Third dog experiences? And we are ready!

You all know about my brother. the kids and Leo moving in.

This little cutie should be moving in within the next week or two, if my brothers wife stops being a mole. Fingers crossed sometime next week. I thought this wasn't happening for another month or two and mum wasn't sure if she was going to let Leo stay for sure. He'll be enrolled in puppy obedience and a socialisation play group at the same place so so far he'll have a good start when he gets here.



So.. My brother is a slack dog owner and doesn't do much with Leo and won't. To make my life easier and the fact I am so in love with Leo and he's a SBT, I'm going to work with Leo. I have been reading and learning a lot over the years, I've changed and matured. I now can drive so I'm learning so much more because of dog trainers and such. I want to try my best with Leo.

Before he comes, can anyone offer any advice they think that'll be important? Anything important things I should read? I have been reading a bit already.

Adding a third dog to the family, did anyone notice a change in the current dogs they had? Or the relationship they had with one another?

What do you like and don't like about having a third dog? I know time is a big one. I'm going to have to invest a lot in the dogs since Serenity's issues are being worked on and Leo being a pup, will need a lot of work. Sunny is the easy dog thankfully.. But I know I need to fit in time for him.

Any general advice on a third dog home? I'm all ears. I know the basic rules.

I'm nervous because he's a SBT, a high energy pup and I want to do right by him but I'm also excited because I have learnt so much more and I can do right by him and help my brother out so his dog isn't a nut case with no training in the future. I have been wanting a SBT pup SO badly so this is awesome, he ISN'T mine. He is my brothers. Though, the day my brother moves out, I don't know what will happen. At the moment I'm teaching him and I'm prepared knowing, he may end up leaving with my brother. At least I'll gain experience with a SBT and raising a pup, better then I have in the past.

On another good note, my brothers kids will be here one week on and one week off which will be awesome because Serenity will get a whole week without them every second week. Mum is taking me seriously with Serenity now and we are fixing up her kennel and the yard. I've had a chat with my brother, step-dad and mum, we are on the same page. Mum will talk to my other sister for me. So, things are looking good, things are being sorted out.

Now, hopefully Serenity will warm up to Leo pretty quickly! Life is defiantly going to get interesting. I'm not worried anymore. Everyone is preparing. I know my life is going to be taken over by kids and dogs but a well.

He'll be enrolled in puppy obedience and a socialisation play group at the same place so so far he'll have a good start when he gets here.

I cannot wait to bond with this little guy.. I can't wait to train, play and let him sleep inside. So excited. I'm a tad nervous having a Bully Breed around again but I hope it all works out well.

My experience is from adding a 3rd, a 4th and a 5th pup to the family.

The most important thing is to remember to give the other 2 dogs love & play time too so they don't think they are being pushed away because the puppy gets all the attention.

I think from what you've said about training, etc.... that you're taking the right first steps.

I had a staffy mix who was so special. She was a very loyal dog.

Adding a third was a bit of a bumpy transition, but now it feels like we have always been a 3 dog family.

I will second the "make sure you continue to give your other dogs lots of attention".

In my situation Cricket was totally fine with me adding Joey. Bamm was a little harder to convince, but they get along fine now.

The biggest thing I've had to figure out is setting aside training times so that I make sure I make the time to work with all 3 dogs individually.

As far as cricket and Bamm's relationship with each other after adding Joey. They are still best buds and absolutely adore each other. Bamm does get a little stressed out when Joey and Cricket play with each other and he used to try and hump Cricket while she and Joey played. He has gotten much better though and now joins in on the fun sometimes.

I still won't leave Joey and Bamm unattended. I at least keep a half eye on them and they are always within ear shot just in case. They can be offleash around each other for long periods of time now though which has been great.

Don't force it. Rotate your time, YOU are seeking another dog, not your dogs, so it is unfair to expect them to embrace it immediately.

We didn't have much of a problem adding Dante after Macie and Zander. Macie and Zander were always very close, but Dante didn't change their relationship with each other or us, although Macie got a tad lazy on the whole guard dog thing.

