one or two dogs

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frankie7

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we are looking to get a dog (s) in the future (with the next bigger house) and wondered if it was best to get two so they always had company and is there a reason why people say not to get litter mates? does this make a difference to having 2 unrelated dogs?

thanks for your help
 
Two from the same litter will be a handfull and some say they wont bond to you as well as they will look to each other not you.
IMO dog's are better for some dog company, but personally I would get one, get the basics sorted then get the second when first is onw or two years old.
Good luck
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Depends upon experience/first time owner......If so its best to take your time......esp with puppies......There is so much to learn and 2 will mean 2xs the problems........read through some of the other puppy posts to see the more common problems for those less familiar with puppy training i.e house training/crate training/general behaviour.
Re litter mates........I am not familiar with the problems with litter mates.......never come across it.......we currently have 2 rescue colli litter mates.........actually 2 sets collis and shepherds(in my photo bucket piccies) and they are inseperable and get on great
............this does not mean to say others have not probs.... experienced probs!!!! I have just never experienced this.
GOOD LUCK hope u find a suitable doggi/doggies
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I personally would never have 2 young puppies at the same time and certainly not from the same litter. I always have 3 dogs - I like that number.....but they always have a few years difference in age.
 
I have friends who have had puppies from the same litter together with no probs, but they have needed a very firm hand. They also made sure that they did things seperately with them from day one eg, trips to the vet, some walks apart etc in fact I think they may have gone to training classes apart too.
Personally I would have one first and get the first year or so out of the way before thinking about getting a second.
I have two dogs at the mo (but working on the third hehe) but I had one on her own for 4 years beofre I had Harvey the springer then sadly lost my old girl and had Finny the greyhound a week later.
Good luck and keep us updated!!
 
I had one dog for the last 6 years but got another puppy about 2 months ago. My puppy is actually my dog's neice (i.e. my dog's full sister and litter mate had a litter herself and my puppy is one of those).

I've found having 2 dogs much easier than one although the pup hasn't bonded to me as much as my older dog did... she is mostly bonded to the older dog. When I got my first puppy it was mega hard work but with the second it has been easier because I can just call the older (trained) dog and the puppy will come with her so it has been a really easy job to get the pup understanding what living in my pack means
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I wouldn't get two pups at once though because I think that would be SUCH hard work and it would be difficult to train them together. I really like the fact that my dogs are related and I swear they know that they are 'family' but having an adult 'trained' dog to support the pup has made all the difference.

Having 2 dogs is also much less pressure as I don't feel so bad when I go to work and leave them as they have each other for company. I also used to take my adult dog EVERYWHERE with me so she would't be on her own which was kinda restrictive - I rarely went shopping or anything cos she wasn't allowed in the shops. Now I can leave the two dogs together and i know they are fine. Plus they LOVE playing with each other and it has really livened my older dog up! 2 dogs is much nicer than one IMO but I would not want two puppies together!
 
Hee hee, 2's not bad from my point of view but there are 10 in my house and 3 are mine
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Re the litter mates, it's not so much a problem in the fact that they have eachother and are still wonderful, it's just such hard work. You have two sets of house training and two sets of obedience training and two dogs who's bond is better with eachother than with you lol.

We had 2 from the same litter, a dog and a bitch, we didn't actually mean to keep the dog too but he was the runt and we all fell for him. They were great but we couldn't walk them together, they effectively listen to eachother and not us and both were well trained. One would run on a walk and the other follow. I know it can be the same with 2 dogs even not in the same litter - we have 2 like that as well lol, but it seems to be worse with litter mates.

It's entirely up to you, I know people who will have two from the same litter and people who have two puppies within short spaces of time. If you think you can cope go for it.
 
We had two puppies from the same litter, they did take a little longer to train but ended up being very good lovely dogs. The only real down side was that when we had them pts they both went together and that was heartbreaking. We now have one but are thinking of getting another this year so that there will be a 3 year age gap.
 
thanks for all your comments guys, there is still a fair bit of time to go before we get one / any, mainly worried about leaving the dog on its own, and as there are 2 of us we would sort of have one each like the cats, its really obvious which one mine and which one is his!
 
Just a thought......
Have you considered going for an older rescue dog or two.
It may even be possible to find two young dogs who need to go together.
Greyhounds make wonderful pets...hint, hint!!! :O)
 
We had just one dog for 4 years, then we got a puppy and then 3 yrs later we got a resuce foxhound. Having 2 young dogs at the same time would be a lot of hard work especially if they would be your first dogs. Some dogs are very happy on their own and I think our first dog was happy being an only dog, but over time he adjusted to the puppy and now he enjoys being part of a pack so to speak. When you have more than one they certainly don't rely on people as much and they seem more secure in themselves.
 
I think that provided you know that it will be harder having 2 puppies and training may take a little longer then I dont see why you cant get two.

I was going to get 2 GSD puppies from the same litter last year and had prepared by reading up as much as possible and was willing to spend time with them seperatly for training (ie work with one in the garden while the other was in her crate) and taking them on seperate walks each day.

Sadly I was rushed to hospital the weekend I was going to pick them up and was poorly for a long time afterwards so I asked they was rehomed by the breeder. Was absolutly gutted about it. Still I'm on the look out again for a dog or two now.
 
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