Another Cav?

I've been contemplating getting Cosmo a brother, but not sure if I really want to or not. If I do, I'm about 99% sure that I'd get another Cav. Cosmo is now 6 1/2 months old.

Can anyone tell me the pros and cons of getting another Cav at this point?

Thanks!!

We just got Duncan a little brother and I wouldn't change it for anything. It is so wonderful watching them play together.

That said, it isn't always just double the work for us it has been exponential. One needs to potty and the other isn't interested yet, etc.

It is the best thing we ever did but also has shown us the need to be really disciplined with them, etc..

to be honest with you, I am also thinking about getting Kosmo another brother, however, I am going to wait until he's not so much of a terror to do so.

Right now Kosmo is 9 months old. He's a good dog, really, but he is definately at a teenage stage where he will need to be told to do things sometimes twice, etc, and he thinks it's fun to shred anything I leave on the floor. I wouldn't want to bring another puppy into the house right now because I want to wait until he is a little more mature and won't teach the next little guy all of his bad habits and stuff. I also don't think it's fair right now to even think about another dog because he is in such a developmental stage that he needs my full on attention all the time.

I've heard it's a good idea to wait until your puppy is at least a year to get another one.

Good luck! :flwr:

Having two is wonderful!! But....I would wait until Cosmo is at least a year old. I got Shelby when Jake was 14 months old and it worked out great. He was old enough to be through his puppyhood terrorizing and was a good big brother. Shelby really picked up on his behaviors for training which made things so much easier.

I'd echo this. My elder girl is 3 years older, and I find that's made things so much easier. Many 6 month old pups aren't even completely reliable in the house, so if you have a baby puppy piddling everywhere, it'll just make it harder for your older one. Besides, I think he still needs your one-on-one attention at this point. Once he's totally trained, you'll find he'll help with the little one, but get a baby too soon and you'll be permanently exhausted!!! I'd wait until Cosmo is a year or nearly that, and certainly until he's completely reliable. You don't want to deal with two terrors instead of one- and as arasara says, this age is the teenage stage.

Monty and Izzy are nearly two years apasrt, but Teddy is only six months older than Joly. The younger two did play together a lot and it became quite dangerous walking about at mad half hour time,a syou were likely to trip over them. Now they often curl up together, though Joly prefers Monty.

The down side was that being the same sex and age, we had some rivalry. Teddy does still bully Joly, now and then. When Teddy arrived, Joly went back on his toilet trainig.

You never can tell, as some dogs get sick, young, but you could end up with two elderly dogs, needing care at the same time.

I got Darby when Dudley was just almost 2 1/2 years old.

I would definetely wait a little longer, as you will be making more work for yourself too.

They will bond with one another regardless of the age, I thought my two were never going to get along. Dudley was so mad in the begining and would not look at us or talk to us for sometime. He is now well over that and is much more active with Darby around he has no choice.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah he also eats now, my headaches of the finicky dog are longgone.
He still likes his quiet time though.

Thank you all very much for the responses. Waiting until Cosmo is at least a year old will give more time to think about it as well.

I think the ideal time is to wait til the first dog is about 18 months minimum --even a year does not give you much time with your current dog to get through adolescence (they are not fully adult at a year) and to get well into training and all the things that will make dog #1 a good citizen. I can say from experience that it is extremely difficult to take that time after a second arrives partticularly if it is a puppy and the first dog's obedience and bonmding time will suffer as a result. A puppy is just so time consuming for the first 6 mon ths that even the best intentioned, best organised owners working as a team (if a couple) will find it very hard to give that continuing commitment to dog one. I wish I'd waited longer.

Linda said:

I got Darby when Dudley was just almost 2 1/2 years old.

I would definetely wait a little longer, as you will be making more work for yourself too.

They will bond with one another regardless of the age, I thought my two were never going to get along. Dudley was so mad in the begining and would not look at us or talk to us for sometime. He is now well over that and is much more active with Darby around he has no choice.

Aaaaaaaaaaaaaah he also eats now, my headaches of the finicky dog are longgone.
He still likes his quiet time though.

Click to expand...

Thats just how I feel - exspecially about the eating! :lol:

My first cavalier, Pippin, was such an easy puppy. He was housebroken and knew all his commands by 8 months old. So when he was 10 months old, I asked the same breeder if she had a litter coming and a litter had just been born. Merry came home 2 months later when Pippin was one year old. Pippin took to Merry right away and they have been best friends ever since. I am glad I did it.