8 month old and 8 week old!!!!!!!!!

[skywkr01]

I currently have an 8 month old male Rott. I've crated him since he was 8 weeks old. I currently still crate him at night, and when I'm not home.....when I don't leave him outside in my fenced yard. He also has his own room where I keep his crate.
I am considering getting another male puppy Rott, but am not sure how to arrange things at my house. I want the two dogs to be close and get along good, ofcoarse. Knowing puppies, I know that if I where to put the two together, there would be constant playing and wrestling, and the tearing up of my house probably. I worry that if I keep the two together alot, as in outside, or in the same closed room, that they would never sleep, and in turn I wouldn't either. My 8 month old has always slept through the night, and when I put him in the crate, he knows it's nap time and/or quite time. I'd like the new one to do that too.
My question is, what would be the best thing to do during the night, and/or other crating times. Should I put their crates in the same room where they can see eachother, or should I put them in separate rooms, so they can't see eachother. I'm afraid if they're together, than they would wine and fight constantly. I toyed with idea of taking one of my spare rooms, and get rid of the crates all together along with everything else in the room, and make it "their" room. Or again, should I keep them separate during those times to avoid them from playing with eachother to death. Their age difference has me worried. The young puppy might drive the other one nutts, or vise versa. I had a roomate before with a small poodle, and when it went to make any move, my Rott was on him. He wouldn't leave him alone for a second. I don't want to go through that again. I kicked the roomate and the poodle out because of that.
Any suggestions?
Thanks!

[mickeymichellie]

I would recommend not keeping them together all the time for a couple reasons.

One: when a puppy is raised with another dog (and your 8 month old is still a puppy too) and they do everything together, they end up becoming very attached and get stressed when they are separated. This is an equivalency of separation anxiety, and just as troublesome.

Two: your current dog might become tired of the puppy and will not have any time apart. This makes for a very grumpy dog. How would you like to have a younger sibling pestering you all day?

It is ok for their crates to be in the same room, but I would recommend giving them each some separate time out with you. Crates are great, so I would definitely keep them, and not worry about having the crates face each other. Wherever if convienient is good. Dogs are flexible, I would just try to not make them too dependent on each other.

[AngelBunny]

skywkr01:

That 8 week old puppy you're thinking of getting--don't.

You already have a young dog, one who is going to take lots and lots of your time to train and socialize properly to ensure your Rottie is a credit to you and the breed. There are only so many hours in the day and since this is a demanding breed in terms of the time that MUST be spent to raise a Rottie properly, getting another very young puppy isn't the wisest thing you can do.

It would be far better to do an outstanding job with your first dog and then, after a few years, to think about getting another puppy.

You also need to consider that any breeder worth his or her salt will not sell you a puppy because you already have such a young dog. And no bona fide rescue group would adopt a puppy to you for the same reason--both will want to see you've done a good, solid job training and socializing your current dog. You'll certainly be able to find a BYB who will be happy to sell you a puppy, but you don't want such a puppy.

And I'm not raining on your parade to be a spoil sport: I've had Rotties as my exclusive breed of dog since 1984. No way--absolutely NO WAY--I'd ever get another puppy if I had an 8 mo old puppy. I wouldn't have enough time in the day to do a good job with two young dogs. When I'm training the [rescue] girl I'm currently showing, Mox and I are typically in class 2-3 nights/week and we work independently several nights/week.

[Judi W]

PS
Two same-sex, same age dogs is not a prescription for a long and happy life together. As both mature you have a very strong likelyhood of fighting with each other. Wait until your current dog is about 4 years old or more and knows all the rules of life and is fully trained and then get an opposite sex for harmony.

[LynnS]

We have a 9 mnth old and I personally could not imagine getting a puppy at this point. Maybe if I won the lottery and could spend most of my time with them.....plus I could not imagine the expense having to train 2 at once...just my two cents.

[skywkr01]

I'd have to agree with you all for the most part. I must have gotten lucky with the one that I have now though. He's really good. I guess that's why adding another puppy to the mix wouldn't seem to be that big of deal. However, the two together would be a different story. I'm defanately am going to wait regardless. Thanks for the advise!

[Judi W]

Thanks for listening.

[AngelBunny]

skywkr01:

Good for you for rethinking that second puppy!

Keep in mind that while your 8 mo old may be the perfect angel, this happy state may very well change when your male gets older. Lots of people go to bed one night, thinking their puppy is the perfect gift from God, only to wake up the next morning to a perfectly dreadful monster. They're bewildered, baffled, and upset--what happened?!

What happened was their puppy became an adolescent, and boy! can that be an experience!!

So, forewarned is forearmed.

Another reason to wait til your boy is alot older and well trained--he'll help you train your next dog. Your puppy will look to your first dog and take his or her cues from dog #1. I see this all the time with our fosters. Having well-trained, mannerly, highly socialized personal dogs is such a help to the fosters.