More than 1???

[Melody]

I was just wondering what your opinions are on having 2 BC's?? Our pup is 10 months now and I am always thinking about having a second...

 

When is the best age to add to the family and is Scamp likely to approve? (he does like all other dogs so far and always wants to play and has never barked at any)

 

This may not happen yet but I think i would love 2 dogs?

Is it much harder work or did you find it the same?

[3dogslater]

I found that going from one dog to two wasn't that much of a change. You're still going to have the trips to the park, exercise, feeding, poop scoopsing. The individual time for training was the biggest difference in our home.

 

Going from two to three was a much bigger jump in terms of time and effort. Adding a fourth dog is a lot of work but I think it's because our first dog is a senior and is especially grumpy about having a pup in the house.

 

IMO, I wouldn't add a second dog until your first dog is at least 12 months old. Scamp is still a pup and has a lot to learn without the distraction of a second dog, especially a pup. I wouldn't add a pup until he is closer to two but that's my personal bias.

 

Whether or not he approves of living with a pup will depend on multiple factors - how social he is with other dogs, how much experience he has with pups, how much you are able to still give him special time, whether you can control the pup's interaction so that Scamp gets time apart from the pup.

 

I couldn't imagine going back to a single dog home - I love watching my dogs play with each other.

 

Only one of my dogs is a BC - the other three are a Kelpie mix, a Dane/Ridgeback, and a Dane/Pit/Lab.

[Melody]

I was thinking about 2 years old aswell when Scampi knew the ins and outs...

 

Also the other question was weather it be another BC or a smaller dog? I have plenty of time to find out on another breed too.

 

Everyone I know with 2 dogs tell me they dont know how they ever lived with just the one

 

Its an adventure I'd like to take and like you say probably in a years time when he is that much older. But if I have plenty of time to look into other breeds then I can decide over time too lol.

 

My sis in law commmented if I got a smaller house/pet/lap dog, then Scampi training would be much harder as the new non BC would not be as cleverly trained and be getting in the way.

But she has never had a BC either so its just a opinion too

 

any tips would be great

thanks

[Guest TheRuffMuttGang]

Personally, I think most dogs, but especially bright dogs such as border collies, function much better with a canine buddy. They are pack animals and truly thrive with at least one other dog to socialize with. I find this to be particularly true if you are gone from 8-10 hrs per day working. I always felt so bad leaving my only dog home alone for so long. Now, with 5 other buddies, I hardly feel bad for her anymore!

 

As for what type of dog, I think border collies really enjoy the company of other border collies. This is just my observation after having watched so many interact with each other. But, of course any breed of dog would probably do just fine if you don't want another BC.

 

I don't necessarily think you need to wait for your dog to be a certain age, but rather be at a point in its training that you are comfortable. IE: If your dog doesn't have a 100% recall, don't get another dog yet because a 2nd dog WILL take away from your one-on-one time with your first dog.

 

Two dogs is not a lot more work than one but when you add 3, 4, 5 and 6...then you really have to make sacrifices to get them all mentally and physically exercised on a daily basis.

[Pippin's person]

I agree--I think the best thing we ever did for our first dog was get the second.

 

Once they are all adults, two dogs isn't much more than one and doing things like traveling isn't all that hard either. But you do still need to give each one individual training and loving time. I think it also becomes that much more important with each addition to make sure they each have an off switch and can settle.

 

I agree with Ruff Mutt that BCs seem to really like the company of other BCs--not to say they don't like other breeds too, of course. One of our BCs (BC #1, Dog #2) pretty much only likes other BCs--no clue why that is. The other BCs also play better with other BCs, though they are fine with other breeds. It always seems to me that BCs play BC games that are just different from other dogs' games--our one non-BC definitely has a different play style than the BCs.

 

I think the timing has more to do with where you are in training dog #1, and especially where you are emotionally and mentally (and financially) than the specific age--when one of our dogs was 10 mos. old, we got a 6 mos. old and that has been fine and the two mostly have a great time together and keep each other pretty occupied.

 

It also depends on whether the new dog is a puppy, a "teenager" or an adult. If you're thinking of a young puppy, I'd probably wait until Scampi is a little older so that he's less of a puppy himself. But, dogs are also pretty adaptable--we haven't had much trouble adding new dogs to the pack and, like Rutt Mutt, we're at 6 now.

 

If you have a choice, it'd probably be easier on Scampi to add a female (though not the end of the world to get another male either).

[M.L.]

I loved having two dogs, and now I love having three. And I know that Bailey really enjoys having canine companions. I agree that the jump to three dogs has made a difference, not so much in dog activities and the like, but in finding a dogsitter and travel accomodations.

 

I suggest waiting until your first dog is at least a year old, and definitely not until your first dog is well trained. I can't imagine having gotten Ginger if Bailey wasn't well trained. They are a hand full as it is!

 

Two dogs are twice as much money in dog food and vet bills. Many people forget to take that into consideration. I don't think its too bad though - until it comes time for vet checkups and heartworm preventatives!

[Beth G]

Both of my pups are now almost 12 mos old.

