What age is best to add a new puppy?

BabyBettis · #1 9th March 2006, 07:44 PM

I was curious if any of you have any thoughts on what is the best age to introduce a new puppy. We have already decide that Bettis will need a boxer fur-sibling, but I was wondering at what age he will handle it the best.

Louise501 · #2 10th March 2006, 01:11 AM

How old is Bettis? I have read posts here that people have added a puppy at all ages, Ruby will be 6 months when we bring her baby brother home

dharmadoodle · #3 10th March 2006, 03:52 AM

They say it's best when your other dog is trained & out of adolesence.

However, there are loads of people on here that have extended their family before that stage, & have no complaints.

Having two around the same age mark would probably be like having twins.

There will be more training in it for you, plus more clearing up!!

How old is Bettis?

BabyBettis · #4 10th March 2006, 03:42 PM

Bettis is only four months right now, so I'm not ready yet, but I also want him to be young enough that they could sort of grow up together.

NuBoxer Fan · #5 10th March 2006, 07:55 PM

When we first got Zuzu, we had mentioned getting another Boxer when she was about one year old, and a breeder recommended that we wait until she was closer to two. He felt that it would be easier on us, as we would have had time to deal with the "rebellion" of adolescence. He also said that his Boxers tended to mellow out (as much, I suppose as a Boxer will) around two years of age, so it would not be like having two puppies underfoot all the time. This also gives them time to grow up together. So... we are also considering bringing a new baby home this summer. If it times out for us it will be just before Zuzu turns two.

Good luck. I will be interested to see what others think.

Huggirl84 · #6 6th April 2006, 08:55 AM

We just got Tucker in Feb. at 7 weeks old and Cooper was 6 months. It has actually worked out great for us. Cooper was already potty trained so it's helped Tucker a ton to see Cooper going to the door to go outside and go potty. Also, puppies like to play a lot and I felt bad not being on the floor with Cooper all of the time but now they have eachother to play with and I can put them in a room with me and get things done. The only thing that was hard was when we first brought Tucker home he was so tiny and Cooper wanted to play and poor Tucker just got knocked around. It didn't take long for Cooper to realize he needed to be more gentle and in just a couple weeks Tucker was big enough that he could play without being thrown across the room

The one last thing is that they both devil dog around the house and pull all of the cusions off every couch in every room. They feed off of eachother and one gives the other an idea and it escalates from there. Needless to say we now have our own on site landscapers and two live in house decoraters

Honestly I wouldn't have done anything different though we're so happy with our babies!

shazza36 · #7 22nd April 2006, 01:53 PM

Hugggirl84, I sooo know what you mean about feeding off each other, I got Brogan when paddy was 10mo old, The reason I got another was a playmate for Paddy..He was sooo good in the house ( we could leave him with roam of the house with no problems) As soon as Brogan joined the fold..If they had been left then they would tear up the house,. I have had to replace my sofa

. Plus my laminate was pulled up. Things have calmed down now, and I have now had to add a baby gate to stop them going upstairs..But again I wouldnt have had it any other way.. They adore each other and its amazing how quickly they bonded together.

LilygirlCO · #8 22nd April 2006, 04:42 PM

Lily was 14 months I think when we got her a brother. That worked out nice because she was at a good point in her training.

SILLY6PAK · #9 22nd April 2006, 06:25 PM

I think 2 is a good age. Still it depends on the individual dog. Holly and Abby were mellow from day one and I sailed through the terrible teens. Zoe had me in tears a couple of times. Mia is my youngest Boxer and A LOT of work. I hope to live long enough to see her settle.

FlashJackson · #10 4th June 2006, 07:27 AM

We would definitely want to get another pup. I think jackson would love a brother/sister. But this is my question, when we are at work, what do we do with them? Jackson is now finally at the point where he can be alone in the whole house and not destroy it...do you leave the new puppy run loose too? We just don't know what to do b/c it would probably be tough to lock up one and leave the other one free? What is the best strategy??

LilygirlCO · #11 4th June 2006, 07:10 PM

When we got our new puppy, we kept him crated while Lily ran free and it worked out great. No issues at all with doing that.