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How soon to get 2nd puppy?

1317 Views 5 Replies 6 Participants Last post by  Larkspur
A little background: in August 2015 my girlfriend and I brought home our first puppy, a wonderful dachshund. She was the perfect puppy, but after about 6-7 weeks she sadly got off leash during a walk, was hit by a car, and is no longer with us.

We still miss our first puppy dearly but decided to jump back in. The same breeder had another litter born (same father and the aunt of our first puppy) the end of October and we brought home an 8 week old dachshund puppy the end of December 2015. So far we couldn't have asked for a better experience with this puppy: she's loving and playful, independent, she sleeps through the night, is crate-trained, is potty-trained, and is doing great in her training classes. She loves other dogs, though is still a little cautious of other people.

Now for the question...
We've become very close to this breeder over the last few months, and she just had her FINAL litter so we are considering a 2nd puppy. It's the same father and mother as the first puppy that is no longer with us, so there is some added sentiment there. Our current puppy would be 5 months old at the time the 2nd puppy would be ready to come home.

Any thoughts and suggestions on whether this is a good/bad idea??

We understand it would be a lot of work, but like the idea of the two puppies growing up together.
A big concern I've read about is that the two puppies bond too closely with each other. They would sleep in their own crates, and attend training classes separately, but other than that they will be together most of the day.
My girlfriend works at a CrossFit gym and is able to bring our current (and maybe future) puppy to work with her. The dog stays in her crate under the desk while classes are going. And gets to play with the owners dogs in the afternoon.

Any suggestions you can offer will be greatly appreciated!
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A little background: in August 2015 my girlfriend and I brought home our first puppy, a wonderful dachshund. She was the perfect puppy, but after about 6-7 weeks she sadly got off leash during a walk, was hit by a car, and is no longer with us.

We still miss our first puppy dearly but decided to jump back in. The same breeder had another litter born (same father and the aunt of our first puppy) the end of October and we brought home an 8 week old dachshund puppy the end of December 2015. So far we couldn't have asked for a better experience with this puppy: she's loving and playful, independent, she sleeps through the night, is crate-trained, is potty-trained, and is doing great in her training classes. She loves other dogs, though is still a little cautious of other people.

Now for the question...
We've become very close to this breeder over the last few months, and she just had her FINAL litter so we are considering a 2nd puppy. It's the same father and mother as the first puppy that is no longer with us, so there is some added sentiment there. Our current puppy would be 5 months old at the time the 2nd puppy would be ready to come home.

Any thoughts and suggestions on whether this is a good/bad idea??

We understand it would be a lot of work, but like the idea of the two puppies growing up together.
A big concern I've read about is that the two puppies bond too closely with each other. They would sleep in their own crates, and attend training classes separately, but other than that they will be together most of the day.
My girlfriend works at a CrossFit gym and is able to bring our current (and maybe future) puppy to work with her. The dog stays in her crate under the desk while classes are going. And gets to play with the owners dogs in the afternoon.

Any suggestions you can offer will be greatly appreciated!
Other than it being double the potty training etc. I would just say make sure you have enough time to spend with both. I do think puppies bond closer with each other when they are at a young age, but there is pros and cons to that.

We have littermate labradors and I can tell you they pick up behaviors from each other, bad and good behaviors. We wouldn't have it any other way, but it's not for everyone. If you think its something you can handle, then I'd say go for it.
I don't know what it is about Doxies. They're just one of those potato chip breeds. I have done this with Doxie puppies, and I know/know of several other people who have as well.

That being said...I would advise against it. Though I loved Barney (our second Doxie), he was a bit of a nightmare, and if I could redo it I would probably have returned him to the breeder. Though they too had the same father, their natures were like night and day. Teckel was the sweetest, most lovable creature ever, which is why we wanted Barney. Barney was very aggressive and though affectionate to us and close friends, just not a nice dog. Both I and another person who did almost the same thing said that the second Doxie was very hard to housetrain, and in fact undid a lot of the housetraining of the other dog. They are also a difficult to housetrain dog so that can compound it. On top of that, they have a tendency to be dog reactive (though that can def be helped with early socialization), and then when they're together as a pack, they will often fuel reactivity in each other. Their bonds can also cause problems down the line. Barney was absolutely beside himself and had to put put on Prozac when Teckel died. It was the first time in his entire life he was alone, and since he was dog reactive he couldn't make a new friend. He was a bit of a basket case for the almost two more years that he lived, and he was crazy to start with.

