Author Topic: what age is best for new dog  (Read 1876 times)

Offline saintlykallismom

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what age is best for new dog
« on: January 18, 2008, 02:50:59 am »
Hey all,

My fiance and I are considering getting Kalli a friend or at least thats the reasoning I used to convince him to think about getting another dog. Kalli is only 7 months old and we were wondering if we should wait till she was older to bring another dog in the house or do it now while she is still young. The dog we are considering is 1.5 yr saint. I thought it would be best to do it while she was young and maybe more open to having another dog in the house. She LOVES other dogs and I think it would be great for her to have another dog in the house. What do you all think?
Proud mama of:

Kalli- 6(?)month old saint bernard
Lexi- 6 mth old orange and white kitten
Franco- 5 yearold big black cat

Offline maxsmom

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Re: what age is best for new dog
« Reply #1 on: January 18, 2008, 12:16:36 pm »
I don't think age is as high on my list of considerations as other factors is.  Personalities and temperaments are definitely the deciding factor in avoiding a lot of problems that you will have to sort out and deal with.  I would not get another extremely dominant, pushy, headstrong dog to incorporate into my group at this point.  You know what your dog is like and have a good idea of what is going to work for you.  If you find one you like, such as the Saint, take your dog off property to a neutral place for both dogs.  Let them meet, do the sniff greetings, watch how they interact.  If you are comfortable with that, try to find a place where they can both be safely offleash, but not on either dog's familiar territory.  If that works, have them meet up a block or so from your home and walk them home together.  Take them into your house and yard, then let them off leash and watch them.  This is what I have done with mine and it has worked out great.  I have never had just one dog at a time for more than a few months.  I like for my dogs to run and roughhouse with each other, not me.  Good luck and remember that not every dog you like will be a good fit for your dog.  I believe any dog can be incorporated into any home, with enough time, patience and effort, but, I am not willing to spend that kind of time, just to create harmony, when I can spend that time on training, obedience and fun things with the boys.  I wanted them to like each other, so I tried out a number of dogs before we all agreed on Jake.  By tried out, I mean had different dogs from different rescue groups, that they met to see how it went. I didn't adopt any, just had them meet up with them and brought a few to the house.  I picked the breeds I liked, and narrowed down their choices of dogs, but they got to pick the individual dog.
Kathy
Max  2 Irish Wolfhound
Jake  2 Great Pyrenees
Cody   3 Tibetan Mastiff
ChiChi 1.5 Caucasian Ovcharka
John and Nicki Maine Coon cats

Offline karateblossom

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Re: what age is best for new dog
« Reply #2 on: January 18, 2008, 03:20:39 pm »
I'm no expert but after talking to my hubbie (the man has NEVER NOT OWNED multi-animals), I don't think age is a factor at all as they are pack animals and quite flexible to age-its the temperment that I would focus on, specifically of the furry friend you currently own.  If he/she is only 7 months them dominance is probably not a real issue yet but depending on how social your baby is will probably provide you with a good idea of what u need or don't need to worry about.  Food aggression?  Jealousy? stuff like that.  But with great socialization, I think most sre pretty tolerant and even welcome the newcomer with "OPEN PAWS".  :)  within the next year, we are hoping to add a Newf to our family and odin will be around 4 (he is NOT an alpha) so our addition will hopefully be smoothe.  we added odin to the family when our springer was 10-she was pissed.  It took her a year to be tolerant of odin....WE NEVER SUSPECTED her behavior because she was such a submissive and obedient dog.  our youngest (human)child was 2 and those 2 became a 'show' with the but skiing and shared kibble (ever seen a 2 yo try to eat kibble?).  Now they are best pack friends!  ;) 
karma is kewl!

Offline saintlykallismom

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Re: what age is best for new dog
« Reply #3 on: January 19, 2008, 02:11:13 am »
Thanks everyone! We are still discussing things but if we decide to try and adopt we will probably do a meeting on neutral ground and see how that goes. Kalli is not aggressive at all. The woman who is fostering the saint we are looking at said that he doesn't normally try to be dominant. I am not exactly sure how to take that maybe I should call her and get more details on the dominance thing. I will let you all know what we decide. Crossing my fingers and hoping we are getting another dog!

Libby
Proud mama of:

Kalli- 6(?)month old saint bernard
Lexi- 6 mth old orange and white kitten
Franco- 5 yearold big black cat

Offline maxsmom

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Re: what age is best for new dog
« Reply #4 on: January 19, 2008, 02:23:54 pm »
I wouldn't worry too much about the dominance level in the male dog, since you have a female now.  We have found that a dominant male and a dominant female don't mean they will have problems with each other.  Our springer girl was very dominant and possessive.  Cody is as well, but he deferred to her completely and helped support her against Max when he got to be too much for her.  Once she was gone, Cody took up where she left off and now runs the house for the dogs.  When we got Jake, we were told that he was not a dominant dog at all.  He completely dominates Max, but defers to Cody.  He is definitely #2 dog in the pack.  Poor Max was here first, is the largest and heaviest, but is also the youngest and so completely laid back that nothing phases him.  I have never heard him growl to protect his bones or food.  Jake and Cody will protect their things from him and each other, but not Max.  Good luck with your decision.
Kathy
Max  2 Irish Wolfhound
Jake  2 Great Pyrenees
Cody   3 Tibetan Mastiff
ChiChi 1.5 Caucasian Ovcharka
John and Nicki Maine Coon cats