# New Havanes Owner Considering a 2nd Puppy



## Furley's Mom (Jan 4, 2009)

Hi,

I recently adopted a male havanese puppy (Furley) who is 4 mos now and I am considering getting another havanese puppy so he can have some companionship (it breaks my heart to leave him home alone) and just a friend to hang out with.

I was not sure if I should get a male or female? I was just curious what other ppl thought about having 2 male puppies or 1 male and 1 female? Ultimately I want Furley to like the other puppy and I wasn't sure if males do better with males.

I am sort of interested in a female puppy who is 4 wks now and she won't be ready until end of Feb. 

Any thoughts? I am so new at this!
Thanks,
Christina


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

The topic of which gender is probably one of the most often posted questions.
http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=6941&
http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=4630&
http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=2995&

Down the list a ways is probably when to add the second. LOL
Here is a topic on it from two days ago: http://havaneseforum.com/showthread.php?t=7171&


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## Britney (Jan 6, 2009)

I bought a second puppy, female with my present female and it was a disaster. First of all my older femal havanese is 9 years old. she did not take well to a new little sister in the house. The second puppy, also female was fantastic....great disposition didn't bother my dog at all and was a true havanese wonder. However, it was not working out and the first havanese could not handle the change. If I ever did this again I would get the opposite sex for sure as I think there is something to be said for male being more dominant over the femal. Two gemales are not a good mix expecially when there is an age difference as there was here. You are loooking at bonding two dogs close together in age and it may work. If it were me the opposite would work this time to what you have. I hoever, LOVE the females so it did not work out or me...dominant role etc. The little pupoy was returned to the breeder and fortunately found another home where she was the one and only. HAd the two dogs been able to co exist together I would have had no problems adkusting to the changes of a second puppy. You may want to take your male pup with when considering a second puppy to see how they get along?


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## casperkeep (May 16, 2007)

Well I have five femles in the house, three are havanese and the other two are a cocker spaniel and a yellow lab. The ages rage from 1 to 13. I guess it just depends on the disposition of the pups. They are all spayed. I would really think about it before adding a secound one so soon. Good luck!!


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

Britney said:


> If I ever did this again I would get the opposite sex for sure as I think there is something to be said for male being more dominant over the femal.


What do you mean about males being more dominant than females?


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## Cheryl (Mar 17, 2007)

Britney said:


> I bought a second puppy, female with my present female and it was a disaster. First of all my older femal havanese is 9 years old. she did not take well to a new little sister in the house. The second puppy, also female was fantastic....great disposition didn't bother my dog at all and was a true havanese wonder. However, it was not working out and the first havanese could not handle the change. If I ever did this again I would get the opposite sex for sure as I think there is something to be said for male being more dominant over the femal. Two gemales are not a good mix expecially when there is an age difference as there was here. You are loooking at bonding two dogs close together in age and it may work. If it were me the opposite would work this time to what you have. I hoever, LOVE the females so it did not work out or me...dominant role etc. The little pupoy was returned to the breeder and fortunately found another home where she was the one and only. HAd the two dogs been able to co exist together I would have had no problems adkusting to the changes of a second puppy. You may want to take your male pup with when considering a second puppy to see how they get along?


I think had more to do with the personality of the older dog and the fact that she was older. She was used to being queen and no dog (male or female) would be welcome in her life.

I happen to have a male and female. I did not look at genders, but I did look at the personality of the dogs. I know people with more than one male and more than one female and it works!

Please be more concerned about the dog's personality than the gender!


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## Jérôme (Dec 5, 2008)

I had first male Artus which is today 3,5 years old and I add male Cisco which is today 1,5 year old, I encounter no problem, thet are the best friends


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## Leeann (Feb 28, 2007)

I'm really glad this subject has come up again, I planned on researching some older threads (thanks Kimberly for making that easy for me) I'm not sure if this has been discussed in any of the older threads but my question is if I were to add a 3rd and wanted to keep the 3rd one intact does anyone think there would be a problem if I got another male?


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## Thumper (Feb 18, 2007)

Is your puppy having a lot of separation anxiety alone during the day? There is probably no guarantee that another dog will help with that, but I know others here have done this successfully, hopefully, they'll chime in.

I think if a dog has the disposition to be overly jealous of other dogs, babies, people, etc./possessive of their owner, it probably doesn't matter what the sex of the 'new' dog is, and some dogs just don't like other dogs. Typically, havanese are great with other havanese (I've never seen otherwise at the playdates I've had and there is always a new hav here) but I guess there are always exceptions to every rule, but maybe the overly jealous older dog was just not willing to share.


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## DanielBMe (Nov 25, 2007)

I have two males and they get along fantastically. Never a fight between the two. I think getting a second one is great. It keeps them both more active and happy. In my case anyhow. Just as long as you realize the added costs and the fact that it's a little harder to get away when you have 2. Finding someone to watch one dog is pretty easy but two is far more difficult.


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## earthnut (Aug 28, 2008)

I've read the best thing is to alternate genders and to fully train any existing dogs in basic obedience before introducing a new one. It's a heck of a lot easier to train one dog at a time.


