New rescue dog + 11 week old puppy...

[needrawhelp]

When our 13 year old dog died in January we vowed never to be without a dog again so bought our gorgeous Golden Retriever pup with the intention of getting a second one in a year or two. However...a friend of my Husband is involved in a rescue centre (family owned) and he has been in contact asking if rather than buying a second dog in a couple of years we would be willing to re-home a 15 month GR they have... He is a lovely boy, no issues with a kind temperment and has been castrated, just a bit 'lean, vocal and desperate for love' we've been told.

My main worry is would there be the same type of bonding issue that you get with littermates / same age puppies bought at the same time? Because our pup is new to our family (although bonded well and acts like he's always been here!) and the rescue dog is still young and will be new to us are the dogs likely to bond strongly to eachother and exclude us like littermates / young puppies do?

Also he would be alone (with pup) for 3 hours a day so I would be looking to put him in a crate following a good walk, play and breakfast- would this be cruel and traumatic if he'd never been in a crate (or perhaps had been in a crate in his former life and has bad associations???)

I may not get back on line until this evening but thanks in advance for any words of wisdom!

[needrawhelp]

Anyone?

[Beaglebum]

Hi ,they may well bond but as long as you do some separate training one on one it should be fine . With regards to the crate I don't think using them for short periods of time are cruel at all . I foster so have had a fair few come an go, most have been fine in a crate a few have hated it with a vengeance ! Try to feed the new dog in it and give it treats whilst you are in the room to start with ,with it in the crate until its treat is finished ,that way the dog will hopefully associate the crate with nice things and know the signs you are ready to go out and rush into the crate awaiting its treat . Good luck

[Booboostoo]

You will have to do double and more of the work involved in having one dog. Each dog will have to spend time with you alone, will have to go on some walks alone and do some training alone which is quite tough. They are also more likely to have less of a recall because they will have each other as a security blanket to move further away from you.

At first yes they would need to be separate when not supervised either with a crate or in different rooms or with a baby gate. Three hours in a crate is certainly not cruel for the vast majority of dogs which get used to crates but it takes a while to get a dog used to a crate.

One or two years between dogs is an ideal gap as the older dog has learnt enough to make your life a bit easier, e.g. you open the car boot and at least one dog knows not to jump straight out and run off, and the older dog's good behaviour helps with the younger one, e.g. when the older dog recalls the puppy is likely to follow.

[needrawhelp]

Thank you for the responses. I think we'll have a lot of work on our hands but it will be great. Until the pup is old enough he'll only do little walks anyway and one of us can go back home with the pup while the other heads off with the big dog. We're looking at formal training classes too (just did recall etc ourselves with our old dog) as I'm sure professional input will help.