Going from 2 to 3 dogs-advice please!

rosiejosie

Hi everyone, just looking for some advice from those of you who have three or more dogs. My boyfriend and I currently have two male, neutered dogs. The older one, Elwood is about 3 now, and Jake the younger one in coming up 1. They are both good boys, if a bit unruly.:rolleyes: We are looking into getting a few training sessions at the moment to sort out a few little things. Apart from this bit of cheekiness that we accept is our fault for not being firm enough trainers, we know we are good doggie parents. Our dogs come first, we plan our days around them so that they will never be alone too long, they get several walks a day and at least one 15-20 min game of fetch a day, and we have even started cooking doggie chicken stew for them! And now, we have started looking into getting a third. So, how difficult is the transition from two to three dogs? would a male or a female fit in best, or would it not make much difference with our boys being neutered and the new dog being a puppy and being neutered/spayed when old enough? When we got Jake, Elwood was amazingly gentle and careful with him, and Jake is now a very gentle, submissive dog. We really love our boys and are committed to giving them a happy life, and we really want to have another little bundle of fluff to look after too. So any advice much appreciated! Sorry for long post!:)

peasant

We have two females, one male.

Two main differences between having two or three:

1) with two you get a "couple" with couple-like dynamics ...with three you get a group, or a couple with an odd one out, or both, or three individuals and all that usually several times a day (so you need to be a bit more watchful)

2) two dogs, two leads, two hands ...three dogs, three leads ...more planning

lrushe

I got my second dog when my first one was 4 yrs old, and my third when my second was 4yrs old. The reason I left such a long time between dogs is I like to get the existing dog or dogs bomb proof as far as training goes before investing in another ie. a solid recall, excellent on leash, happy in any situation I bring them etc. because as mentioned most of what you'll need to keep control of your dogs come in two's ie. eyes, hands etc. so if you're considering getting a third dog I would advise upping the training of your existing dogs. So for example if I am walking in the park and a car is approaching I can tell the two older dogs to heel, which they will do off leash, then put the youngest on her leash ( I don't trust her enough yet to let her heel off leash in a potentially dangerous situation). I then have one dog secured on leash, one hand free if I need it and two dogs heeling on my left hand side. These are the kind of things to think about when adding a third dog to your gang.
Of course there is the up side of all the extra fun and happiness that any dog brings to a home

lorebringer

From experience, going from 2 dogs to 3 dogs is the most difficult transition (but once you are past 4 you're flying!). When we were going from 2 to 3 it was with a rescue coming from death row who was very nervous and not properly dealt with in his past life so, for want of a better phrase, was a bit f**ked up! It always takes a few weeks for the very bad habits and quirks to come out, and they do rub off on your other two (and vice versa). Training does become more difficult because you suddenly have more dogs than hands, so getting your current two sorted is a good idea because you'll feel over overwhelmed when you have another on your hands also. They do learn good habits from each other too - toilet training is one that comes to mind - and they have security and company from the others.

Bills are something else to consider, when buying things you suddenly have to buy 3 of everything - wormer, flea treatment, vaccinations, vet visits, insurance etc. If the dogs are all small dogs things like food shouldn't be too costly, but of one gets sick they could all pick up whatever it is and the outgoings can add up very quickly.

On the gender issue, personally I don't think it really matters as long as they will all be neutered. Bitches can retain their "bitchy" attitude even after they are spayed but boys can still hump and mark after the balls come off (one of mine, even though he was castrated at 6/7 months and was never a big marker will cock his leg on random new things in the house every so often). With neutered males you don't run the chance that they will attack the a new pup for no reason (some bitches just don't do pups) so getting a puppy shouldn't be a problem with the dogs you have.

Have you considered the rescue route? Nearly all of mine are rescues and I wouldn't change them for the world. There are loads of pups and adult dogs, both mixed breed and pure breed, in rescues and pounds around the country. Also, a lot of rescue centres assess dogs so you know what you are getting before you take them home.

I think the more the merrier when it comes to dogs, gladly I have the OH to say stop because if it were up to me I would have a crazy number running around the house!

rosiejosie

Thanks for the replies everyone, we were going to get some help to brush up on their training because we're aware that otherwise it would be treble the trouble, and we will def make that a priority.And maybe this time we'll go for a little girl, it'd be nice to have another girl around the house, make a change from all the boys! And lorebringer, both our dogs now are all-sorts dogs that we rescued - we found Elwood wandering the streets in Galway one night, very handsome but very skinny. I persuaded my boyfriend that we couldn't leave him out (didn't take much persuasion) so we took him in. We then put up a sign in the local supermarket, an add on the radio, called vets and the gspca to see if he'd been reported as missing, and had him scanned for a chip but nothing. We'd been talking about getting a dog so we kept him. One day when bf was walking him, a car pulled up and two guys got out, they said that he had been their dog and he had kept running away, and since then they had moved to a house where they couldn't have him. I think that they just got sick of looking for him and let him go, but were glad to see that he had a happy ending. Then we got Jake from a dog rescue, he and his mum and the rest of the litter had been dumped in a bog, and he was skinny and dirty and a bit nervous when we got him. Thankfully all of his "family" got rehomed. My family dog, was also a rescue dog, I have been looking on the internet at welfare sites and for sale sites and am so overwhelmed by the sheer number of dogs out there, and just in Ireland! We both would like a rescue dog again, but we do have our hearts set on a particular breed, and we think it would be easier to introduce a puppy to the mix rather than an older dog. If we could find one as a rescue we would more than gladly take it. Anyway,for now I guess it's back to school for these two!

