# ava's brother for sale



## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

i saw an ad for a dog that i am sure is one of avas litter mates. i am entertaining the thought of maybe getting him and raising them together? do you think this would cause problems with ava? seeing as she has been he for a while by herself. i have dog sat for my brothers poodle for a month so she has had a dog around and i bring her around dogs when i can.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

armymp1014 said:


> i saw an ad for a dog that i am sure is one of avas litter mates. i am entertaining the thought of maybe getting him and raising them together? do you think this would cause problems with ava? seeing as she has been he for a while by herself. i have dog sat for my brothers poodle for a month so she has had a dog around and i bring her around dogs when i can.


 
How old is Ava? Is she well trained?

I dont think it's a problem unless Ava isn't trained the way you want her to be. 

I have 2 male dogs that are the same age and they get along great but they are not siblings.

I would think it would be ok.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

they are both 4 months old. ava isnt completely trained but we work on it everyday. i personaly have alot of free time to work with her. it isnt for sure i am just looking at the option of giving her someone to play with.


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

armymp1014 said:


> they are both 4 months old. ava isnt completely trained but we work on it everyday. i personaly have alot of free time to work with her. it isnt for sure i am just looking at the option of giving her someone to play with.


Ok, I am going to give you my experience. 

I raised 2 Lab/Chow/Rott/Border Collie mixes. They were brother and sister, I was out of school and I only worked a couple of hours a week so I had a ton of time to spend with them. It was EXTREMELY difficult. It was the hardest thing ever, it was twice the bites, twice the potty accidents, twice the effort. They were very closely bonded to each other, I didn't exist while they were together. I would never get 2 puppies at the same time.

People can do it, people can make it work and everything turns out great but I dont think everyone can do it. I wanted to give up several times.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

that thought had crossed my mind. there is a guy who goes to the dog park who was 3 litter mates 5 months and he said he was sure what he was getting into and the he often thinks of getting his head checked. i would kinda like to get ava a friend but dont know if it is best to wait or to do it while she is young like she is. my brothers dog comes over fairly often but he is a 9 year old "snoodle" lol and doesnt want to be within 6 feet of ava


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

armymp1014 said:


> that thought had crossed my mind. there is a guy who goes to the dog park who was 3 litter mates 5 months and he said he was sure what he was getting into and the he often thinks of getting his head checked. i would kinda like to get ava a friend but dont know if it is best to wait or to do it while she is young like she is. my brothers dog comes over fairly often but he is a 9 year old "snoodle" lol and doesnt want to be within 6 feet of ava


I would wait until Ava is at least 6 months old (that way you should be perfect on potty training and she has a better attention span so that will help with training) and I think it would be best to adopt/rescue or get an older puppy from a breeder maybe one that is 1 year old or older. 2 young puppies at the same time would be very difficult. If you get a young adult you have a better view of their personality and hopefully you skip potty training and hopefully they know some basic obedience.


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## armymp1014 (Aug 14, 2010)

that makes alot of sense. thanks


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

Huge, huge, mistake.

Raising 2 pups at one time in a Family Setting


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## LaRen616 (Mar 4, 2010)

I hope I helped. 

I got my GSD Sinister when he was 11 weeks old, he is now 1.5 years old. He is very well behaved, very calm when I want or need him to be, he listens very well, I can have him off leash anywhere and he will not leave my side, he is exactly where I want him to be when it comes to training. 

2 weeks ago I adopted a 1.5 year old male GSD/Husky mix named Rogue, he is potty trained, smart, eager to please and a very fast learner. Within a couple of days he had our routine down, he sits and waits for my release command when eating, getting into and out of the car, when going in or out of the house, when playing with toys and when walking.

It was very easy bringing in another adult dog. He got along right away with everyone, he is great with the cats and my other dog and I know his personality. He's a sweetheart. :wub:


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## doggiedad (Dec 2, 2007)

if i were getting another dog my first
dog would be well trained and highly socialized
before i brought in another dog.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

Rerun said:


> Huge, huge, mistake.
> 
> Raising 2 pups at one time in a Family Setting


I absolutely agree with this. Personally, I prefer a minimum of a year between adding a puppy- others prefer even longer. 

There is a GIANT difference between 2 dogs and 2 puppies. We raised 2 puppies and they had to be kept separate most of the time. You get less sleep because they keep each other up...you have a hard time giving both pups the individual time that they need...Vat bills double. Food costs double. And training is more difficult.

People get 2 pups and think "Hey look how cute they are together! Now I have to do less work because they wear each other out!"

What they don't anticipate is a year later "Crap. I have 2 big dogs that don't give a flying banana for me, they won't listen. I can't train them. They have issues if they're not together, and issues when they are together!"

It can be done. But it's not easy and it's not fun. It does settle out over time...but if you have the choice it's not something I would do.


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## Rerun (Feb 27, 2006)

JKlatsky said:


> I absolutely agree with this. Personally, I prefer a minimum of a year between adding a puppy- others prefer even longer.
> 
> There is a GIANT difference between 2 dogs and 2 puppies


Totally agree. Having two dogs of similar age where one was adopted at a later time is not the same thing as raising two together from the get go. I would worry more about the littermates bonding together and having trouble with initial training than the actual aspect of having two dogs in regards to bills. financially if the OP can afford it, go for a second dog or a third or however many in the future. But at only 4 months, I wouldn't personally add a littermate of the same age to the picture. Within the next year you will likely regret it.


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## LeftyGinger (Sep 2, 2010)

I may be the exception here but I bought a brother and sister puppy @ 4 months old. I absolutely KNOW I'm the exception here: 2 potty accidents in the house since I've had them and they are 9 1/2 months old now. I am a stay at home mom so I have tons of time with them, they're almost never crated when I'm home and haven't been since I got them. I spend ALL DAY with them, playing, training, watching and waiting to see what kinds of havoc they're going to invoke. So far, I'm exceptionally impressed. Bayla has been my only trouble maker and that's been very minor, drywall chewed twice and not too awful. She is definitely mischievous though, will pick up and carry around shoes but doesn't eat them. 
We keep in touch with 2 other litter mates and visit with them regularly because they live close. They all get along very well. I've read everywhere how you're never supposed to have siblings together or pups near the same age because of all the problems and I've been extremely lucky to not run into any of these problems.......as of yet. But I also dedicate my life to them and making sure that I don't run into these problems. I spend tons of time with them together, but make sure that they each get their own time with me also so that their bond with me is just as strong as it is with each other. To be honest, I absolutely LOVE having both of them, they compliment each other wonderfully. Bayla is my worker, the energetic girl and Bruno is so mellow it's almost funny. Everything is double, toys, treats, leashes, collars, beds, crates, poops, vet bills, training..... it's consistently outrageous how much I spend on the "twins" but I love watching them play together, nap together, stuff like that. 
I honestly believe it's do-able, but it's like having twin babies at the house, there's never a dull moment, but it's a lot of work... I don't want to say "one day my work will pay off" because I see how it pays off now, I get the results I want by putting as much effort into them as I am. If you slack in any way, any shortcuts, any laziness, it will bite you in the butt....literally.


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