Re: our golden retrievers

["Deb & Boyd McFail" <bdmcfail@alaska.net>]

I'll chime in on this one with the little bit of the story that I have direct
experience with if you like?


>>So, it seems like there are some lessons to be learned in this story. Just
>>not sure what they are. Getting two puppies at once?
>
> Getting two pup's at once can be a challenge, not undoable though as one
> should never say never but it is a commitment and certainly can be
> harder...  For the average person who works away form home 12 hours a day
> it's really not a good idea unless they have support systems in place, heck
> even one puppy can be a handful for some one with out a support system in
> place...  Many people get two on the idea that two is easier as they will
> be company to each other.  This is true but again must be managed. Don't
> expect a puppy to raise a puppy...  This is what you get when you do:  Two
> out of control dogs!   You get out of each do what you put into him/her
> wether that be in a pack of two or a pack of one canine...
>

When it came time to place Rosie's puppies 2 years ago we had one couple, no
children, who'd had goldens prior to this and we definitely were going to let
them have a puppy. 2 weeks before go home time they came to me and asked for a
second puppy. two puppies, yikes.

Needless to say, I at first said I was greatly inclined to say no and that it
could not be done. I asked them to give me a few days to think about it as I
felt if anyone could do it, they could, but I had to think on it. I did make
them do their homework, lol. They were moving to Kodiak, an island here and a
small island at that and I had them line up training for each dog separately I
made them search the net for similar stories of success and failure with the two
puppy scenario and they worked their butts off at my direction to ensure success
if I decided to place two with them.

The upshot of it is that they do have two of my puppies and they now live in
Florida, work from their home, and adore both dogs. Would I do it again? Only if
the family worked as hard to make it happen as this couple did. There were some
problems though. These folks were way softer than I am and never did crate train
the puppies and that's bit them in the rear more than once over time as the pups
have eaten a great deal of furniture and wallboard. They just smile and go on
and replace things and know they could be doing it differently and prefer life
the way it is now.

Each one has special time with each 'parent' and although they are not in
training now, which I am urging them to continue, they did do their initial
puppy training separately These are the same folks who took a 13 hour ferry trip
across the inlet to get to Anchorage, and then DROVE two vehicles from Alaska to
Florida rather than fly their dogs for the trip. They do things differently than
I would but I could not ask for a better puppy family. So, yes, two at once is
doable but requires tremendous thought on both the breeder and families parts.

Debs