Age Gaps

Jackson is 5 now. I honestly think if I go another 3 years or so without getting dog #2, I feel like I won't ever add one lol.

I think 4-6 years in between is ideal.

If my dogs were 'just' pets like they used to be, I'd say a year and a half to two years probably. But now that I'm getting more into sports, I can't really picture adding another until Journey is at least three. At least. Probably more like four or five. Entry fees cost, training can be costly and is time consuming, and I just feel like I'd be being unfair to Journey in that regard and others to add another dog before Journey turns three, and like I said, even then might be too soon as much as I'd love another.

The age difference between Keira and Dance is 8 months (it worked just fine because of their personalities, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it always) and the age difference between Keira and Ripley is just over a year (16mths I think). While everything was pretty smooth, I think it would have been better to wait longer between dogs. The four year age gap between Journ and Ripley is a good one for me, and I think my goal from here on out will be 4-5 years between dogs.

But really, I think much of it is dog dependent too. It was easy to add another young dog with Dance because Dance was never like having a puppy at all. We probably should have waited between the two Dobermans just to give Keira some more maturity and time, but she was mentally pretty past the puppy stage by the time Ripley came home so it worked out fine. And alternatively, for as easy as Journey is, she is pretty demanding as far as different needs go, and I really can't imagine adding another young dog/puppy at this point while keeping life fair for Journey. We have quite a bit of fun and learning to do together before I can realistically consider another.

ETA: I forgot to say also, I don't think I'd ever want more than 5 years between. I like to have an adult dog that still wants to interact and play with a puppy/young dog. Dance (almost 7yrs) and Keira (6yrs) have pretty much zero interest in other dogs or playing with them at this point. I like that Ripley is still puppy enough at 4 1/2 to play with Journey regularly... although I think it helps that he's a boy, and therefore probably will never grow up and become "too good for stuff" like my grouchy girls haha.

Not what I have now LOL.

I think my ideal number of dogs is 3, so in theory I would like a good 4-5 years between them. As of now, I won't be getting another puppy for a veerrryyyyyy long time.

Anywhere from 2-5 years. Next month Millie will be 12 and Fable will be 2. That's too far apart for my ideal. Millie has had to deal with a lot of puppy crap and at her age her tolerance is not as high as it was for Lucy, who came at a time she was able to give as good as she got.
And like other people said, too small a gap isn't good either. I don't want to have to lose multiple dogs so close together.

Erm, definitely not what we have.
Harlow is 3, Rider is about 2, and Story will be 2 in May. I wanted at least 2 years between ACDs, preferably more if they were working/in sports.

Sadly, Harlow has a low chance of being elderly with them. I guess it partly depends on breed.

In the future, I'd like to see 8ish years for cattle dogs. That allows enough time to bring up another working dog before current one slows down too much. I don't know what the future holds for other breeds in our household atm.

I like the split between the oldsters and Gabby. I really dislike having two old dogs right now!

I don't know if I want one or two of my own, so that's a factor as well.

I really like what I have now. Henry was a month shy of 7 when Rhys came home at 9 weeks. He is in excellent shape but has always been calm and lower energy, except for the first few months out of the shelter. He enjoys Rhys and has been a great teacher/playmate for him, but he's also mature enough to set good boundaries and not let Rhys run all over him. I discovered what a good job Henry had done when Rhys met some of his relatives, including his dad and sister, at five months. Rhys was very respectful and well behaved.

Henry is quite healthy so it was nice to go through the puppy vaccination stage with no health issues from him. Their ages also make end of life a little easier; they shouldn't experience the same health concerns at the same time. Henry is also my resident couch potato, so while I am jumping into the sport world with Rhys, he is content to cheer us on from the sidelines. Once I get the hang of barn hunt I may title Henry in it, but that's the extent of his interest in sports. Titling multiple dogs would get very expensive.

I don't see us having three at once so our next dog will most likely be 7-8 years out, depending on how long Henry lives. Two dogs are relatively easy to manage, take places, and rotate for quality time so it works for us.

