Two puppies- is it insane?

Hello,

I've just joined having lurked about for several weeks. I'd like some straight talking advice on raising two puppies a once. Do you think its an unwise thing to do? Has anyone gone down this road and could you let me know about your experience, good or bad. I haven't commited to this yet and if I go ahead it won't happen until the end of May at the earliest. As the percentage rate of dogs killed in pounds here in the Limerick region is frightening my conscience tells me I should try to rescue ( I've downloaded Karin's adoption application form) and then maybe introduce a puppy at a later date. I'd appreciate any feedback. Many Thanks

I think it would be quite a bit harder to train and house train two pups. I was advised to space them out a bit.

Karlin explains it very well here:

http://board.cavaliertalk.com/showthread.php?t=10549

Thanks pauline,

The link was great, very informative. I guess I have alot of thinking to do! It will be alot of work, I'm very unsettled about the whole notion which isn't like me, I usually make a decision and stick to it!

I appreciate the help.

You can always wait just a year between pups. Really one pup will keep you more than happy and busy.

People have said that it's a joy to watch two puppies play together, but the danger is that they may prefer eachother's to their human's company. In the main , training two is more difficult than one eg watching two little speed machines for signs of wanting to toilet.

I had my younger two, Joly and Teddy, 6 months appart, after a gap of 2 years between Monty and Izzy. I would not choose so small a gap again, as Joly went backwards with his toilet and other training. Also, when they matured , we had some problems with rivalry, both being same sex and of similar age.

Having said this , others have found two puppies an enjoyable experience. I wouldn't have two so close again, but two adults would be a different matter and rescues do struggle more to place pairs together, som perhaps this would be a good route for you to take ?

We had two cavalier puppies at once, and we were working with a very good dog trainer while they were pups. She basically had us doing everything that was listed on the link Pauline posted. It was a huge amount of work and commitment, yet I mostly enjoyed it. All of my free time was spent on my pups - I didn't have a laptop at home or know about CavTalk then, so my time was dedicated to my cavs.

India grew up to be a therapy dog and 'cavalier ambassador' who loves everyone she meets, including other animals. Geordie grew up to be an agility dog; we attended competition level agility classes for nearly 2 years (it was a fun group) where he excelled and we did a few run thrus, but never really competed. They have always been best buds, but are not overly attached to each other. And they are very obedient and loving towards us.

If you have the time and commitment, it may be enjoyable to have two pups at once. It's a lot of work, and it helps if there are two adults to share the load.

Im raising two cavalier-pups .The older was 7 months when we got the younger one (she was 10 weeks)..To us it was no problem but of cause the older one was housetrained and had finished a puppyclass too.
To tell you the truth,it was a lot easier to housetrain number two since she seemed to learn from the older one.Also things like craddle training,sit,down and other commands have been a piece of cake to teach the wee one.
I have heard other people say too,that raising two cavaliers in the same time is not a big deal,but many other breeds can cause problems this way...
My two girls love each other but they certainly both prefer the company of me or other familymembers.(the older will cry in the window when I leave the house even though the rest of the family and her "sister" is home.)

We hava no regrets whatsoever

I should add though that both my girls are very laidback, easygoing and calm cavaliers.It might be a different story if you get 1 or 2 hyperactive pups

I think I'd recommend one at a time. For all the reasons mentioned. That being said, I had a litter of 9 puppies once. However, I wasn't really training them. I think you really need one on one to do obedience work as well (just leash manners, come, etc.). I know someone who got littermates and she said she'd never do it again.

We took two puppies from the same litter. The intention was to get just the one that we had reserved but when my husband saw the 'runt' of the litter, he fell in love with her and brought her home as well. They are now 12 months and gorgeous little darlings. We have found that while they enjoy each other's company they adore our company and constantly follow me round the house all the time waiting for an opportunity to climb into my lap. They don't like to part with any of us, and cry if anyone leaves the house.
Toilet training has not been easy, but I can't say whether it would have been easier with just the one puppy.
The two are completely different characters and that's such a joy to watch and experience. Maija is the more quiet and sensible one, whereas Hermie is such a little happy-go-lucky character and makes us laugh all the time.
Leaving them at home is easier as they have each other for company and leaving them in the kitchen for the night has never been a problem as they are not alone.
It has been a lot of work though, and still is, and training them is harder when there are two, but on the other hand they are so lovely :luv:

My experience in the years of running rescue and owning dogs is that unless you're a very experienced puppy owner, it's best to start with one. I can't count how many times I've had families turn a puppy in to rescue at 4-5 months old because they got 2 puppies, and 2 was just to much work, and generally they end up turning in the 2nd puppy not long after Now true these families may have not had the devotion to even properly raise one, but two does make life harder. On the flip side of the coin, I also find it is true that it's easier to train a puppy with a dog in the house that already has basic manners. Honestly where you're considering going the rescue route anyway, you may want to consider rescueing an adult to begin with, getting the rescue adjusted to your house and use to your rules and trained, and then in 6 months or so think about adding a puppy. Or even adopt a bonded pair through rescue! Alot of rescue dogs have their basic housetraining skills pretty well down, and I know every rescue gets bonded pairs, and it's so much better for the dogs if they don't have to split those pairs up, and it's really hard to find homes that will consider two!

Hi
We got our Poppy in the Sept of 2006, then March of 2007 Daisy came to us then in Sept 2007 Rosie came into our lives ,both Poppy and Daisy have completed the Kennel Club good puppy and good dog courses and at separate times, and Rosie has completed the puppy course and is now on week 4 of the good dog course. They all get along fine and after two good walks today they have now crashed out alongside me on the bed, I found two together not too much of a change but going from two to three was quite a bit of a challenge and as i have read so often on the forum one is just not enough but even though i had ideas of having the "Full Set" i think i will stop at three and enjoy them as well as my two house cats and the eight ferals at work which i feed seven days a week. Life would so dull without them all.

