Puppy with other dog?

[Fran27]

I'm getting a puppy in a week. Any advice on how to proceed with my other dog?

Obviously, I'm going to have to make things differently as I did with my first one. I would like to crate train him as well, so I can use the big crate and close up an area when needed, mostly at night as my other dog is free in the house. The thing is, we still crate our other dog when we leave the house, so will it be safe to leave them together, or should I just buy another crate? Will it be a problem to have the puppy crated in another room while the other sleeps with us? The thing is, I have no idea how big the puppy is, I'm getting him from a rescue.

Also, I left my first puppy in the room with me most of the time for a month with a gate, as it's the most puppy-proof one and I don't want the puppy to walk in the house where I can't watch him - obviously it can't work because I want my other dog with me too, but I don't want him to be able to only stay in one room - should I buy a play pen, or do you have any idea?

Any advice is welcome, thanks in advance.

[BigDog2191]

Well, one thing that should happen is that you should let them meet in neutral territory so that they don't have a dispute.

[Renee750il]

Keep both dogs with you in the room, that way you can supervise the getting acquainted process.

You don't want to crate two dogs in the same crate. Personally, I despise crates except as a last resort, but each dog MUST have its own crate of you feel you must. If one dog already has a crate then that is THAT dog's territory and putting another dog or pup in that crate will cause trouble.

If your older dog is reliable in the house when you're gone you might consider letting him be free while you're gone, or at least have the run of that one room that's safe.

[Fran27]

Yes i agree with the crate, we will get one when we pick him up, as I have no idea what size he will be.

We could let the puppy in the bathroom, but I think it's worse to leave a dog in a place where he can't see anyone than in a crate personally. In the crate, Boris can say hi to him, and when we leave the house they will be able to see each other at least. I really liked crate training because it makes things much easier as they don't pee in their crate. And being crate trained helped Boris a lot when he spent two days at the vet.

But yes, we're considering letting Boris in the house all the time now, I'm just nervous because he still makes mistakes, and I'm worried he will do something really bad if we are not in the house. He's great at night, but he mostly stays in the room. It won't be the same if there is nobody he can stay with. Hopefully he will stay with the puppy :) But that's maybe 5-6 hours a week anyway, as I'm home all the time.

The main reason I want to crate train the puppy is for housetraining by the way. It's what helped Boris hold through the night. I can't let the puppy out all the time at night obviously (probably once or twice), and I'm worried that letting him pee on the floor is going to make it longer for him to get it. I really don't know how people do when they don't crate their dog. We let Boris out of the crate at night as soon as he was totally housebroken, and we will do the same with the new one.