Going from 1 dog to 2 dogs?

victordlt43

victordlt43

New member
hi guys, I will be going from 1 dog to 2 dogs (English Pointers) and wanted to know if anyone has encountered any problems with this? hunting drive?jealousy?fighting?etc..... I know of monthly food costs for sure :p. thanks guys
 
I brought a 10 week old Brittany pup into my home on March 23, 2010. I had Tony my 11 year old Brittany. Tony accepted the pup without question. He has for sometime now been real buddies with him. They play, run and do things together. Tony actually spoiled him. He lets him steal his chews and all sorts of stuff. Other dog owners have told I am extremely lucky Tony is tolerant of Gunne. So I am assuming, it really depends on the dog. You could have the problems you stated. Or you could be lucky like me and have a pair of good buddies........Bob
 
hi Bob, yeah I hear you but i think I'm helping the situation with having a male already and bringing in a female instead of another male cause i think it can get tricky with 2 male attitudes lol, thank you and great to hear you got 2 best friends and hunting pals :)
 
Victor, Yes, I was lucky with 2 males. My son has the sister to Tony, both from the same litter. He got 2 GSP male pups several months ago. She is meaner than all get out with them. They come near her and she turns into a growling. snarling, snapping beast. But your new dog, if she is a pup you should have no trouble. The male will fall in love and guard her as his own pup.....Bob
 
victordlt43 said:
hi Bob, yeah I hear you but i think I'm helping the situation with having a male already and bringing in a female instead of another male cause i think it can get tricky with 2 male attitudes lol, thank you and great to hear you got 2 best friends and hunting pals :)
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Sometimes you can have issues with 2 headstrong or dominant males, but that isn't always the case. Many times bringing in a male pup into a household with another already established older male will be no problem what so ever. The older dominant male will set the pecking order almost immediately and that will be that. I've heard much worse being said about two females living in the same household.

I brought a male pup into our home with an already established 9 year old male who was by himself for all of those years. He adopted the youngster with patience and never had any issues even to this day with the youngster who is now 4 and larger and stronger than the old man going on 14. Still respects the old man though.

Above all is what you yourself allow. You are the alpha male and you alone dictate what is allowed and what is not allowed when it comes to behavior.
 
I have 3 GSP'S 2 females and a male, and they get along great. Bought one as a pup and brought the other 2 in over the last year. They play together and hunt together without any problems. I hunted them all seperate the first 10 or so times and now they hunt together without out any problems. I do keep them kenneled seperate, but when out running them I let them run at the same time..

Rod
 
This was my 1st yr to hunt with 2 dogs. Opening day I alternated them for 1/2 a day worried about what it would be like handling 2 dogs & shooting.

By afternoon we were short dogs so I started running them together - been running together since. Sometimes they tandem retrieve but it's always in good spirit.

I have a 1 & 2 yr old & I usually trained them together. I would swear the pup caught on quicker cause she watched the older dog.

No way could she be smarter because I paid less than half of what I did for my male. :D
 
I don't think you will have any problems with the two dogs getting along. But when it comes to training and running them in the field together you will have to pay close attention and see how they do. All dogs are different so you have to "read" your dogs. There is not doubt that sometimes a young dog can learn from an older dog. But it's not always the case. I had an 8 year old male Brittany when I got a new female pup. He was a dominant retriever and by hunting them together I ended up training the young female not to retrieve. :( I had to put the male down at 13 a couple years ago so I got another female when my existing one was 5 years old. I have now had them together through 2 seasons. I hunt them together approx. 50% of the time. But I see that they both seem to do a better job in the field when hunting without the other one. I don't know if it's a competition thing or what, but sometimes when they are hunting together they get to wanting to see who can out run the other and are not really hunting like they should.

So my experience in hunting 2 dogs together has not been the best. But like I said previously, all dogs are different so you have to see how yours do. Good luck and let us know how they turn out.
 
I asked my Trainer if when developing Gunne's hunting ability. Would it be all right to take him out with Tony and let him learn from him. He said; No, never run them together. They get lazy for one and want the other to do the work. He also stated that Gunne needs to develop his own hunting style. The best way to do that is let him learn by his mistakes. You can also correct bad habits quicker if only one dog is working. IT makes sense to me, But I never got the chance to get Gunne hunting last fall with his broken leg and so forth.......Bob
 
bobeyerite said:
I asked my Trainer if when developing Gunne's hunting ability. Would it be all right to take him out with Tony and let him learn from him. He said; No, never run them together. They get lazy for one and want the other to do the work. He also stated that Gunne needs to develop his own hunting style. The best way to do that is let him learn by his mistakes. You can also correct bad habits quicker if only one dog is working. IT makes sense to me, But I never got the chance to get Gunne hunting last fall with his broken leg and so forth.......Bob
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I've heard that too, & in retrospect, I have dogs with 2 very different styles, both labs, but one pointing.

It's hard to generalize dogs though, by using words like "never". I've seen both schools of thought or......maybe it's that my older dog doesn't have any bad habits :D
 
kdeckels said:
It's hard to generalize dogs though, by using words like "never". I've seen both schools of thought or......maybe it's that my older dog doesn't have any bad habits :D
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Agreed. That's why in my post on this thread I said you have to learn to "read" your dog. I might work to hunt & train them together and it might not. You have to make that determination based on each individual dog.
 
Dakotazeb said:
Agreed. That's why in my post on this thread I said you have to learn to "read" your dog. I might work to hunt & train them together and it might not. You have to make that determination based on each individual dog.
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Agreed - somehow missed your post.
 
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