# Your thoughts on adding a 2nd GSD



## MN GSD Fan (Nov 10, 2012)

Hello, We have a 9 year old female GSD dog that we love. We are thinking about getting a puppy and were wondering if there are opinions of the new dog being male or female. Also our current dog is getting up there in age and her back legs are starting to get a little stiff on certain days. Overall she's still very active, but would it be bad for a new puppy/dog to be running with her and potentially playing hard in her older years? I know with past dogs a new puppy has been a great thing, but this is our first GSD so wanted some of your opinions. Any other info is also appreciated.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

Definitely get a male and make sure he doesn't pester the senior. Lavish attention on her and make sure she knows she comes first. 

Welcome and the best of luck to you. Would love to see pics of your girl!


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

or you could get an adult dog that is past the annoying puppy stage , one that is set in temperment and would make a good companion for your older girl..


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## Nikitta (Nov 10, 2011)

All I can say is this website advised me away from getting two females. I got a puppy when my old guy was 14. He couldn't tolerate the puppy at all so I had to keep them separate. I think yours is young enough to take a lot more. Just like the above post said, monitor and lavish the older one a lot of love. And welcome. You are going to love this website. LOTS of smart people and info here.


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## Zeeva (Aug 10, 2010)

I usually like to point out to people that adding a second dog, in my experience, has been more than double the work. I have two dogs and it's been tough on me. I can't walk them together, let them out together, train them together etc plus I've to worry about resource guarding between them. If you're experienced in taking care of more than one dog at a time, I'd definitely say go for it! But if it's your first time taking care of two, I'd take precaution. I'd see how a foster does in your home and go from there (possibly foster fail the new dog! ). And I agree puppydom on an older dog can be petty harsh. Just my two cents... good luck to you!


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

As long as you've trained/socialized your current dog so know she'll do well with other dogs.....then I say you will do great with a puppy or older friendly pup. Advantage of having the older dog is you know all the great work you've done to make them great and ease to integrate a new pup. Best to get a male but more important is to do all the research to find a 'responsible' breeder to make sure you get the healthiest and best temperament in the new addition to your home.


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## shepherdmom (Dec 24, 2011)

MN GSD Fan said:


> Hello, We have a 9 year old female GSD dog that we love. We are thinking about getting a puppy and were wondering if there are opinions of the new dog being male or female. Also our current dog is getting up there in age and her back legs are starting to get a little stiff on certain days. Overall she's still very active, but would it be bad for a new puppy/dog to be running with her and potentially playing hard in her older years? I know with past dogs a new puppy has been a great thing, but this is our first GSD so wanted some of your opinions. Any other info is also appreciated.


Last year I added a puppy with our then 9 year old senior. The biggest advise I have to give is to let your old girl choose who she wants as a companion. We thought Buddy would like an older female for a friend so we started searching rescues. Turns out after many introductions... He chose a male 5 month old puppy.  They are best of friends.


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## MN GSD Fan (Nov 10, 2012)

Thanks for all the responses. We introduced our current GSD as a puppy when we had a 10 year old Golden Retriever and they became best buddies as well. We are hoping adding a GSD puppy to our current dog would bring the same results with proper training/introduction. Any other input or experiences is much appreciated.


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

puppy should be fine.

Most older dogs give a 'puppy license' to little one. Sometime a puppy breathes new life in an older dog.

I would get a 8or 9 week female.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

zyppi said:


> puppy should be fine.
> 
> Most older dogs give a 'puppy license' to little one. Sometime a puppy breathes new life in an older dog.
> 
> I would get a 8or 9 week female.


May I ask why you would advise getting a female?


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

I have brought in puppies with senior dogs, Dodge was almost 12 years old when I brought in Masi the crazy girl. I also have two aussies, at the time were 8 & 9 , I don't consider them seniors tho, they are still very active at 12 & 13 years old. STILL can give Masi (who's now 4) a run for her money

I do think a puppy while it can be a pain in the butt/torment an older dog, it can also bring some zip to their life as well and keep them younger


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

I got Kopper as a puppy when Rocky was 8. The advantage is that Rocky did a fabulous job of helping me train Kopper. I really believe the pup learned just as much or more from his older brother has he did from me. That said, now that Kopper is 2 and Rocky is nearly 11, I can see a time coming in the near future that I will have to keep them separate. Kopper still wants to play rough with his brother, and Rocky is beginning to lose some strength and not be able to hold his own. He still _thinks_ he can, but he can't. I'm hoping some of that might calm down when Kopper is neutered, but I'm not betting on it. 

I would also advise a male if you already have a female. 2 males can often get along very well. 2 females less so. A male and a female is often the best combination.


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