questions on adding cairn puppy to family

[coop]

We currently have a 6 year old male carin. We were thinking of adding a 1 and a half year old male carin puppy to our family. What is your experience with adding a nother male that is a puppy to the mix. Can there be problems with this?

Any input would be great.

Thank you, Mike

[kayharley]

There is always the potential for a problem when you add another dog to a household but alot depends on the personality and nature of your first dog.......and of course the new dog too.

Is your 6 year old neutered....and is the 1.5 year old? If not, I would seriously think twice about it. The last thing you need is a dog fight where one of them could be hurt. It's a horrible thing to experience.

Just my opinion, however.

[Aurora5000]

Chase and Gus love being together but I also reccommend the neuturing for both.

[coop]

my 6 year old carin "cooper" is a very mellow dog and has been nutered since he was a puppy. He gets along with many dogs everything from a pomerainian to a black lab. The new dog is a carin rescue dog and I want to help. Also my dog cooper will like having a little brother. Any other tips like schould the new puppy sleep in another room in his crate. Or should I have his crate in the same room as my older dog.

[Deb]

we have 2 males 9 mos and 7 mos. We got the Jack @4 mos when Gooner was 6 mos. they are best of friends. Neither are neutered yet. For us it has really worked out great

[Deb]

Oops I forgot to add, When Jack first came he howled the first few nights so we kept him in a separate room crated. They now have theirs crates side by side.

[AngusMacDoggal]

I have done rescue for over 10 years and in my experience of having a lot of different dogs coming in and out of the house, I have found that the neutered males get along sometimes even better than 2 females. It will depend on personality tho. I would introduce Cooper to the new puppy in a neutral place, just to make sure they are going to like each other right off the bat. I would also feed them separately (new pup in crate) Cooper in his usual spot. Same w/sleeping. What is the temperment of the younger dog? I would not hesitate to add another male to my household as long as the dog's temperment was complimentary to Angus. Angus is a very soft male, not in the least dominant. I would want another male just like him who would meld into our "pack" and not try to take over. The dog would have to follow the leader - ME!

[coop]

Thank you, for all your great advice. I have talked with my wife and we think the new puppy would be good for our cooper. He is a very mellow easy going dog. We are going to meet the rescue dog on sunday. We are very excited.

[kayharley]

And I'm excited for you too.

Please keep us posted on how it all goes....

Having one Cairn is great, having two is even better....I won't go on as to having 3, 4, 5 ..in my dreams

[jetersmom]

I have two males. I got Jeter when he was 5 and 1/2 months. I got Bernie at 7 1/2 months approx 10-11 months later. They get along fine but I got both neutered shortly after getting them.

Jeter is the alpha dog but Bernie will sometimes take a run at him and they wrestle and fight. It's play and mostly noise but it can be pretty funny. Bernie is like 13 lbs to Jeter's 20 lbs. On a rare occasion someone will yip but its never risen to the level of fighting.

When I asked my breeder about adding a second male, her opinion was that tempermant was the overriding factor not necessarily sex. That has proven true for me.

Good luck. One thing I suggest with adding a new pup is that you just don't leave them alone together until the new pup is big enough to hold his own should they have a dispute. I would leave mine alone together only after I knew they were going to get along and I increased the amount of time I would be away a little at a time.

[Pepandfriend's mom]

Just to add my two cents' worth ... I wanted to adopt a rescue to be a companion with my Westie after my dear Scottie passed away at 13. I worked with a local terrier rescue group I was very familiar with. The first dog that came home with me, a Scottie, turned out to be very needy and wanting all my attention. After a week I knew this was not going to work. He needed a one-dog household (which he had had before) and I needed a dog that could be with my Westie and not try to hog the attention. Long story short, the Scottie went back to the rescue group and was later adopted by a one-dog family, and I got my wonderful Cairn Pepper, who was four years old and just a sweetie.

Both my dogs are male, both were neutered as rescues before I got them. They get along fine though they are not "joined at the hip" as buddies. The Westie was two when I got his four-year old Cairn buddy. Just more background if you are interested in rescues.

pam

[coop]

We brought the new puppy Calvin home today. He is working out just great with our Cooper. They have been playing around the house all day. They are very cute together just like two buddies. They get along just great. We are very happy.

[cairnsby3]

Congratulations on the new arrival. One word of advice, keep everything the same in Cooper's life. If he gets a bisquit before bed, he gets his first. He gets fed first, he gets his leash on first. It's hard to do, because you will want to give the new one more attention, but always let Cooper know he is top dog. This is especially important because the new one will inevidently make mistakes, chewing on the wrong thing, uncalled for barking and Cooper will think he is getting into trouble too, so tell Cooper what a good dog he is alot.

Have fun!