Adding puppy to household pros/cons?

[Joette]

Hi guys. Sorry it's been so long. Need your help and sound advice. Here's the scenario: I have Titan, as you all know, who next to my kids has been the light of my life. He's now 6.5 months, 77.2 pounds. Just had him neutered last week. At this point, ALL IS WELL. Manners are coming nicely, and healthy happy well-adjusted pup living in a single dog household.

A couple of months a go or so, my daughter drug home some homeless pathetic kittens, which we successfully re-homed. Titan handled that pretty well but he was also younger and smaller. His routine was pretty well established at that point, and I didn't let the kitties interfere with his routine since I was pretty sure we weren't going to keep any. At least I didn't want to keep any. We found homes for them, and they are all doing well.

This past week-end, my daughter once again, drags home a homeless neglected puppy. What we have here is a female rotti mix (about 3/4) the runt of the litter of an irresponsible breeding with no vet care, about 5 pounds worth of attitude, 7 weeks old and the owner of the mom not caring what happened to the pup. I did the search and read the threads regarding adding a new puppy and of course, all the advice is not to add one until Titan is a well-adjusted well-mannered adult. I couldn't turn my back on this pup. Titan isn't incredibly thrilled that she's at our house, naturally, and Meagan has been unable to find anyone to take her.

She is obviously going to be at our house a while, if not indefinitely. Any suggestions on how to add this little lady or should I just wing it, rely on my own experience, and try to help Titan adjust without hurting the pup? Will he eventually accept her and not think she is a tug toy that moves and makes noise? Any input from you guys would be very much and greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

[Judi W]

Well, you already know the response that would come about adding a pup when you haven't even come close to raising the one you have now! You might think Titan has his routine down, but he has not even been bar mitzva'd yet. You are not even near where you need to be with him.

This I think is more a family issue. Child deciding what animals you will have in your home. Rank problems :)

[iluvmyrotti]

"This I think is more a family issue. Child deciding what animals you will have in your home. Rank problems :)"

Although I agree that you have a long way to go to adulthood with dog #1 I do disagree with the last statement. I have 4 children and one of the most important things I think we can teach our children is compassion and a desire to help abused, neglected, hurt, etc animals as well as people to make sure that they themselves grow up to be caring and compassionate adults who then won't abuse or neglect an animal! I believe animals should be an integral part of all children's lives, and just because she brings home strays and asks to keep them doesn't mean she's trying to pull rank! This I know from experience, having been the dragee as well as the one they are dragged to! I'm sure my mother lost count of the animals I brought home and she never said no to anything reasonable, and there was never any doubt who was and still is the boss! Same rules apply in my house, within reason, if we can help we do even if that help is finding another home and fostering until then or just making phone calls to find a home, and everybody takes responsibilty for the care of any animals that stay. And trust me, they all know who the Commander in Chief is in our house! Today's count is 3 dogs, 1 puppy, 1 cat, 7 adult and 4 baby bunnies, 2 turkeys, 2 geese, 6 ducks and about 3 dozen chickens. That number will change in the next couple of days when the abused lop bunny my daughter brought home pregnant gives birth and the 4 other babies go to their new homes next weekend. My mother always said you can tell alot about a person by how they treat animals......................................

[AngelBunny]

Think about taking the puppy to your local humane society. The fact she's a puppy will help her get adopted.

It's a hard thing to successfully raise two puppies.

[Joette]

Thanks Judi for the kind words of support and your harsh opinion of the rank in my household, about which you know very little. I searched the threads posted previously on the subject and knew allowing Meagan to bring the pup home was not a wise thing to do. I guess my heart is bigger than my brain. I could no more turn my back on the pup than if it were a child. I was just hoping that my compassion would prevail and that perhaps the more experienced members of the board could give me some insight as to what I might expect and might have gotten myself into. Guess not. I guess it was my turn in the snake pit instead. I'm sure it won't be the last.

