Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 5:09 pm Post subject: When to get another pup?
I found out today that Lottie's mum may be pregnant. We have recently been discussing getting another puppy.If she is and they were born around the beginning of June,I would love another. We got Lots at 11 wks (my breeder prefers them to leave after 10wks) and this would take us to August/Sept when Lottie would be 18 months.Is this too soon? What would you do? I'm not sure that Fern will have any more pups and Lottie has been so amazing I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to get another of her babies.
Can anyone advise? Many thanks
Barbara
PS.I'm unbelievably excited and I don't even know if she's even pregnant!!
The decision of course is ultimately yours Barbara, if you feel that Lottie is mature enough and is as well trained as you`d like her to be in respect of walking etc then go for it
At Lotties age she`ll hopefully teach the new pup a lot, like the housetraining as it`ll be likely to follow her lead
If this is the only litter that the girl will be having, and you're determined to have another from her, it doesn't sound like you have a lot of choice. It might not be ideal timing, but if you really want to, I'm sure you'll cope!
I'm not planning a second dog - but if I changed my mind, I'd be looking to find a pup the summer after Jed was three - if by that time I was pretty confident that he was steady enough. September was when we got him, and it's a pretty good time of year to have a new pup, if the weather is kind.
I'm not sure whether we should cross our fingers that she is pregnant, or hope she isn't, so you can have a bit longer with Lottie as an only dog!
Thanks Mary and Liz. In an ideal world I would wait probably another year. I may be wrong and Wendy may let Fern have another litter. I think I would like a little longer to spoil Lottie and I am thinking about some gundog training for her which would be easier if I could concentrate on that.
Today we went on a fantastic walk with Lottie's 2 older half sisters and they have SO MUCH fun together,swimming and playing,I just feel company would be great for her. We have never had 2 dogs before,only one so this is why I am hesitant. I can't have children so would have the time and money to spend on another pup and my OH is also keen.
I guess I just have to wait and see what happens....my biggest mistake would be to go see them if and when they are born...no chance of me not getting puppy broody
Thanks again.
Barbara
The multi million dollar question, except I got another when Macy was only 18 weeks old, ended up having to rehome Macy, so that is confession out of the way
If you are happy that Lottie is house trained, trained in other ways and you have the spay (if you decide to) out of the way, then you also have the time, money and love, I would say go for it
You know that the health checks have all been done and you know temprament wise she is sound, sounds ideal to me
There are no guarantees in life, even if her breeder plans to have another litter from Fern, this could still be your last chance.
Maybe I should have said, one of the reasons I'd be nervous about introducing another dog is that we do have a young son. He occasionally wants a dog of his own, but at nearly 7, Jed is the same weight as he is and much too strong for him.
Posted: Sun Apr 12, 2009 7:19 pm Post subject: Re: When to get another pup?
utlimately timing is personal choice - 18 months should be fine
Tilly1314 wrote:
I wouldn't want to miss the opportunity to get another of her babies.
The only thing I would say to this is don't necessarily expect a Lottie clone - Bronte is as far at the other end of the spectrum to Hope (half sisters) as it is possible to be (despite mum being incredibly laid back and both sires having very similar laid back natures)
Wish I could get a Lottie clone! Would be lovely..
Seriously though I know about 6 of Fern's pups from different fathers and all have the same lovely temperament and brains but very individual personalities. Ellie,who is 4 this year looks so like Lottie and is very affectionate. Lottie is her 'mini me'..and they have different dads.
I think what's happened is that she has been so easy to train (toilet trained faster than I believed possible) and just so laid back...that I hope I could get the basics right quite quickly (she crosses all fingers and toes!)
She is great to walk,brilliant recall and walks without pulling...and has never chewed. I guess I just hope that another of Fern's pups would have at least some of Lottie's good points and we could teach the rest.
Lottie has just been an absolute pleasure and so much more than we could ever have hoped for,we feel very very lucky to have her.
Mind you...she could still destroy the house tomorrow...you never know
Thankyou all for your replies and advice.
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