best advice when bringing home 2nd boxer

[JennieWI]

This weekend I'm taking the BF and Gunther to meet a boxer boy, Max, in foster care whom I met last weekend and of course, fell in love with. If all goes well, as I expect it to, we should have a new addition to the family within a couple weeks. Gunther had been a Christmas surprise to me, leaving me totally unprepared. This time I want to be prepared as much as I possibly can. What advise/tips can you share to help this transition go smoothly? I will take off work so that I am home about four days upon his arrival. Both dogs will be in crates when we go to work. I plan to have the crates about 5 or 6 feet apart. Should they be covered? does this matter? I will feed them separately, separate dishes, separate places. Gunther is 19 months and Max is 15 months. Both Gunther & Max are good with other dogs. From what I have read in BW, I can expect non-stop playing for a week or two, right?

 

[Toni'smom]

Actually you can expect non-stop playing for a very long time. When I brought my second one home he was only 9 weeks old. I was so terrified that Toni would hurt him that I asked the vet for advice. She asked if he was yelping and I said no. She said "then leave them alone". Now she did not mean alone as in no one else there. She said to stay right with them at all times for the first week or two and watch Toni's reaction if she does happen to make the puppy yelp. If she backs off and looks like "what did I do" then all is well, if she tries to attack after the yelp then I would have a problem. So for about two weeks I stayed on pins and needles because I just knew that she was hurting him. But she did not and he is now almost 7 months old and they play constantly. Sometimes you think they are fighting because they are so vocal in their play, but you soon learn that their noises are not angry noises because at some point they will decided to argue over a toy or a treat or something. When that happens you just call their names and tell them no or stop or whatever your word would be. It has always worked with my two.

Also, prepare to be totally amused by the fact that no matter how many toys you have they will want the same toy at the same time! I even tried buying two of the same but no, they both wanted the same one. I have two boxers walking through my house alot, one with one end of a toy and the other with the other end.

 

[luvroxy]

The transition was very smooth for us when we brought Grady. Believe it or not the crates have to be in the same room with our pups. We thought we should separate them and they both whimpered and cried until we put them right beside each other. Also, Grady was not crate trained, we would have to drag him into the crate. I think seeing Roxy get in when told and chill out in her crate helped him out a lot. Now they both scamper off to their crates when we tell them. Also, it will be non stop play and they will both want whatever toy the other has. Be careful with bones/chewies, Grady is very territorial with his and when we first got him they fought over one once which was scary. He is doesn't do that now though. Also, when we brought grady home we let the pups meet in the backyard and check each other out. That way Roxy wouldn't feel like he was invading her space. It has worked out great for us. Good luck.

 

[Slobber Baby]

Hope all works out...when we decided to get another one we started saying her name around the house so Bubba would get used to that, then we brought something home for him to smell and get used to it..just a thought. As for the crates I have no idea mine never would use one

Laura