Age gap between two dogs?
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| I am eager to hear the advice from others. I will tell you that I used to have two littermates, and having two puppies, young adults, and adults growing together was fantastic. Sadly, I hadn't anticipated having two seniors at the same time. It was heart wrenching and expensive taking care of two who were fading. I vowed I would never do that again. But, apparently a vow from me means very little. Hudson will be two in two weeks and we just adopted Rudy who is between a year and a year and a half old, so there's not much age difference there either. I guess we'll be in for the same bumpy ride. I don't know what the best spread is from a behaviour point of view, but if you are able to spread their ages by at least a few years (or expected life spans if you're mixing sizes) you can probably focus on the needs of one senior at a time. I'm really interested to see what others have to say about the best age gaps. |
| I personally like whenever one dog has calmed down from that puppy stage and knows all its basic commands. That way you can concentrate on the second dog. When we added Yuki, our maltese was an "adult" so it was so easy to concentrate on the dog that needed the most attn. Same with adding our newest. That's at least how I'd go about it again when we get our next dog. |
| Ideally, for most it works best as Jo said. Get one started and good w/ training, then get a 2nd. Too long is bad - as the one is not so young and may not really like a new pup and all the crazy behaviors. Then again, some have found it rejuvenates the older dog.... Ours never seem to come at those nice intervals (except Biscuit)  We have two distinct groups: Simon 11 Tazz 11 foster basset Harley 12 Chewie - almost 4 Riley 4 Maggie 4 and then - Biscuit 10 months  |
| Thank you Tracie, Mrs J and Got sheep for your views. I'm still hoping to find out the most appropriate age gap between two dogs. My main concern is dealing with old age problems. I want my next dog to be a sheepie and I'd like to know when would be the best time to bring the furbaby into my family. |
| I had Toby who was 11 when i brought Mitch(puppy) into the clan and i think doing that rejuvenated Toby but he was still an older dog that couldn't keep up with a pup for to long. Then when i lost Toby i waited until Mitch was 4 and brought Marley into the clan.I really liked having the 4 years between them because Mitch learnt Marls plus they played well together and they roughly had the same energy levels . Due to losing Mitch unexpectedly i find myself bringing a pup in when Marls is 4. I think even if i hadn't of lost Mitch i would of been looking for another pup either this year or next as i prefer the 4 year age gap . |
| My first 2 are 17 months apart in age & that was pretty good when Melody hit 11 years a few years ago. Now Mariah is going to be 10 & Isaac is going to be 12 & that's still pretty good as everyone is getting around pretty good except for the dumb happenings like cracked teeth, injured knees trying to plow thru deep snow etc. José is 5 years younger than Mariah but he keeps Mariah very active & he keeps his dad moving too although his reflexes aren't quite as good as his son's. I definitely wouldn't recommend any closer than the 17 monhts. The first thing you think about when that one starts to ail & go down hill is "Gee, I'm gonna be going thru this again in about another year" and that isn't necessarily so. Bad mind set. No perfect age gap necessarily. I guess it depends on the needs of your dogs. Obviously José's next companion is going to be more than 5 years younger than him since he's already passed that mark. |
| I'd think of two things: first, are you happy with the current training/behavior level of your current dog? Because it's always nice to have a role model for the new guy and, even more so, not have to chase two crazy dogs around! Second, and I wish I had thought better of this, dogs close to the same age will likely start to deteriorate at the same time, which would be both difficult to deal with (as in watching your buddies suffer) and more of a financial strain as well. Seeing how well my 5 year old and almost 2 year old get on, I wouldn't hesitate to have an age gap like that again. The one thing that would keep that from happening is my own impatience to have more dogs around! |
| When Asterisk was close to a year, I had considered getting another OES. She really enjoyed playing with other dogs and seemed to be really lonely during the day. Also, I just think I was ready for another one, too. We adopted Wendel just after Asterisk turned a year old. Wendel came from my breeder as a would-be, yet unable to be, stud dog. He was 3.5 years old. It was really a great decision on our part. Asterisk is still very puppy, but Wendel is just very, very mellow. So the gap in age of our dogs is 2 years. For our family, we have a great counter-balance with their personalities. |
| The ages of mine are : Pearl, 14 years Coz, 6 years and Heart 2 years. I like this because, like the previous posters, Pearl was settled and older when we got Coz, and the play seemed to get Pearl active and rejuvinated. Then when Heart came, Coz was able to keep her occupied (and pretty much leave Pearl alone, unless Pearl initiated play). These age differences have really worked for us. I have also found that older dog(s) will 'teach' the younger ones proper behaviour in THEIR home. I feel that Heart was quickly potty trained ~1/2 from the breeder...1/2 from the other dogs in the house. BUT there is a down side~~~ Coz has taught Heart to steal shoes and there are times when they are partners in crime....  |
| I have given a lot of thought to this lately--Baley is 8 and Baxter is 5-I am seriously considering adding a new pup within the next year. It seems to me that now is the time to bring a new baby into our home. I have been very fortunate that both my boys are in good health and love each other dearly. I am afraid that if I wait until Baley is too much older the age gap could be too much. It seems that the time really flies by quickly-Hopefully a new puppy will fit in nicely with these guys. |
| I am not one to give advice because I always have fosters of different ages and some dogs just come intoour lives and stay:) I think the advice given is when you are happy with the level your dog is on. House broke ,able to leave have full run of the house and reasonable obedience trained. My dogs except all ages and sizes of dogs but my old man lab now grumps when a puppy lands on his head (and rightly so we respect his space) Jack blk lab 12 Bruiser GSD 11 Guinness OES 4 Molly OES 3 Zeke dobie mix 1.5? foster so we have a house like dawn |
| Vidhya-This is such a great post! I also am thinking of adding an OES puppy to our family. Daph will turn 5 in a couple of weeks so I'm thinking it will be a good age gap. I'm just a little worried about Daphne not welcoming a new baby that would take away some of her attention. She gets a little jealous of the kitties sometimes but does love other dogs in general. I have been told she might accept a male puppy better than a female. I would prefer another girl because I know that I would be putting bows and tiaras even on a boy if I had one! I just can't help myself! |
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