I think it was probably because they had a LOT of time to get used to him, though. He came to us as a pretty sick puppy. Demodectic mange, major food allergies, just one thing after another. So when it finally came around greeting the dogs, it was fairly lackluster. Like, "Oh, this thing? Yeah, we've seen/heard/smelled it for the past 5 months. Who cares?" and they'd just walk away or Zane would initiate play.

Perhaps it was my dogs' personalities, but it was actually the 4th dog that messed things up. Macie was 4/5 at that point, Zander enjoyed puppies, but he wasn't nearly as active either. Dante was super serious dog. So Goose (being the mouthy, bratty, angry GSD/Sibe mix he was) REALLY shook up the house and affected Macie's relationship with the other dogs since she mothered him so much. 5th and 6th wasn't as bad because of Goose, though. He was younger and the foster girls took pointers from him and mostly took it easy with the other three. But, we had fostered before Goose, and the other three were just fine.

So it really depends on the personalities and how you approach it. Since I worked rescue, number one rule in this house is to NEVER EVER throw dogs together and call it good. Ever. It just leads to stress, fights, and really overloads the new dog. Let them get used to the house and your routine for the first week to three weeks, THEN introduce the dogs. By then, they've already seen each other in passing, smelled each other all over the house, heard each other, and the new dog will be able to handle all that when they are more confident in you and your house.

I actually find it much easier in a lot of ways to have a third in rotation.

That said, my crazy little foster guy sooooooo was not my type of dog! I love him to frickin' pieces, but I'm glad he was just a foster. It was an amazing learning experience overall and worked out great for everyone involved. Made me feel a lot better prepared for future puppeh.

Oh and my parent's BC is obviously kind of our third when we go visit on the weekend. He's easy peasy. Aside from Scout being deeply, obsessively in love with him; its super easy and a great group dynamic. Will was so great with my little foster guy too. The little guy was such a douche to him and Will stoically ignored him and let me handle it. Good boy!

I wrote a post and it just vanished! So disheartening. Anyway...

My family has been adding dogs at a steady rate for 8 years, with my mom and I splitting the care of the 5 of them. Now that I'm not home, my grandma and mom take care of them with military precision and punctuality. I think more than anything, having an established routine was a necessity. With one dog things were free and easy; with the second one not much changed since care was totally split, but by the third we had settled into a schedule and the new dogs just fell into step. I know we were really lucky to have laid back dogs that got along great with each other, so there were no bumpy adjustment periods.

From personal experience, I'd advise finding out what each dog absolutely needs on a day to day basis and set that into stone. Then you can tack on extra attention, be it training or exercise or bonding or whatever, and not feel like any of the others are being ignored. For our chillax crew, an hour long off leash walk and 2 meals a day leaves them happy and relaxed all day. Not all of our new dogs came to us a puppies, but when they did I did make sure to give some extra love to the others since puppies take so much more time.

3 is weird. I still feel over-dogged..

I try to rotate, but Cider is grumpier and Smudge is needier than ever. Arson's never had people time and wants to be on my lap all the time. 3 is a little bed crowdy.. More to watch off leash in the park.

I love all three. I wouldn't give Arson back.. but 3 is tougher than 2 was.

As an afterthought, I don't know how much of a connection there was between our rigid schedule and the lack of issues between our dogs (or just dumb luck), but I feel like if the routine doesn't change much when a new dog comes in, the others were more accepting of them because obviously their current quality of life wasn't threatened.

Chewy in particular is dog-reactive, but she never had any issues with new dogs, or even dogs we were looking after for a while. Even the ones we were dog-sitting ended up being fed at the same time, dragged along for walks, etc... My mom's chihuahua rescue was a complete mess when we got her, but I think the structure she was entering (versus her previous situation and it's lack of structure) helped her chill, settle and learn to be more normal. She's still a raving lunatic around strange dogs, but there were minimal issues with introductions to our family.

ETA: Sorry it's kind of rambly, but I feel like, "Yay! Finally something I can comment on with some level of substance!"