Two dogs or three?

Pearlsasinger

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In sorry you lost your rottweiler at 6, that's very young.

We do need pictures of your puppies though please!


I know, I know but my IT skills are out of the Ark:(:D

ETA, the reason that we have Lab pups is that the Rott was so young, she had splenetic cancer which had spread before any-one knew about it and we also lost the rescue Rott to cancer aged 8. Apparently they are very prone to cancer of the spleen. I just didn't feel that I could face losing one so young again, so we went back to Labs, we have kept them until 15 in the past and have only lost one as a youngster, out of many.




OP, we have introduced many pups to older dogs, we have always found that they defer to the older dogs, so if your 2 are not possessive about toys/food, I would expect the youngest one to take a lead from them.
 
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Clodagh

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Cons so far I can think of are more hair, I’m already covered so don’t think that would matter.

Squabbling and arguing, mine don’t fight over food or toys so not sure how it would go if number 3 was possessive.

The practicalities if walking 3 dogs that weigh more than me. Headcollars/training should solve that problem. I’ve never even been close to being towed with the ones I have at present.

I haven’t posted any photos of them no! They are the fluffy non working kind 😄

I can't tell if there is more hair, except Ffee is the palest so I suppose it shows up more on my uniform! I was already awash with fluff bunnies. :)
We never leave three shut in together, if we aren't with them Tawny and Brandy are seperate and the two young ones together. If Pen (2nd youngest) has been working she goes in with Brandy so she gets peace and quiet, also overnight..
 

Sprout

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Until recently, I had 3, an elderly and very well behaved Border Collie, and 2 young Great Swiss Mountain dogs, all bitches.
I loved having 3, the Collie was boss and the others respected her and followed her example ..... she basically taught them recall!
If I wanted to do training with one of the Swissies, the other had company.
I was lucky, it just really worked ...... I think it all depends on the individual characters.
 

BallyJ

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I'm following with interest! We have a 6 month old Lab and a Terrier who isn't into playing so i'm wondering (NOT YET) for reasons similar to yours if maybe a pretty black lab added to the pack might be good!

Equally worried the two younger ones would gang up on the terrier and she'd pack up and leave!
 

Clodagh

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Equally worried the two younger ones would gang up on the terrier and she'd pack up and leave!

Before Ffee (pup) Pen (next youngest) used to mount a lot of 'Hambushes' on the older two on walks. (Anyone read Little Grey Rabbit and the Weasels!?). They hated it. Now her and Ffee just torment each other and the older two can do their own thing.
 

BallyJ

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Before Ffee (pup) Pen (next youngest) used to mount a lot of 'Hambushes' on the older two on walks. (Anyone read Little Grey Rabbit and the Weasels!?). They hated it. Now her and Ffee just torment each other and the older two can do their own thing.


Willow does alot of bum in the air tail wagging then jump ons!

The issue is the 6kg terrier with early onset Arthritis cant take 18kg of puppy on her, equally when willow tries to squeeze underneath and ends up lifting her head sending the terrier flying shes not so keen! Think we need a bigger house to accommodate a larger pack! and i need to show the OH this thread to help my cause :D
 

Blanche

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When I went from two to three I had no problems at all. The newbie was a pup and just slotted in with the other two. He copied everything they did and was just fine. They were all male, two older ones were neutered. Having three meant they always had company if I needed to take one to the vets or give one some training/ one on one time. Three is easier than two imho.
 

Moobli

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Cons so far I can think of are more hair, I’m already covered so don’t think that would matter.

Squabbling and arguing, mine don’t fight over food or toys so not sure how it would go if number 3 was possessive.

The practicalities if walking 3 dogs that weigh more than me. Headcollars/training should solve that problem. I’ve never even been close to being towed with the ones I have at present.

I haven’t posted any photos of them no! They are the fluffy non working kind 😄

I’d love to see them. I like all types, just working lines are my personal preference for my lifestyle 😁

Possessiveness is relatively easily managed in that if any new dog you got was possessive then you’d not leave toys lying around and feed separately. Mine share toys and are fine with low value food but Strike is possessive over high value such as his raw meals and bones. He was worse with my older dogs but is being very tolerant with the pup but I do feed them separately and keep an eye on them.

Not sure one more would create much more hair, although don’t hold me to that 😂

And if your current two walk well on the lead then there’s no reason why you can’t train a third likewise.

