I have 2 lab x brothers who get really stressed out if they are apart from each other for even the shortest of time. I don't want to break the bond they have but I worry about if they did have to be separated for some reason. I have been considering getting another dog (the picture of Willow set me off thinking about this), has anyone any thoughts on this or any ideas to help them being comfortable with being apart.
Thanks LL
PS. Christine, has Willow found a home yet?
It may well even things out with a third dog, get them a little out of each other playing with another pal who either of them would then be happy to stay at home with if the second is absent.
I may have a more suitable friend for your two than Willow who is small, very sweet and rather subdued. We have recently taken in Baya (cause child being allergic) who is a young (born in January 2006) Berger des Pyrénées/Labrador cross, though she is nothing like a Labrador, smaller and slimmer with longish hair. She looks rather like Loopins on the forum, but she is black and very, very pretty. She has a lovely nature, loves playing with the other dogs and has been brought up with a cat.
I haven't taken any photos yet as our vet is very busy and we cannot get her spayed until 3rd May. But I can try to take some if you would like to see her.
There is of course Lovable Lola, a really great little dog http://www.completefrance.com/cs/forums/1192031/ShowPost.aspx
Here is Baya.
Thank you for your help Christine, unfortunately I don't think either Lola or Baya are the dogs for me. I agree, after thinking about it, that it will be better to get an older female about the same size as them and if I can talk OH round to my way of thinking will probably have a look at our local SPA in Limoges.
Catalpa, they are Labrador x Breton Spaniel 16 months old. I have probably been too soft with them as I hated to see how stressed they got being apart from each other and usually gave in, this, as you found, has made outside training, i.e lead walking (they take me for a walk) very difficult.
I am not sure if getting another dog, whilst I would like one, will be the total answer, hence the reason for my posting.
I would also caution having a third dog at this point. Whilst I am loathe to dissuade anyone to take on a dog who needs a home, given your situation at the moment, you could be making things even harder for yourself. However on the plus side, Christine is right, another dog might refocus their attention from each other, however I sort of doubt this. I have three dogs myself and my experience is that two dogs play together well, three often don't. Even when we have friends' dogs round, they often seem to play in twos. Although this might also be because two are gundogs and one is a hound, having similar age/types of dogs might work better
Also, given that your dogs are still young and need further training, it is a lot to take on. In trying to solve one problem, you might be creating a whole set of other problems. It might be better to try some other strategies to encourage them to be more interested in other people and not just each other. Anyway, I wish you luck with trying to sort this out.
Thanks for your replies Mossie and Catalpa, On reflection I think you are both right and if I get another dog I may be taking on or creating more problems. I had though about sending one of them away to a dog trainer which would give me the chance to work with the other one and would obviously get them used to being apart but someone told me they could end up being aggressive to each other, although I did wonder about this as they are both neutered, I am obviously going to have to think about this a lot more.
Thanks again for your replies and for giving me some food for thought.
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