To get a puppy or not??? Help!

[happygirl65]

Hello all,

Well my husband tells me yesterday that he has a friend giving away free puppies. We have one dog she is an Aussie/border collie mix and she is the sweetest dog. She does get bored however and won't leave the kids alone when they go outside to play.

Space is not an issue since we have 10 acres and own our home but I am wondering whether it is a good idea or not. On one hand it would give Maggie someone to play with other than the kids but on the other hand...it is two puppies really to deal with.

The new (possible) pup is a blue healer/snauzer mix and not ready to leave mom yet so we do have some time to decide.

I am thinking...how much more work is 2 dogs than one? I already need to start major training this spring....I already pick up poo, keep things put up and out of her reach, but I am wondering how well Maggie will share with another dog. There have been a couple of times when a neighbor dog will wander down to our place and she just has a blast playing with them...I am hoping that this would be the result with another dog.

But I am looking for any advice or suggestions from all of you!

 

[fijiwigi]

A while ago I had a Aust Shepard I thought she was lonely because she would bug us and the kids all the time. So we got a Lab (mutt) thinking they would entertain each other. It became to much to handle since my kids were 2 and 2months the dogs were twice the annoying pests twice the poop and twice the terror. We couldn't handle it with the newborn baby, We ended up giving the dogs away. In 3months the dogs ripped the siding of my house,ripped up my livingroom carpet, ripped all of the stuffing out of my king size mattress, And dug about 40 holes in my backyard. We learned our lesson with dogs. We waited until we had the time and energy to deal with one. Its like having another child to care for. Little did I know the mastiff we would get was a bigger pain in the neck than those two dogs put together but we have the energy to deal with it now. 2 dogs verses one is like 2 kids verses 1 its always more work but you love them both. Just you can't give kids away if they become to annoying LOL

 

[Susie Q]

Swa I don't know too much about but dogs and cats are right up my alley.

Heelers are Very High energy but so is your current dog, Maggie (right?).
You said that she plays well with neighbor's dogs, she should be fine with a pup as long as you socialize her with the/a pup. Maggie sounds like she has a good personality, so there shouldn't be any problems, but like with everything behavior differs.
What I would do if it were me, I would socialize her with a smaller/pup to see how she reacts. I've done this with German Shepherds, when my dad bred and raised them. If you have any questions PM me.

 

[Zagz]

I have multiple pets so I am probably not the best to give an unbiased opinion. I don't find more than one of any pet any more trouble than one. If you have small children it may become difficult as Fijiwigi mentioned, otherwise it is simply doing twice what you are doing now.

 

[roka64]

I agree heelers need a lot of room to run and are very high energy dog. I used to have a red and he was great. One thing about them is they have a very nasty nip and might not be really good around children.

 

[Susie Q]

I agree heelers need a lot of room to run and are very high energy dog. I used to have a red and he was great. One thing about them is they have a very nasty nip and might not be really good around children.

True not really a good child dog, but GS are not suggested for children either. It really depends on the temperment and how their raised.

 

[happygirl65]

Maggie does have a really sweet personality. Not aggressive at all, and not fearful either. I do have three kids. 8, 4 and 3. The 8 and 3 yr olds handle Maggie just fine, but the 4 yr old seems to be the only one who really has a problem with Maggie.

She just follows him around licking and nibbling on his fingers. She is most interested in getting him to play with her and he does love to play with her but she is always herding him back close to the house. She is not aggressive in any way, just bothersome to him and annoying. He will be climbing up on things and she stops him. He will run and she follows. I actually like it to an extent as he is my wanderer, but want her to be a little more gentle about it. She will stop when I tell her no, she is really great about that. I am hoping a puppy will shift her focus a little bit.

The herding is the main thing I will be working on with her (and my son) this spring/summer. I like that Maggie always knows where the kids are and stays with them.

She does have a lot of energy but we go for walks around the property and throw balls for her and she gets a lot of running that way. I think with two we will still be doing all the same things, just giving attention to both dogs.
Maggie is an outdoor dog so I am not worried about damage to things too much. I have learned the hard way to keep things up high, but honestly with young kids I already have to do that. We already have a kennel out back incase we need to pen them up if the kids are playing and they get too rough or something but so far, we built the thing and never really needed it for Maggie as she stays close to the house and hangs out even when we go somewhere for the day. She is only destructive if we leave things laying around and she will chew them as all puppies will.

Anyone ever heard of clicker training, I am interested in that as well.

 

[Susie Q]

Cool. She sounds like she would be fine.

Clicker training works on cats but never used on dogs.

 

[roka64]

I tried clicker training on my RH and it didn't take. I have found regular training and lots of time to be more effective.

 

[happygirl65]

Yeah so far she responds really well to praise and treats. I am still on the fence about the new pup....I guess I will just see how it plays out.