So ultimately I would say this is generally a bad idea to get another puppy so fast. Doxies are like potato chips, and ridiculously lovable, but I would say wait maybe a year, or at least six months. That would give you and your current puppy time to adjust and mature, as well as develop a strong human-dog bond. And if you're opened to it, there are SO many Doxies (purebreds!) of all ages, sizes and coat types in rescues. In fact one of the other people I know who did this was a co-worker at a shelter who took home a 3 month old smooth male standard and then a 5 month old smooth female mini that were surrendered to the shelter. Heck I just saw a one year old rare colored blue and tan one near me on petfinder too. And if you're ever interested in rescuing a mill dog they're a very common breed used by them.
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I think if you are willing to put in the work - go for it. We have two Borzoi puppies that are only a week apart in age - then added a third when the first two were only 8mo's old.

It is a little nutty on occasion but I thoroughly enjoy the chaos.

Only you can decide what will work for you!
A little background: in August 2015 my girlfriend and I brought home our first puppy, a wonderful dachshund. She was the perfect puppy, but after about 6-7 weeks she sadly got off leash during a walk, was hit by a car, and is no longer with us.

We still miss our first puppy dearly but decided to jump back in. The same breeder had another litter born (same father and the aunt of our first puppy) the end of October and we brought home an 8 week old dachshund puppy the end of December 2015. So far we couldn't have asked for a better experience with this puppy: she's loving and playful, independent, she sleeps through the night, is crate-trained, is potty-trained, and is doing great in her training classes. She loves other dogs, though is still a little cautious of other people.

Now for the question...
We've become very close to this breeder over the last few months, and she just had her FINAL litter so we are considering a 2nd puppy. It's the same father and mother as the first puppy that is no longer with us, so there is some added sentiment there. Our current puppy would be 5 months old at the time the 2nd puppy would be ready to come home.

Any thoughts and suggestions on whether this is a good/bad idea??

We understand it would be a lot of work, but like the idea of the two puppies growing up together.
A big concern I've read about is that the two puppies bond too closely with each other. They would sleep in their own crates, and attend training classes separately, but other than that they will be together most of the day.
My girlfriend works at a CrossFit gym and is able to bring our current (and maybe future) puppy to work with her. The dog stays in her crate under the desk while classes are going. And gets to play with the owners dogs in the afternoon.

Any suggestions you can offer will be greatly appreciated!
If this breeder is a great breeder, then this breeder has worked with and possibly been a mentor to other daschund breeders. Also, if this breeder is a great breeder, then they have sold many good dogs...cousins, aunts, uncles,...to other good breeders.

Do not feel pressure to get another dog before you are ready because it is your 'last chance'. A good breeder will have a 'network' of both people and dogs they are connected to who will last after the breeder retires. In 2 or 3 years if you are ready for a dog then, reach out to this retired breeder and ask to be put in contact with people in their network.

If they don't have a network, if none of the people they interacted with went on to breed the dogs they bought, or if none of the breeders they worked with maintained communication with them, then they weren't a good breeder.

Now, if the ONLY reason you want a 2nd puppy is you think it would be good or fun to have two dogs relatively close in age, then go for it. Make sure the reason you get a pup is about YOU, not about your breeder's retirement.
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If you feel like this is what you really want, then go for it. If it doesn't work out for whatever reason, a good breeder will usually take back the pup.

I've heard of the "littermate syndrome" thing, but never looked too much into it. Maybe we got lucky or something. We adopted our boys from a rescue who had a listing on Petfinder. Their dam had been a stray and gave birth at the shelter. My brother adopted one of the pups (I was looking elsewhere for a dog) and he and my mother guilted me into getting the last sibling. We sort of did everything separately but together. Like we would train, feed, and play at the same time... but with our own exclusive dog (they had their own crates in our separate bedrooms). We never had any problems... actually, my pup Severus picked up on behaviors we didn't like and would come and alert us whenever Damian was doing something bad. We even went to the same training classes... and they both ended up as top of the class.
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