Hello All,

My dad and I are raising two boxer puppies. The female is 10 weeks and the male is 8 weeks. I have them crated separately and I play with them separately outside. My dad and I have opposite work schedules so it's easy to take care of both pups. Someone is always home with them.

At what age will my pups be able to play together outside under my supervision?


I've read almost all of Ed's ebooks and I believe he says don't play with the pups indoors. Is this to prevent them from being wild in the house?

Thanks in advance for your replies. I look forward to getting my Leerburg Training DVDs in the mail soon.

Happy New Year!

Cory

I'm letting my 16-wk old Sheltie play with other puppies two hours a week, tops, through playgroup sessions (so it's dogs I have a feel for, and there are other experienced dogfolk around, so it's not average Joe and his crazy puppy). I let him interact with older dogs (in a 'meet and greet' fashion, not a 'playtime' fashion) whenever a safe opportunity arises.

I'm assuming you have held off until now because you want the dogs to bond to you/your dad, not to each other. I think if you limit the time they play together you won't have much of a problem. If this was my situation, I would take the two for a short walk together (with your dad, one dog to a person) and let them play after the walk. I would also consider, when they are older and have better attention spans (like in the 4-5 month range) training the two at the same time. That way they get used to keeping their heads on straight when the other dog is around.

Hi Cory,

Welcome to the Board,

If you haven't already read this article, I would highly recommend that you do.

http://www.leerburg.com/pdf/raisingtwopuppies.pdf

Regards,

My question is very similar so I thought I'd post in here ... Am I supposed to start a new thread ??

Anyway my puppy is 5 months and has been separate from other dogs for about 5 weeks. He seems to be bonding with humans (me and my friend who helps care for the dogs) really well.

I have two other dogs who are adults. My female could care less about the pup but my male is really playful and he loved to play with the pups when they were small. He was always really good with them. When my puppy is out he will try and go up to my male while he is in the crate and roll over and act playful. My male will do this to my pup when the pup is in his ex-pen.(I always stop them).

I am not concerned about the male hurting the puppy. However I do think it would be a good idea to tire them out.

But I understand the reasons and concerns regarding bonding on why to keep them separate.

So would it hurt to let them play in the back yard together say, one hour a week, or would that backtrack my progress (the male is very doggy, and the puppy was doggy but seems to be coming around with separation). And at what age is the "dogginess" set. (My adult female, who is about 4-5 years old, was raised with people and she is not doggy no matter how many hours she spends with my other dogs, so she is "set" I think, but my puppy is still learning.) Basically I am wondering how old my puppy has to be before I can leave him out with the other dogs and not worry about bonding. ???