 

[JessieVB]

She just follows him around licking and nibbling on his fingers. She is most interested in getting him to play with her and he does love to play with her but she is always herding him back close to the house. She is not aggressive in any way, just bothersome to him and annoying. He will be climbing up on things and she stops him. He will run and she follows. I actually like it to an extent as he is my wanderer, but want her to be a little more gentle about it. She will stop when I tell her no, she is really great about that. I am hoping a puppy will shift her focus a little bit.

The herding is characteristic of all shepherd dogs from my understanding. I have two dogs that are shepherd mixes, but the shepherd is diluted enough that its not an issue with them. I don't know how hard of a habit that will be to break her of since its something thats innate.

I'm a bit biased on the topic of more dogs. I have four myself (3 at my dads [maybe only 2, dad just moved up to a 50 acre property and hasn't seen the male for a couple weeks . . . ], and 1 at my moms). I don't think that more than one dog is necessarily more work unless they do not get along. I would have more if I could--if I thought I could get away with it, I would have a dog at college. . .

 

[roka64]

The funny thing is you will be playing with him/her and before you know it you are herded into a corner!

 

[mr86mister]

My buddy has 7 dogs on 25 acres. He has a sister of 7, 4 brothers that are younger than him so like 8-18. They haven no problems. Largest dog is a Burmese Mountain dog and the smallest is a pug...lol.

 

[happygirl65]

The herding instint will likely not be broken but I think I can teach her to be more gentle and not nip. I get after her when she does it to me...like she used to nip my pant leg when I was coming in the door....I told her no a few times and she stopped but now she will occasionally hug my leg with her front legs to try and get me to stay and play longer. She is really smart and learns quickly I am just finding that it is hard to be consistant in her training when the kids all do something different. My plan is to get us all together and train her together so that we can be consistant....I think it might actually be harder to train the kids...lol.
I haven't seen the pups yet....I bet if I went to see them it would push me over the fence. lol I think training two at once shouldn't be too hard either especially since Maggie has the basics down. (Sit come stay and NO )

 

[JessieVB]

Lol. Sounds like a cute dog.

My spoiled one is pretty smart, we're working on teaching her to crawl. Right now she can sit, lay down, and shake. She doesn't know stay yet. . . but she knows go for a walk, outside, cookie, car, and bug (likes to eat them. . . so I thought it'd be useful to teach her the word. Except she doesn't eat crickets. . . *shrugs*).

 

[roka64]

ACDs are one of the smartest and fastest learning dogs (I think German shepherds are supposed to be the "smartest"). They can learn after about 4-7 commands as opposed to a basset hound at around 60-70 commands....Of course this is only according to the animals personality and the owner's commitment.
It's been a while since I did my research (about 7 years ago) so I might be off or they have found new data.
I agree, my ACD used his front paws very well, almost like a human, it truly amazed me!

 

[roka64]

Oh, Oh, Oh, I just remembered, were they all born white?

 

[JessieVB]

Kinda off topic from original post--but I think my dog might be ACD (I'm assuming this is short for Austrlian cattle dog) . . . Its hard to tell though, because if she is part ACD then she'd be an 1/2 ACD and 1/2 lab/australian shepherd mix.

Best of luck retraining the dog to be more gentle, btw! And best of luck with the new puppy if you decide to get it!

 

[fijiwigi]

ACDs are one of the smartest and fastest learning dogs (I think German shepherds are supposed to be the "smartest"). They can learn after about 4-7 commands as opposed to a basset hound at around 60-70 commands....Of course this is only according to the animals personality and the owner's commitment.
It's been a while since I did my research (about 7 years ago) so I might be off or they have found new data.
I agree, my ACD used his front paws very well, almost like a human, it truly amazed me!

Just curious is the English Mastiff lowest on the list for being the smartest I took my dog to a 6week training program cost like 150 dollars. I learned a lot like not to use the word NO because its too general and they don't understand it as much they just understand your upset tone of voice and thats why they respond to it. If you use specific words like lay down, come, Sit, Shake, Easy, etc... and when the dog does the right thing you pet the dog and praise by saying good easy, or good sit. I put a lot of effort into training my mastiff before I realized she is probably the most stubborn and dumbest big hearted dog on the planet and will probably never be able to get her to be obedient unless I quit working and make it a full time job. And being forcefull does nothing because its like pushing at a brick wall. If she doesn't want to move she won't move unless theres food involved. But I guess thats why we love her?
Bottom line is simple really If you don't have a lot of time to dedicate to teaching and Praising your dog don't get one. They need much more attention than people usually give especially the first year. If you can get your kids trained to train your dog than I am sure it will be a success.

 

[happygirl65]

Yeah I am thinking I should concentrate more on the one dog I do have than adding a puppy into the mix. Everytime I go outside with Maggie I realize that I need to spend more attention on her and training the kids to train her with me. I think if I master that then I can decide if we want another pup.

She is a really awesome dog with loads of potential, so her training will be my spring/summer project...or rather starting the real training will be the project.