TooManyDogs

I agree pretty much with what was said above, but would add one thing.......

It's a slippery slope!!! Take it from a woman who reckoned 3 dogs would be an ideal number.... then when no 1 retired from agility, reckoned that it'd be no difference to have no 4, then no 2 retired so reckoned if I have 4 dogs then a little terrier would make no difference, and then a deaf mini JRT came into the rescue I volunteer for and found myself persuading husband that a 6th dog would really make no difference... SIX dogs!! and now a brand new baby, so I'll be the circus of the village when we go out walking with a buggy and all dogs!

So beware of the slippery slope

paultf

rosiejosie,

I have 2 dogs and recently was considering getting a 3rd. I considered all the points in the other posts and I reckoned I could manage an extra dog.

But peasant's post identified the main reasons why I decided not to go ahead with an extra dog......

peasant wrote: »

Two main differences between having two or three:

1) with two you get a "couple" with couple-like dynamics ...with three you get a group, or a couple with an odd one out, or both, or three individuals and all that usually several times a day (so you need to be a bit more watchful)

2) two dogs, two leads, two hands ...three dogs, three leads ...more planning

As it just happens I am looking after my Mum's pup for 10 weeks so I have 3 dogs for the time being! There is a bit of extra work involved but you get used to it. But I have noticed that the pup and my younger dog have bonded and its left my older dog on his own watching TV with me! So it makes me wonder what would happen if I got a 3rd? There is a nice balance in the house with the 2 dogs, would getting a 3rd upset that?

Another reason why I won't be getting a 3rd dog is the "3 dogs, 3 leads" issue. I have to drive to a park to walk my dogs. So if I got an extra dog I would have to upgrade my hatchback to a bigger car. (I could manage that). But the problem is the park we walk in, all dogs have to be on leads. So because I walk on my own I wouldn't be able to manage 3 dogs.

I keep trying to convince myself that I would cope with a 3rd dog but I just don't think I could.

rosiejosie

Oh wow, six dogs! Yeah I have a feeling I'd have to be careful, after we got the second we thought that would be it, at least for a few years, but the urge is back. How on earth do you manage them? Do they all live inside with you? There is a girl we know who does dog sitting, we send our dogs to her if we have to go away for a night and they love it, she always has a load of dogs running around and she takes them on trips, such as kayaking and they all camp out in her living room. Ha, I don't think we'd be up to that!
paultf, those are things we are thinking about, how would it change the relationship between the two, what would walking be like, we will take all of that into account, as the two we have would have to come first, if one of them was unhappy with a third moving in, what would we do then. We won't make a decision lightly anyway, oh and do you know you can get leads that are split into two? I'm not saying that would solve all the walking issues but it could help!
And thank you everyone for all the points, we are taking everything into consideration:)

TooManyDogs

rosiejosie wrote: »

Oh wow, six dogs! How on earth do you manage them? Do they all live inside with you?

It takes planning! They're in the house when we are, so when we're working they have the run of the garden (half an acre) but when we're home they have the option of being inside with us, mind you they seem to prefer to be outside sunbathing in the evening sun in the summer. There's dog beds everywhere! From May until Oct the back door is open and they come in and out as they please. Holidays mean we have to get someone to move in and mind them, apart from the financial aspect of getting them all kenneled we have one dog who seems to be autistic and freaks out if she's somewhere new. When we only had 2 dogs my Mam used to mind them and I'd have to leave my car with my Mam cos that dog would live in the car for the entire time my Mam would be minding them! I have a budget to pay for medical care/vaccines etc and have an estate car with a huge boot so they can all travel! They don't sleep in the house with us (6 dogs in the kitchen is really smelly) but they have their own double walled shed with a heater, dog flap, and built in bed bases with Cosy mattresses and windows. I've spent alot of time doing obedience training with them so I can walk them all together, 6 leads in one hand so I could train whatever foster dog I happened to have at the time. Their recall has to be really good too, some people get a bit freaked out when they arrive at the beach and see 6 dogs running around!

paultf

rosiejosie wrote: »

oh and do you know you can get leads that are split into two? I'm not saying that would solve all the walking issues but it could help!

I got one of those when I got my 2nd dog. Never used it. Always found I had better control when walking the dogs with 2 separate leads.

Anyways, despite all the concerns I raised about getting a 3rd dog, if someone turned up tomorrow with a 8 week old blue roan cocker spaniel would I take it? YES and I would think about any issues when and if they occurred!

Best of luck with your new puppy!

rosiejosie

Yeah, paultf, and that tends to be how we do things, jump in and see what happens. But we have been in touch with a lovely lady who is going to come out and give us some training pointers and help us brush up on things, so we'll see how that goes and then make up our minds!
tmds - can I pick your mind - how did you get your dogs to heel and have a dependable recall? I know that really it just comes down to spending the time giving consistent commands and rules, but what kind of commands and rules? There is a lot of conflicting advice out there. I suppose thats why we're getting someone to come out though. Our older dog walks very well on the lead unless he sees something that grabs his attention - cat - bird - dog, the younger one still pulls a little, especially at the start of a walk and if Elwood gets any way in front of him. They are good 90% of the time but it's the other ten that wrecks our heads. Actually recall is ok, we only take them off the lead when we are playing fetch and then I don't think a spaceship landing could distract Elwood! It sounds like it must be a lot of fun in your house!