I'd advise not getting two at the same time -- instead, either a puppy or an adult, and then waiting several months if an adult (til fully trained) or if a puppy, waiting a year to 18 months for a second (adult or puppy).

It's better to have one calm, confident, housetrained, obedience trained well adjusted dog before introducing a second of anything. This really means a 12-18 month old dog for most people. I think even 12 months is still too early -- I got a second when my first was 10 months and they were both the same age and Jaspar definitely suffered as a result. He wasn't fully trained and it was just very difficult to work with two, both needing more training. At 12 months this wouldn't have been much different -- 18 months would have been better for Jaspar and for me. I do feel some of Jaspar's more annoying and demanding behaviours (I call him my ADD dog :lol: ) developed at this point -- he is very smart and can be very demanding though I love him dearly and he is closest to my heart and highly trainable. But it is hard to address the unwanted issues when you suddenly have two.

depends on your experience

my parents have 2 puppies of the same littler coz they were the only 2 puppy that the mom gave birth too. well..it was bad news for them. mom is their sweetheart but the boys are just wild. i am sure cavaliers are probably not as difficult as other breeds. but sibling bonds so fast bad habits form very easily.

Thanks to everyone who replied, I've read all the suggested links and I don't think I'm experienced enough to handle two puppies. I will be out at work for about 5 hours in the day and I had an image of two puppies keeping each other company in a cornered off part of my kitchen. I'm beginning to realise that I may have been unrealistic if not downright insane!! I was worried about leaving a puppy alone for that length of time( I will be off work and at home for the first two months, for housetraining!!)
One last thing,one website mentioned that getting two puppies to keep each other company was a ridiculous notion as puppies slept for many hours each day anyway. I didn't think this was the case, you are the experts what do you think?
Thanks again for all the comments.

Eeva said:

It has been a lot of work though, and still is, and training them is harder when there are two, but on the other hand they are so lovely :luv:

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I totally agree here! Mine are 18 months apart - Merlin was so easy to train but Oakley is not! He is getting there but he has rubbed off some bad charateristics on Merlin - like barking at other dogs across the street - Oakley seems to encourage Merlin to get into mischief

Having said that, the joy of watching them play together, run together and snuggle together makes it all worthwhile and I wouldn't have it any other way.

We got Molly at 12 weeks and then Max when he and Molly were both 16 weeks old. We were heartbroken leaving Molly alone in a kennel while we worked (they had a mid day break when my son came home from school) so we got her a friend/playmate/brother so she would not be lonely while we worked. But then we had TWO that missed us and TWO we were worried about...so I ended up quitting a dead end job to be home with them. (there were other reasons for quitting too) Yes, two puppies were a LOT of work, but not THAT much more than just one. What Karlin says is true about it being very hard to train them...working with two at once is very hard. (we had to put one in a kennel and work with the other, then switch) BUT I do NOT regret getting two puppies at once because they are bonded to each other...to us...and they are the very best of friends/siblings. They have unique personalities...exact opposites in some ways...they compliment each other. We are madly in love with them and they seem to be very happy loving little dogs. It worked for us getting two at once, but I certainly can see how waiting and spacing them would be beneficial.

Yes, puppies (and dogs!) sleep a LOT. A dog that has been gradually trained to be comfortable on its own will indeed mostly just sleep, though having some stuff around to play with/chew on is needed, too. Best approach is to get your puppy out for playtime and a good walk before work so s/he is tired, then leave in a safe confined area (a puppy pen, a kitchen area, or a crate though personally, I don't like crating dogs for long stretches) with a soft bed, toys, water. I always recommend an older puppy if someone is going to be out at work right away -- say at least 4-5 months or so. It is a lot easier for an older puppy to hold itself and therefore housetraining is easier plus the puppy is a bit more mature and self sufficient.

I'm raising 2 Cavalier boys that are brothers. They are almost 5 months right now and they are doing great. They were the only two in the litter so they have been together since the beginning so I felt horrible about splitting them up. I love having both of them and I couldn't imagine having only one. I'm a stay at home wife so they are great company to me. They are fully house trained and they sleep in the bed with me and my husband every night. They will be starting puppy class training at the end of this month so I'm excited to start that training. I'm posting this after not reading through the rest of the replies because I'm in a bit of a rush. I'll go back and read the rest when I have some free time

I've raised two puppies together... well actually three

Yes it is extra work of course, but man it is fun. To be quite honest, I think that if you get one puppy doing the right thing, the others learn & follow suit. But then, if one gets into mega-mischief, the others will probably follow suit in that too. I know lots of people worry that the puppies will bond with each other and not their humans, but this certainly has not been my experience. All of my dogs & puppies have always wanted my company first, and then if I am busy they turn to each other.

I will say this though... I think you have to be a fairly laid back & relaxed type of person. It isn't for people who freak out at a misplace piddle or poo. It isn't for people who would be infuriated at having their best shoes chewed up, or the leg of the lounge gnawed on.

If you go down that path, then I'd suggest you plan well, with baby-gates blocking carpeted areas, x-pens, some good books on raising & training puppies. It is also very helpful if your partner is interested in helping you train them. I think it would be quite a handfull trying to take two young puppies to obedience classes. I actually take two of my dogs to obedience, but one is an adult, and the other an older pup, not that really young crazy age.

It is a challenge, but for those with the stomach for it, it is a load of fun, and if you have to leave your puppies when you go out to do the grocery shopping you will know they have each other to keep company with.