# soon to have a little (?) brother



## 3 goldens (Sep 30, 2005)

I can only tell you about our experinces. First, our Irish Setter was 9 years old and he had been the only dog in the family his entire life (got him at 9 weeks) when we got our first golden puppy. I was a little worried as Boots had been the King of the house for 9 years. But he took an instant like to Scooter and really kind of acted like a mother. He would play with that little puppy. It was so funny. They would play tug of War and that 90 pound irish setter would let that 12 pound puppy "win" sometimes. They would wrestle, share a food pan. But to be on the safe side, we never left them along together the first few months. 

When Scooter was 14 months old, and Boots 10 1/2, we added Buck, Scooters full brother, but from a litter 8 months later. He was 6 months old when we got him, and he fit right in.

We lost Boots to bone cancer 1/2 years later at age 12, and then we lost Scooter 2 years later at age 5 to heart attack. Two months later we got littermates KayCee and Hunter, age 8 weeks. They played with Buck, but as with Scooter and Boots, I did keep them apart when i left the house.

I think the main thing is see what the other dog's reaction is to the new puppy. It he appears not to like the pup, don't push it. Let him get us to the idea of having another dog around. Make sure the older dog does not get left out--or i should say feel left out. That is hard to do with the demands of a new puppy. Do not leave them alone unsupervised for a while, until you feel you can really trust the older dog not to hurt the pup. Beside, it is best the pup be crated or in a puppy proof room with a baby gate.I put Hunter and KayCee in the hall bathroom with baby gate across it when I had to leave the house. They slept in a mesh play pen beside the bed at night.

Hope this helps.


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## Brandy's Mom (Oct 5, 2005)

When you bring the puppy home, make sure that the cavalier maintains his own space and schedule. Keep things as normal for him as possible, and give him some place where he can get away. 

We've got a shih tzu and two goldens. The shih tzu holds his own against his big sisters. But like the cavalier, he's a lap dog and he still needs that time with mom and dad.


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## Charliemaggie (May 25, 2005)

We brought Thunder home at age nine weeks, and Chester was age six--big age difference. We had Thunder meet Chester right away. Thunder responded to Chester like he was a very good friend. Chester was happy to have the pupster because we'd just lost our Charlie to cancer and he really likes to have a dog as a buddy.

Cheryl


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