 

My female Pepper loves almost all breeds of dogs. She just wants to play,play,play!! she submits to all other dogs.

 

Poppy our male pup, on the other hand runs everyone but our neighbor's two male Border collies out of our yard. He doesn't really play with other dogs but it's obvoius that he prefers other BC's.

[Melody]

I was thinking the second dog to be "housetrained age" so 6/7 months + from a rescue centre or local ads etc.

 

Scamps recall is good but not 100% just yet.

thanks for your ideas

[Beth G]

Rescue is a wonderful way to go! And there are lots of people here that can point you to a rescue in your area too!

[Guest amylobdell24]

I just made the jump from one BC to two. It was a decision I thought long & hard about. I was worried my almost 2 year old female would miss having me all to herself, and that it would change our very happy and really perfect relationship. I work at a vet clinic, and talked to my vet about it, and he said something that tipped the scale for me : don't kid yourself...your dog loves you very much, but she loves other dogs more - they're pack animals! I rescued an 8 week old male BC puppy 5 days ago. My girl is ecstatic! He's the best toy she ever had...and he loves her too. They romp & play, then pass out for a couple hours, only to get up and do it all again. It's not been long, but so far I love having the two of them. I do think it's helped a lot to have my female trained already - she's very responsive, and he pretty much does whatever she does, so he's already learning from her. It is a little more work, and I'm having to make sure they get one-on-one time with me every day, but it works with my schedule & I love being with them anyway.

[Allie Oop]

I was ready for another from the first day, but hubby was not. We are, however, going to adopt a second (hopefully, a male about 2 - 4 yrs. old) in the early spring. Hubby loves Allie and is now ready to take on another BC!

 

Good luck!

[juliepoudrier]

I don't have an opinion on having just two border collies, as I have nine! Two is usually better than one as far as I'm concerned. That's how I got started, my first purebred border collie (a rescue) I got as a companion for my first dog (a border collie x australian shepherd), also a rescue . It just sort of expanded from there....

 

J.

[painted_ponies]

I agree with BC having companions. Violet is an only BC right now, although I have two tiny house dogs. They're not really companions for Violet, though, since they can't keep up with her and she's four times their size.

 

When Vi lived in her last home, she had two ACD's to play with. I was feeding her the same amount as her last person had, but she ballooned in size and developed quite the weight problem within a few months. I've cut back her ration since, of course, but I still think the best solution would be for her to have a BC companion.

 

The ACDs were a little too pushy for Violet - the reason her last home gave her to me was because she was always getting pushed to one side by the ACDs. But at the one herding trial we've been to so far, I could tell Violet really loved the company of other BCs.

 

Now I just have to work on DH so he agrees we should keep our foster.

[Dixie_Girl]

I got Skip when Jackson was about 19 mos. and he had all his "at home" commands down pat. That part really helped cuz I noticed from day one, Skip seemed to look to Jackson for proper behaviour. Skips recall was easier because Jacksons was so good and he followed. I wondered if Skips recall was "real" or if he was just following Jackson. Yesterday when DH took Jackson with him to the store, Skip was out front with me, and one whistle, the recall whistle, he came running to me! I got the two foster girls, 8&9yrs. old, when Skip was about 4mos. and that was not a prob either.

[BCMomma]

We have two BC's and they are 2 years apart. Our Rudi went into a depression when our older dog, Ciji, suddenly died. She was very tempermental during this depression and it took some work to get her back to her old self knowing her house training, etc. We felt it was best to pamper her but then she got destructive digging and that led us to getting Lili and it was the best thing we ever did. We will no longer have just one dog ever.

 

Good luck with your decision on whether to expand your "family" but I say go for it!!

[borderlicious]

I'm bringing home a new BC baby this month. I currently have 2 dogs, a BC and a Papillon. Multiple dogs is much more work. And more money. And more time. And WAY more chaos. And stress and heartache, if they don't get along.

 

But, to me, they're worth it. I love having them around.

[Root Beer]

One thing I've found about getting multiple dogs is that the new addition always benefits from the original dogs.

 

Sammie didn't play with Speedy in particular, but Speedy followed him out to the back yard to potty and he watched Sammie sniff and play and he learned a lot from him. And, of course, Speedy was never left home alone as a puppy because Sammie was there.

 

Maddie became Speedy's best pal when she joined us. Speedy was 10 months old when we got Maddie. He was nervous around her for one day and then they were rolling around together under the coffee table and were best friends. Of course, that doesn't alaways happen, but it did with us.

 

She also followed the two of them out to potty and she always had Sammie and Speedy to play with.

 

Of course, each dog gets individual time and training, but overall, I find that as a pack, they do occupy each other a good bit.

 

Now Dean has joined us and I think he has really thrived as a member of the pack - even in just two and a half weeks. I couldn't see him as an only dog at all - I think he would be much more of a handfull if he wasn't busy a lot of the time learning Border Collie things from Speedy and doggie things from Maddie and Sammie.

 

As to breed, I will always add purebred Border Collies to the group. In this short time, I already see instances where the Border Collies are busy with one activity and the mutts are off doing something else!