My daughter is 18 and extremely responsible and mature. And, the pup will be moving in with her boyfriend probably in the next 30 days.

[Judi W]

Well, and here I am, wrong again! Since your daughter really is an adult, it won't be just you trying to do two pups. That being the case you raise them as you would if they were singles.

[iluvmyrotti]

Joette, although it is definitely difficult to raise 2 puppies of ANY breed together I have 2 Rottie littermates who I have been raising together, they are 2 now. I too was advised not to do it. They both have had quite a few health problems but those aside, the training and walking and socializing and caretaking of 2 the same age has really not been all that drastically difficult. This was adding them to a then 1 1/2 yr old Shepherd. My mom has 2 Goldens that she got 6 months apart and they drove her bonkers until they established the whole alpha thing, being both males then they became best buds. Those being added to a house with 4 adult Chows in residence. My sister in law had one pomeranian who ate everything in sight including her dining room rug and peed on anything left on the floor- she couldn't handle him.As long as you are firm on house rules and definitely train them I wouldn't be one to say don't do it it won't work. I found Baron easier to train when I worked with the 2 together on some things, and Gretchen definitely had to be trained solo to walk nicely on leash because she always wanted to play with him, but I also know people who have twins and have breezed through whereas some other people have difficulty handling one infant. Maybe some people are too quick to assume things won't work, but again there are many things that factor in. And by the way, I have been inside MY local humane society and I wouldn't bring a dog that was already dead there. Just my opinion, for what it's worth!

[Joette]

iluvmyrotti: Thank you for the support. I too have been to my local humane society and I agree. I also hesitated to place her in a home that was ignorant of rotti requirements (she is 3/4 rott and we all know the breed isn't for everyone) because I didn't want her to end up in rescue or worse. It definitely presents a challenge with Titan at 6 1/2 months and her at 7 1/2 weeks and they both have attention spans of about 3.2 seconds!! LOL I was very concerned about him hurting her simply because of his size compared to hers, but I think the alpha bitch has arrived and it will all sort itself out. She definitely has an attitude, and is extremely vocal, especially being the runt of the litter and all. We are taking things one day at a time and adjusting on an hourly basis. The addition of Gretta was definitely not my first choice, but I couldn't not give her a home and love even if temporary. I'm trying to keep Titan's routine as much the same as possible and incorporate Gretta into it as she grows. LET THE TRAINING BEGIN!!! LOL

[RottenMutts]

I have two puppies that are being raised at the same time. At least for the moment. It does take work, but it can be done. Honestly I'd get her on a strict schedule as well, and simply let them cross when they cross. It's the only advice I *can* give, but I do admire you for the dedication in taking the time to make this work. Just make sure you are totally committed now. If you discover that it doesn't work in 2 weeks she's still adoptable and cute. If you decide in 4 months there are much larger problems.

[iluvmyrotti]

Because of health problems Baron was only 3 pounds & Wolf was about 75 or so, and he seemed to know that the little guy needed to be handled differently, and was extremely tolerant of him. Gretchen joined the crew, and the 2 of them double teamed him, but Wolf wasn't cut out to be ALpha, he was dominated by our older Spitz mix we had that passed away a couple of months before, and he was so excited to have friends again.When Baron got a bit older he took over the pack without any serious problems. As long as you keep to a routine and don't let little issues become big problems you'll do ok. You may see some regression in Titan, my mom did with her older Golden, but it straightened itself out with time and patience, and remember that even after the puppy thing you have that lovely adolescence stage to go through too! Believe it or not, we have also added a Doberman puppy to the household since, she's 4 1/2 months now and so far it's gone very smoothly. Wolf is thrilled, Gretchen could care less, and she bowed down to Baron the minute she met him so he loves her. Of course, I also have 2 teenagers and my 10 year old to help with doggie chores and they've all been through training (we had someone come to the house with Baron and Gretchen and she worked with the kids too so we were on the same page) so I can't say I do it all but I have to take care of all of them too!