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## Havtahava (Aug 20, 2006)

DanielBMe said:


> I have two males and they get along fantastically. Never a fight between the two.


In the neuter situation, I haven't known anyone that has two male Havanese have trouble. I'm sure there are some out there, but I'm not aware of them. Now, I've seen some fighting going on with intact males, but certainly not with neutered males. Females, on the other hand, it totally depends on the personalities.


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## lfung5 (Jun 30, 2007)

I think it depends more on personality. I feel the females are dominant over the males. In my case, Bella, who is the smallest, is the alpha of my 3. She is only 6lbs, but can get the 16 lb boys on their back in a second. My boys get along great. Scudder is a gentle boy and Fred is pretty passive. Bella loved Fred the instant I brought him home. She still has a love hate thing with Scudder, who was my third. Fred took a week to warm up to Scudder and now they are buddies. I feel the boys are more excepting and the females can be a little bitchy, but that's only from what I see with my guys.


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## Sheri (Oct 11, 2008)

I wonder if that works even between cats and dogs? Nitro (female cat) is definitely the alpha over Tucker.


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## DAJsMom (Oct 27, 2006)

I have two girls that get along just fine. Both can be bossy at times, but in different ways. Dusty is much more intense and Indie is more laid back. Neither seems very submissive to the other, but they play well and have fun together. I haven't had to break up any fights at all in the 9 months we've had two.


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## Doggie Nut (Oct 20, 2006)

Havtahava said:


> What do you mean about males being more dominant than females?


 My little 5 lb maltese is definitely the ALPHA in the pack and dominates my male hav Valentino. At some point I would love to get another male Hav so Valentino could have a buddy! :biggrin1:


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

Vicki-
My neighbor has a Maltese and my daughter fell in love. Any problems with your two? Do they play together? I'd like another Hav, and DH does too, but now my daughter loves the Maltese. (I think because they're so tiny!) What do you think? Any photos of your two together?


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## trueblue (Jan 22, 2008)

Scooter's Family said:


> Vicki-
> My neighbor has a Maltese and my daughter fell in love. Any problems with your two? Do they play together? I'd like another Hav, and DH does too, but now my daughter loves the Maltese. (I think because they're so tiny!) What do you think? Any photos of your two together?


My babysitter has 4 maltese....they are very cute, but way too little for me. I like a dog with a little more size. I can't even imagine Cricket with a tiny little puppy...I don't think she'd be mean, but you should see her play. She and Bentley (my springer spaniel) run, jump into each other, and roll around, and he probably outweighs her by 20 pounds or so. If she tried playing like that with a little bitty maltese, I'd be afraid for the puppy.


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## Scooter's Family (May 23, 2008)

I'm worried my boys might be too rough and hurt a tiny dog, not on purpose but they're 16 and 11. I think we'll probably get another Hav. Maybe later in the summer.


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## good buddy (Feb 20, 2007)

Scooter's Family said:


> Vicki-
> My neighbor has a Maltese and my daughter fell in love. Any problems with your two? Do they play together? I'd like another Hav, and DH does too, but now my daughter loves the Maltese. (I think because they're so tiny!) What do you think? Any photos of your two together?


Why not ask Amanda? She has two Havanese and a Maltese and they seem to do just fine together.


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## katdog (Nov 10, 2008)

We have 3 dogs all under 2 years old. Our havanese female was very challenging to integrate. However, we persevered and now several months later she plays with our male Standard poodle and Sheltie likes there's no tomorrow. But it wasn't easy and we reinforced pack order and NILF. They are easy going boys and she is hell on wheels ! Much more headstrong and temperamental . Very dominant. But we are the ultimate alpha and I believe that if your pack knows that then all will evenually be well.

So, yes add a second dog but be careful about temperament and I think the opposite sex usually works well.


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## hyindc (Apr 21, 2008)

*Two boys can work fine*

We have two males. We got Paco at nine weeks, and Luke (who was 11 weeks at the time) when Paco was 7 1/2 months. I think it is important to wait until the older one is housetrained and reasonably obedient (i.e., no more behavior issues such as chewing or pulling when on a leash), before bringing home number 2. I was also told that bringing in a second puppy when the first is young enough to still enjoy energetic puppy play reduces the risk of jealousy or turf issues. For us, we thought Paco was ready at 7 months.

I have been told that dogs of the opposite sex or two males work better than two females. But others have had two girls with no problems. Mainly, it is the meshing of temperament that is important. I gave a detailed description of Paco to our breeder (who had two litters for a total of 13 puppies at the time), so she could recommend from her babies the ones she thought would work best with Paco. Even so, the first two months were not easy. Luke was very shy in his new home, and Paco would get annoyed at Luke when Paco wanted to play and Luke preferred his quiet time. However, in retrospect, the first couple of months were well worth it. The two are now inseparable buddies. In fact, Luke, who once preferred his time alone, now whines if he cannot be with Paco. They play together between naps several hours every day. They sleep on each other. They clean (i.e., lick) each other. They don't like going on walks unless it is the two of them. And they are double the fun of just one!!!!!!!!!


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