Second Labrador - or not?

[ClaphamGT3]

Hi all. Would welcome thoughts and experiences on this.

We have a fantastic black lab. He's coming up to 8, fit as a fiddle, mainly a pet but comes shooting with me a few times a year and never let's me down. He's the best.

Some friends have just had a litter of black lab pups (great pedigree, hip & elbow scores check out know Mum and Dad and they are lovely dogs). We are tempted to get one of the pups. We have the time and space for him but are just a little bit nervous about how our boy will react to another dog in the house.

He's well socialised and is always fine when people come to stay with dogs (albeit always looks a bit pissed off about it) and wed welcome views from others about where this has gone well vs badly

[Sheets Tabuer]

He'll love it.

[bern]

Absolutely, I've always had labs as a pair. It'll work out great

[babelfish]

ClaphamGT3 said:

Hi all. Would welcome thoughts and experiences on this.

We have a fantastic black lab. He's coming up to 8, fit as a fiddle, mainly a pet but comes shooting with me a few times a year and never let's me down. He's the best.

Some friends have just had a litter of black lab pups (great pedigree, hip & elbow scores check out know Mum and Dad and they are lovely dogs). We are tempted to get one of the pups. We have the time and space for him but are just a little bit nervous about how our boy will react to another dog in the house.

He's well socialised and is always fine when people come to stay with dogs (albeit always looks a bit pissed off about it) and wed welcome views from others about where this has gone well vs badly

Ours is 6.5 yrs now. Getting a pup in the Autumn.

Reasoning is now he's matured he will be a good influence on the new pup and current one won't be round forever and no matter how much I love him I'll need at least another one with me.

ETA:

Re-reading OP

Ours is really well socialised so no problem with other dogs but he ignores pups up to about 6 months old as they have sharp teeth and no fun to play with.....

Edited by babelfish on Tuesday 5th July 23:56

[scrw.]

Do it. Our Lab was a bit put out for 1 day (trying to work out what the new furball was), then they were best buddies. Dot was 5.5yo when Pippin turned up.

2021-04-03_10-04-18 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

[Jasandjules]

We always try to ensure we have a puppy when one of the dogs is "middle aged". It keeps them younger in the main as they tend to want to play with the puppy. We also do it for selfish reasons.....

[Stick Legs]

We didn’t and after Scarlett died it felt very empty before Lana turned up.

Plus the puppy will learn a lot of good behaviours from the older dog, and vice-versa!

[cerb4.5lee]

It didn't work for us. We had a 6 year old Lab, and then we got another Lab as a puppy and they didn't get on, plus they were a royal pain in the backside together. In the end we gave the puppy to the father in law, and we wished that we'd stayed with just the one Lab.

[Roboticarm]

cerb4.5lee said:

It didn't work for us. We had a 6 year old Lab, and then we got another Lab as a puppy and they didn't get on, plus they were a royal pain in the backside together. In the end we gave the puppy to the father in law, and we wished that we'd stayed with just the one Lab.

Had a similar experience with spaniels, old dog got jealous of the attention, younger one started to try and bully the older one

[cerb4.5lee]

Roboticarm said:

Had a similar experience with spaniels, old dog got jealous of the attention, younger one started to try and bully the older one

Yes. The older one didn't like the young one coming into the household, plus the younger one ended up bringing the worst out of the older one. They were terrors together for sure.

[Rh14n]

cerb4.5lee said:

Roboticarm said:

Had a similar experience with spaniels, old dog got jealous of the attention, younger one started to try and bully the older one

Yes. The older one didn't like the young one coming into the household, plus the younger one ended up bringing the worst out of the older one. They were terrors together for sure.

We too had that problem. We added a Springer pup to our 5 year old Working Cocker. They were fine for about 5 years but the Springer became less tolerant of the older Cocker and they began fighting - it was an absolute nightmare for a while and we very nearly had to re-home the Springer but we had him neutered and this helped a little and we just managed them. Not sure if this was because they were both males or what the problem was really. It's put us off having a second dog now that the Cocker has passed away and the Springer is happy as an only-dog.

[Baldyboy]

Got 5 dogs now, was 6 till one died last year. The oldest is a bull mastiff that is 10 yrs old, then two working cocker sisters and last year a few months before the beagle died we had a further two sisters (Pyrenean mountain dog/Shepard cross). We’ve always introduced new pups into the family the pack leader generally helps socialise the puppies, the puppies help re-invigorate the older dogs. It’s always been a win win for us. You need to ensure that the older dog feels safe and secure in their position lots of love and play whilst not over doing the importance of the new pup. Help them find their feet have strict boundaries always make sure the older dog is fed first, always petted first etc.
Generally in my experience it doesn’t work when all the affection etc is showered onto the pup at the expense of the older dog.

[garythesign]

scrw. said:

Do it. Our Lab was a bit put out for 1 day (trying to work out what the new furball was), then they were best buddies. Dot was 5.5yo when Pippin turned up.

2021-04-03_10-04-18 by Old_Chad, on Flickr

That is the most gorgeous photo.

Until recently we have always had two dogs and now have three. They all get on well together.

We also foster and all our foster dogs have got on fine with ours.

I think having two or more dogs is the way to go (only slightly biased)

[Monkeylegend]

We have a black lab and a chihauhau, both 10 years old we think, who have been together for just over 2 years, both rescue dogs.

They are the best of friends and Raven the lab treats her like a mother treats a baby, so gentle when they play even though the chihauhau is the boss and is more than capable of looking after herself.

Labs seem to thrive on receiving and giving affection and having another dog around has been the best thing for both ours.

I would say do it without hesitation.

[PositronicRay]

cerb4.5lee said:

Roboticarm said:

Had a similar experience with spaniels, old dog got jealous of the attention, younger one started to try and bully the older one

Yes. The older one didn't like the young one coming into the household, plus the younger one ended up bringing the worst out of the older one. They were terrors together for sure.

We've had that too, young dog runs older dog ragged.

We inherited another dog from my mil last yr, I wouldn't say they were besties but are tolerant. 2 dogs are more than twice the work. One sets the other off barking. When walking you have 2 dogs to keep an eye on, good job I've two eyes because they're never together. Training, treats, and playing can be difficult too.