Would you go for a dog or bitch?
 

{97702}

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I walk 120kg combined weight of dogs every day.... it’s really not a problem, the only one who wears a halti is Georges because of his partially collapsed trachea. Just train them to walk on a lead nicely 😊😊
 

littlen

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I can’t decide between a dog or bitch?

I think most likely a dog would be easier as bitches tend to fight more don’t they?
My bitch is easy going but feistier than the male. He’s quite happy to back down if she takes toys etc from him but then I think he is the overall calm influence of the two.
 

{97702}

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I'm following with interest! We have a 6 month old Lab and a Terrier who isn't into playing so i'm wondering (NOT YET) for reasons similar to yours if maybe a pretty black lab added to the pack might be good!

Equally worried the two younger ones would gang up on the terrier and she'd pack up and leave!

Be careful what you wish for 😂

I added a greyhound dog to play with my little lurcher bitch because the oldies wouldn’t play with her.... greyhound dog was frightened of lurcher bitch and also wouldn’t play with her 🙄

So I added a second greyhound dog who WILL play with lurcher bitch - hurray!!!

Except I hadn’t really thought through a 5 1/2 stone greyhound and a truly mad little lurcher playing endlessly in my not-very-large bungalow and back garden.... 😳😳😳 😂😂😂
 

Moobli

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I can’t decide between a dog or bitch?

I think most likely a dog would be easier as bitches tend to fight more don’t they?
My bitch is easy going but feistier than the male. He’s quite happy to back down if she takes toys etc from him but then I think he is the overall calm influence of the two.

I think so much depends on personality but it is the case that if bitches take a dislike to one another then there can be constant trouble. In your situation I’d opt for a dog.
 

Chiffy

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I have had bitches all my life, two, three or four and often have my daughter’s two to stay.
Never had any issues with any of them, no arguing or possessiveness. All sleep together in a dog room at night, never a peep out of them. I have a large crate for any pup or rescue youngster that joins us but they quickly integrate.
It may help that I have a very sociable, friendly breed in Flatcoated retrievers but our lurchers have been the same. There is a lurcher, a rescue and a mini dachshund in the mix at the moment.
 

Goldenstar

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I have lived with up to ten but my choice is three a young one a middle one and a old one that way no one gets left alone .
We are now going down to two as we are retired and travelling and staying places is just easier with two .
 

Pearlsasinger

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I can’t decide between a dog or bitch?

I think most likely a dog would be easier as bitches tend to fight more don’t they?
My bitch is easy going but feistier than the male. He’s quite happy to back down if she takes toys etc from him but then I think he is the overall calm influence of the two.


We have bitches currently and have done so for the last 25 years but as a family have also had dogs and bitches together, never just dogs together. We have never had a problem with bitches fighting.
 

dogatemysalad

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I've noticed that a lot of camp sites and cottages restrict the number of dogs to two, so adding a third dog would restrict our choices when we go away on hiking trips.
 

dree

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We have 4 collies at the moment, with hopefully a pup coming at the end of the year. As we do obedience as our chosen sport, we don't have any problems with the dogs being together or going out together. To start with, the pup is kept on it's own so that puppy training is not a problem. I train as often as poss....get a cup of coffee and train. I train about 6 - 12 times per day...short and sweet.

We have had five dogs previously. No problems.
 

Parrotperson

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I’ve got 4 1/4 dogs at the moment - 3 dogs, 2 bitches. The dogs are far easier than the bitches, and to be honest I doubt I’d ever choose to have a bitch again now! Might have a single one, as mine are all neutered, but they are far worse than dogs IMO for not getting on.

Going from 2 to 3 made no difference at all, my only concern was whether they would fight as I had two bitches and added another one! Then I added a fourth - still no difference, he was a boy so apart from being outnumbered he was incredibly easy and fitted in brilliantly!