I'd like at least five-ish years between dogs definitely. There were six years between Sally and Seamus, and there will be eight and a half years between Seamus and puppy. I can't imagine having two close together, it would stress me out and I'd worry about having two seniors. Losing Sally was so hard, I can't imagine losing Seamus around the same time, too. He really helped me through it.

Maddie and Bailey are about 6-7 years apart. Works for us!

It's honestly not something I've ever considered.

If my current dogs are trained and under control and I want another dog, then that about does it lol.

2-4 years is ideal I think. I want them to be close enough in age to be able to enjoy each other. Lucky was 11 when I got Rowan and he really hated having another dog around, even though Rowan was always very respectful. He didn't like other dogs much anyway but I think he would've adapted better when he was younger.

Rowan is about 5 years older than Riff. He was 6 1/2 when I brought Riff home. I really wanted to get a second dog before Rowan got older (8-9+) and it's worked pretty well. I want another while Rowan is still around, but I don't want him to be too old, and it might not be feasible until he's a senior. At that point I might just hold off. We'll see how it works out.

This exactly. Kim and Webster are only a couple months apart (though we got Webster a year after Kim, he came pre-grown. A little bit. Not like he grew very far.) and there are two years between Mira and Webster.

We're starting that whole five-years-between-thing...now. Ha. Mira turns five in July and sometime this year we plan to add our fourth. Then no more dogs for a very long time, least five years. If everyone lives forever (and that is my plan) then there will be no more dogs at all, so I hope our fourth is as amazing as our first three

I like a smaller gap than some here, 1-3 years. I like them to be young together, even if it sucks when they're old together.

My plan is and has been to start seriously looking into getting a puppy, or adopting another young dog, just after Astro turns 1. He's been, despite my occasional whining, a very easy young man - mannerly, not hyper, reliably housetrained, quiet, playful with other dogs, friendly to every stranger, quick to learn. I think he'll do well with another dog, and I'm anxious to have a multi-dog household, and I like (despite all the craziness) puppies and young dogs.

Mine are all three years apart right now. I'm pushing it a bit further on the next one, looking for four years... maaaaaybe five. Auggie will be ten (or eleven) when the next puppy comes home. At four dogs I will be full up until someone leaves me (or I get rich and move out of the city where the dog limit goes away) so that will be it for a while. I don't mind three years between them, but since I can't have six or seven dogs around in town, I need to stretch it out a bit more.

Ziva will be 7 in March, Kestrel just turned 5, Aeri just turned 3, and Snipe is just over 2.5y.

Personally I like the 2 year gaps. The 6 month gap between Aeri and Snipe was not planned - Aeri was supposed to be the last dog. There was a 7 year gap between Maggie and Ziva and that was OK, but I prefer closer.

I like a 3-4 age gap, I think.

Dogs growing up were 7 years between the first & second (too much!), the second and third were siblings (waaaay too close!) and the third and fourth were 6 months apart (still too close).

I like the 1 to 3 yr gap.
Tania will be 12,in May & Gaia is turning 3,in February so that's a gap that is too big.
The good thing is that Hovas stay young,for a long time!.

I like a one to 3 year gap.. Just depends. I do like them younger together, because I have a lot of breeds that will probably become more intolerant of dogs as they get older.

Kit was 3 when we got Frag. Frag was 2.5 when I got Sir (age 1 year) and 3 when I brought home Recon as a puppy. Now Kit has passed, Frag is 4.5, Sir is 2.5, Recon is 1.5 and Patton is 10 weeks. I like the spacing that we have, currently. I like being able to do different things with each of them and have them keep up with each other as well.

There's a 7 year gap between Rocky and Baxter, but I would prefer closer for my next dogs (when I move out Rocky will most likely be gone and Baxter is technically my sisters dog so I can't take him). I would prefer 3-5 years. Enough time to develop a solid foundation with first dog, but not so long that first dog would have to deal with adolescent energy as it gets up there in age.

I like a 4 year gap, personally.

However, Harleigh will be 5 in February and still no puppy plans for me.

Looks like my gap will be getting a bit larger