HELP PLEASE

My husband went out a bought a 6 month old golden retriever for his 16 yr old daughter We have only recently married and he dosen't know anything about working dogs. I have had a deposit on a litter of GDS's to be born this month!
I know that you should not have 2 puppies or dogs run together. My problem is that I now will have 2 puppies. I have been training dogs for several years and have also been a fan of Leerburg books, Dvds and advise for years. My problem is that of course my step daughter has lost interest in the Golden and I really don't want my new GSD to be kenneled all the time. This new GSD pup is going to be trained in ShH and I have waited quite awhile for this breeding/ litter. The Golden is a sweetheart of a male but, it's not worth risking the future of my working line GSD pup. PLEASE ANY ADVISE. If I have to I will give the Golden to the breed rescue. My Husband dosen't understand all this and is fuming mad.
Thanks,
Dawn

Get the Golden crate trained so that when you get the GSD you can just have them out at different times.
Suggest that your husband train and exercise the Golden. If he has lost interest as well then maybe he will see the wisdom of re-homing the dog.
If the choice is good marital relations and some alternating crate time for two dogs, or a divorce, I would rather crate the dogs. Your GSD will need to be crated part of every day anyway.

Hi Dawn,

Where did he buy this Golden from? You should be able to return the dog to its breeder. (And the person who sold it should have screened better.... living breathing feeling creatures are NOT impulsive "gifts"!) A breed rescue will probably take it, but rescues are often overloaded with other beautiful throwaways.

Why did your husband buy this dog for his daughter? Did she want it? If so, is your husband allowing her to shirk her responsibility? A dog is a 10-15 year commitment, I hope the young girl can be taught that animals are not disposable. If she never wanted the dog in the first place, then this is your husband's responsibility. Did he know you were getting this GSD?

I raised a puppy in a home with 3 other dogs. I chose to raise him separately because I wanted him to bond with me, and not the other dogs. It IS possible to do this. Not ideal, but yes it can work. Many people on here have multiple working dogs. The key is to use dog crates and spend individual time with each dog. Your husband should be looking after his dog and you can look after yours.

In fact it might be helpful for your puppy to learn to lie quietly in his crate with his chew toy, while the other dog is out/being worked with - as he will come across this situation in training and at trials.

Individual walks, training time, potty schedules, and playtime are what's needed.

Good luck!!

See, I have issues with the whole responsibility thing and the comment of

"I will give the Golden to a breed rescue if I have to"

Uh...you entered into a relationship with this man and his existing family.

We, as adults, ALL know kids lose interest in a pet MOST of the time.

You AND Hubby need to sit down and work it out. I am not a big promoter of the whole "dog ain't my responsibility" when it comes to situations like this.

Sounds like you knew the Golden was there, knew the girl has lost interest, and yet you still proceeded to place a deposit on a puppy before you decided what to do with this dog and now you want advice on what to do.

Step up, raise them separate, work it out with hubby and give both dogs the wonderful, structured home that they both deserve.

Not the Golden's fault that he was brought into the situation.

IMHO, the Golden is old enough to where it is not like raising two pups the same age.
I have 6 dogs here that were raised and are trained separate, but can be together when I allow it.

Not trying to be rude or anything, but this can be done.

Carol, if I'm inferring correctly from the OP, the deposit was made some time ago, prior to the hubby bringing home the Golden.

 Quote: Dawn Davis

I have had a deposit on a litter of GDS's to be born this month!

In other words, the hubby knew about the deposit, and brought the Golden home anyway. (Which almost makes me think he did it so the daughter wouldn't get jealous of her stepmother & dog.)

Ditto on the above.
The golden is more than old enough to allow for a second pup, and it is always good to keep them separated ANYWAY until they are old enough to be around "distractions" like other dogs - even in your own home.
There is no reason you can't have both. Separate crates, rotate who is out.
Even if you did NOT have the golden you would need to keep the GSD crated at times throughout the day - whether you are there or not. It is VERY important that the dog not think that just because people are home, it no longer needs to be in the crate.
A sample schedule:
Wake up, take dogs out, on leash, one at a time (puppy first due to lack of bladder control and housebreaking etc)
Both dogs in crates, have coffee, whatever
Take pup outside, big game of whatever, tire out pup, back in crate, feed
Take Golden out while pup is eating, go for a brisk walk, maybe a game or two or a short OB session. Back in crate, Feed
Take pup out to pee etc ONLY, then back in crate, remove bowls.
get kids off to school, etc breakfast
get ready for work or day, shower, etc
Take each dog out separately to pee again
Go to work, errands, or sit down at home, do yard work etc
Come home/finish up whatever you are doing at home, put stuff away, etc. I don't know your schedule, but if you work and come home for lunch then this would be a good time to do this:

Take dogs out to pee, pup first (again because of bladder issues not anything to do with rank, etc)
Play with pup, maybe a little luring with treats to start teaching basic OB commands that will be taught more formally later, back in crate
Take out Golden OB session, maybe a walk, etc Back in crate, or maybe keep tethered to you for a little while around the house, then crate
Take out pup, pee, then maybe have tethered to you in the house for a little while, then back in crate. (Having the dogs on leash here is if you have the time. If you are on lunch break or whatever you may not, so just a quick potty break, short play time for each, then back to work.)
Come home (if you went back to work) Quick potty break for dogs, back in crates, get kids taken care of, take care of dinner, carpool, kid activities, whatever
Take out pups one at a time, little OB, maybe a walk if there is time, feed (and potty again, at least for the pup)
Dinner (dogs in crates) clean up, get everyone settled with evening activities
Potty break for dogs, take out one of them for a tethered time out of crate, maybe a walk for the Golden, then tethered time for pup, etc
Take pups out one last time before bed, put them in crates, go to bed

There are no times or anything like that on the schedule because it isn't really necessary that at 5 pm sharp the dogs are fed, 6:35 they go for walk, etc.
Just have a general schedule that is more or less structured in sequence, not time. Vary as the pup grows, and on days that don't apply to this (like weekends, etc.)
One day the dogs may be crated for 4 hours after breakfast, then next for 30 minutes. It just depends on the day and what you have planned.
Since you really don't have to worry about the dogs being anywhere near one another for a while, it really won't matter that you have a golden and a GSD. If no one is wanting to take care of the golden, then maybe consider training it and working with it yourself, to show your sig. other and his daughter the responsibility needed to own a dog. It may help prevent a fight as well, and still get the message across.
Plus, you can do some of the activities with the golden to learn yourself: like the OB work, the tracking, etc. Sometimes it helps to learn on a softer dog first, then you will be more experienced when it comes to the GSD
JMO

One small thing that I do is to have pretty set times for meals at first because of the connection between meals and potty training.

And while I'm sure that it wasn't meant this way, there is really no way for us to talk on the 'net (because we have no information about it) about the dogs' relative softness or hardness. (Who knows what "a sweetheart" means? )

It's good to be careful about terminology.

Dawn,
Not that it really matters I quess, but I'm confused, did your hubby get this dog before or after your marriage? Was he aware before hand you were looking forward to getting a dog of your choice?
That a sixteen year old would lose interest in the pup....well really, who could imagine? So your husband has disavowed any interest in what happens with the dog as well? Which, if I'm not mistaken leaves you holding the bag (correct me if I'm wrong), and it sounds rather like you don't really care for this stupid useless animal laying about that you have to take care of. After all you're off to the ring, and the 'new' pup will take a good deal of time outside of sport at any rate. Well...on that note maybe you should find a new home for this pup. Before he gets caught up in any human soap operas that he has to suffer, through no fault of his own.

If it was I in your shoes though, I'd start making accomodations for two dogs in my life. I'd figure, hey I've got 8 to 10 weeks to work with the dog I already have here right in front of me. I'd think, gee what can I do for ob. I'd think golly, tracking is always fun, hey I could use some work in some stuff my self. And I've got this wonderful, pliable, wanting to please in front of me.....Okay boy let's go! Lets see what we can do!
Any ways, thats what I'd do.


If my dog isn't learning, I'm doing something wrong.
Randy

 Quote: randy allen

... If it was I in your shoes though, I'd start making accomodations for two dogs in my life. I'd figure, hey I've got 8 to 10 weeks to work with the dog I already have here right in front of me. I'd think, gee what can I do for ob. I'd think golly, tracking is always fun, hey I could use some work in some stuff my self. And I've got this wonderful, pliable, wanting to please in front of me.....Okay boy let's go! Lets see what we can do!
Any ways, thats what I'd do. ...

"Side effects" being: Build a great bond with this dog (and who says you can't have a great bond with a couple of dogs? Not me, that's for sure!); demonstrate to the rest of the family what a real dog person does; get some solid ob and FST practice in; build this dog's confidence.

Hey, lets not assume that this 16 year old can't be made to take care of this dog...

When I was 16 I loved my little fawn Boxer Dog named "Brandy". I got her when I was 14, and I learned more from that one dog, about training, love, loyalty, life and flatulance, than anyone I've known or anything I've ever done since.

Brandy helped me through the death of my father, high school, gaining a stepfather and other teenage angst. Perhaps what this kid needs most of all is to keep this damned pup.
Tell her she doesn't get to dump a living being- the pup is family, and family sticks together.
Through accidents on the carpet, chewed shoes, divorces, marriages, stepparents...


Brandy finally got cancer, and after a long happy life, she was PTS in 2006. I miss my floppy eared, drooly dog.