All change over the years as I lost my oldies one by one 😢😢😢 so lost 2 bitches and a dog and gained a bitch and 2 dogs.... and then Georges came alone who is the 1/4 😊😊😊
poor George! only a 1/4 of a dog 😂😂
 

BMWKIPP

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I've now got 5, I had 2 then went to 3 and that was no different. Elvis instantly got on with Kody, Minnie wasn't interested really, now a year on they are friends too. Pixie and Pip are the same age and joined the family together. Again no problem intergrating them to the older 3. The only thing I do is exercise them separately. The pups got out for 2 twenty minute walks a day. The others come to the yard with me. All of them are small dogs. 3 are Mini Poodle x Yorkie, 1 Bichon x Shih Tzu, 1 Mini Poodle x Scottie. All are rescue/rehomes
 

deb_l222

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This is what happens when you go from two to three, they just morph into one big canine snake creature and take over the world :)

I go away with the caravan and I'm not restricted on number of dogs but a lot of holiday cottages do have restrictions on two dogs only, so if you go away you need to take that into consideration.

No real change for me from two to three, other than there's an imbalance when walking. It's better with two or four. Bit like shopping bags :p

JSqHBwE.jpg
 

eatmyshorts

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We've currently got 6 (2 neutered dogs, 1 entire dog, 2 speyed bitches, 1 entire bitch - so a fair mix). I felt the jump from 2 to 3 the biggest - mainly cos you've run out of hands. After that, you are just evening things up, & then losing count! I always find dogs easier to deal with than bitches, far less complicated. We tend not to walk all 6 at once as it's a bit mad, but only because we have 2 trouble makers! We can walk the 4 easy ones together no problem, but add the Alaskan husky or GSD/Doberman mix in & the peace goes out of the window! Pretty calm in the house - you just have to keep an eye on & control any pack dynamics.
 

The Wild Bunch

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I’ve got three, two bitches and a dog. Will probably have a fourth before the year is out. The biggest transition is one to two but after that, it’s just an extra mouth to feed! Granted, mine are all small breeds and walk well on leads and off so we don’t really know we’ve got them. The benefit of three is that if one of them is asleep, there’s still somebody to play with. The only other challenge we have is that my eldest bitch isn’t much of a walker and is happy to go round the block and then back home whereas the other two will happily walk for miles. A122DB4F-30A6-4A1A-9CB1-812EC5E48304.jpeg
 

MrsMozart

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We have three - two Rotties (male) and a GSD (female). All fine together. There's the occasional grump when one has a chew and thinks another one is coming for it, but that's just a very brief grump. They play together, sleep either on top of each other or in their favourite spots, travel together in the boot of the car (big 4x4), and can be walked together when one of the Rots isn't doing his 'Raptor impression. They run free in the field together.

I think the only drawback is three dogs and two hands - they know when they're being shortchanged on strokes! Nothing better than sitting on the floor surrounded by them.
 

planete

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You really need to assess your dogs' temperaments first. If they are laid back with other dogs coming into your home and you get a third laid-back dog, anything goes. If you have an assertive female, you need a well balanced male or a meek female. If you have an assertive male, definitely stick to females. We achieved a well balanced pack of three, then four, by collecting foster dogs who fitted in well with our first one. He got on with all the fosters but some were very hard work for him (and us) and some he just had to ignore to keep the peace. I would not have kept those permanently as it would have been very unfair on all the dogs.
 

littlen

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Thanks all.

I currently have a young female who loves to play however I would say she is bossy and sometimes goes a bit too far.
Old boy is quiet and peaceful, avoids confrontation but isn’t afraid to stand his ground when required. He will growl at her for stealing and she will get a telling off for going too far in play but then all is forgiven.

They are both happy to walk, play, sleep together although generally are a bit standoffish with strange dogs. Love dogs they know though so I don’t think introducing a puppy would be an issue.
Family member got a puppy and it stayed here for a few days, old man ignored it and young female played with it constantly which was a bit much but I would hope the novelty would wear off eventually!
 

dree

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Thanks all.

I currently have a young female who loves to play however I would say she is bossy and sometimes goes a bit too far.
Old boy is quiet and peaceful, avoids confrontation but isn’t afraid to stand his ground when required. He will growl at her for stealing and she will get a telling off for going too far in play but then all is forgiven.

They are both happy to walk, play, sleep together although generally are a bit standoffish with strange dogs. Love dogs they know though so I don’t think introducing a puppy would be an issue.
Family member got a puppy and it stayed here for a few days, old man ignored it and young female played with it constantly which was a bit much but I would hope the novelty would wear off eventually!

Just remove young female when you think it's become too much. I'm sure I don't need to remind you that play times should be short and sleeping longer with young pups.
 
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