'd leave the mounting alone unless he just won't stop or it turns into a fight or something. But if your dog is gentle, I wouldn't worry too much.

The male/female thing is good actually. I haven't seen it, but before I was born my parents had two female dogs. They fought really bad and one had to be given away because they would seriously hurt each other and anybody who tried stopping them. I don't know a thing about male/male dogs, although I hear they won't fight nearly so bad. Male/female, peaceful in my experience!

Anyway, figure out your new dog's personality then it should fall into place. Our smaller dog is a total inside dog, coach-potato expert. The lab, is a athletic, play-wth-me machine. They are total opposites, but we make it work You can too!

 

[stephanieb96]

Great! Now I'm really existed, thank you guys! My dog is the same as yours but he tries to be gentle haha.. yes I will talk to the breeder and tell her I want a cuddle buddy k_hand:

 

[Naira]

I recommend joining poodleforum.com.

 

[annageckos]

Not anywhere near the size your looking at but my 'small' dog is a 47ish pound basset hound and I brought home a great dane puppy. Which is also kinda opposite of what your looking at doing. But my dane is very gentle with smaller dogs and other animals too. She will lay on the ground to play with them. Once she was playing nicely with an eight week old Shiba Inu puppy. It was very cute. So it is possible for a larger dog to play nicely with a smaller dog. And your lab is a bit older so not as rambunctious as my dane 'puppy'. It did take some time for everyone to settle in together and learn what was ok and what wasn't. I will still sometimes separate them with baby gates mostly when the dane is in one of her crazy zoomies moods. Or when my lab/pointer doesn't want to deal with her.
Opposite genders are always good, but not always necessary. I have two males and a female. Some breeds and individual dogs can be more prone to same sex aggression. My GSD that passed last year wasn't fond of most other female dogs. But if you do have opposite genders you really should get at least one fixed. I'd go with spaying the female unless you plan on breeding. That way you don't have to worry about accidental pregnancies or pyometra. I went through one heat with my dane and it's stressful. And my basset is intact. Luckily he never once showed any interest in her or her towards him. But I had to keep an eye on at least one of them at all times. So if no one was around I had to take one into the bathroom with me and have one locked up at night. She'll be spayed in a couple months, but I wanted her to have most her growing done before spaying her.

 

[stephanieb96]

Thank you!!!!!!!!! :grinning: if you have more advice please come back and write them. Have a great week

 

[Lab]

We have a three year old black Labrador, and are trying to decide whether to get a new puppy or not. Our current one is very laid back, he will sit where he wants and do as he wants. He loves meeting other dogs on walks but we do not know if he would like another dog in the house as he is used to being the centre of attention.
Any advice? How did yours get on?