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Permalink Reply by Sam on May 20, 2008 at 6:20pm

First thing you must consider is Milo's interaction with other dogs. Does he enjoy other dogs? Have you had other dogs in your home? Is he currently well behaved, totallly housetrained and easy to live with? If you can say yes to all of these questions then adding another corgi will probably not cause much of an issue. If not then I would say you have a bit of work ahead of you to make a good choice. It is not uncommon for corgis that are not used to being in the company of other dogs to be most resentful of another dog in the home. Disrespectful pups (and all are) can pose some big challenges if your adult dog is now a well mannered house pet that is use to the company of other dogs. Also most normal is corgis that are not remotely willing to share food and special treats/toys. You would need to have a plan in place to monitor their behaviors concerning this. Corgi fights are not fun. Some corgis are quite happy being only dogs.

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Permalink Reply by Milo Love on May 21, 2008 at 9:40am

Milo does like other dogs but on his own terms. He does not like dogs that are too hyper and rough. He likes to take his time to smell them out and get to know them. He is full house-trained and never destroys anything in our home. From all our family dogs, he is the most responsible and well-behaved.

He is also the oldest so he likes to take his time on things and he is more calm now. As a puppy, he was more hyperactive. Once in a while, he'll be playful but he is very sweet to us. It might take some time for him to be sweet to the puppy.

We do not crate Milo because he doesn't destroy anything in the home. He is good with our friends and other family member's dogs. I don't want him to be at home and be bored. I think best is to slowly integrate the puppy and him together.

Not sure about male or female puppy because Milo is a boy. Would he get along better with a female? All the other dogs from our relatives are males.

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Permalink Reply by Arang&Mark on May 28, 2008 at 11:35pm

maybe you should consider rescuing an older dog. because most puppies are hyperactive by nature. maybe it would help to take milo with you when corgi hunting?

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Permalink Reply by Laurie on May 20, 2008 at 6:40pm

We just became corgi parents for the second time. Big sister Rosie is 19 months old and George is 3 months old. Rosie absolutely hated George when she met him at the breeders,but now her and George play very well together. We have had George for two weeks. Sometimes George is a little too much for Rosie so I give him a nap in his crate and let Rosie have some big sister time all to herself. The biggest issue we have is potty time. George wants to follow and nose around Rosie when she is trying to potty and it really upsets her. We usually end up taking Rosie out by herself so she can go in peace. Our Rosie needs lots of big sister love up time and then when Rosie is napping we have special one on one time with George. It took us about six months to finally make the big decision. Rosie's breeder contacted us, per our request, when he had another litter. George and Rosie have the same dad but different moms. I really like this breeder because he is very concerned about where he places his puppies and he doesn't overbreed his dogs.

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Permalink Reply by John Wolff on May 21, 2008 at 12:27am

We got Al when Gwynnie was maybe 3.5 y.o. We thought she'd be happier with someone to beat up on her. They seem to get along famously, and love to kill each other over and over in all sorts of imaginative ways. If it works, you'll be combing puppy spit out of Milo's ruff for a long, long time.

Questions to ask are: which might be better, two males or a M & F? Are there valid considerations re. age spread? I've heard that sometimes a much older dog might be so set in its ways that it won't readily accept a new dog, but that might be myth. Likewise, I've heard of two females not getting along well.

One sign that you've found a responsible breeder: they'll want to take a good hard look at you and your dog, try to assess your dog's personality and match it to one of the personalities in the litter. They'll be very careful and finicky about who they give their dogs to.

Although Al learned many things much sooner/quicker than Gwynnie -- he had Gwynnie to learn from -- he has not received all the one-on-one attention that she did. The new dog will need much of that individual attention, and it's hard, 'cause you have only so much time.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen on May 21, 2008 at 7:57am

Tiki was nearly 1.5 years old when we got Cruise (now nearly 5 months old)...She has always loved other dogs and loves to play. When we travel she would stay with a friend who had 3 other dogs, and, when we took her to puppy training seh just loved the interaction. Cruise and Tiki do get along very well...they love to play, but they do get a bit jealous...mainly for chew sticks so sometimes they get into an argument but since Tiki is quite submissive she usually backs down quickly. So overall they do well together and keep each other company when we are at work....although we do keep them separate by a gate when we are out the whole day. The biggest issue we had was timing...when Cruise became avialable Tiki had just had an operation on her leg...so trying to keep her calm with a puppy in the house was impossible...but, we got through it and all is going well.

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Permalink Reply by Charlie on May 21, 2008 at 1:25pm

Milo is at a good age to consider adding a second dog. Dogs don't really have their full adult personality until around two years, so you now know his attitude toward other dogs. Good on you! Sounds like he may enjoy another dog's company.

Male/female is considered the best mix, though the individual personalities are more relevant. Charlie's "best friend" is a 2 y/o male terrier mix who I would gladly own if the owners couldn't keep him for some reason. So a male/male mix can certainly work.

Are you only considering puppies? I'm already starting to call breeders for next summer (when Charlie is 2 y/o) to discuss puppies as well as retired show dogs. I'm also checking the Rescue Groups for available older dogs in TX, and thinking about signing up to foster in the meantime. Puppies are great fun, but they will be really annoying between 6-18 months (teenage time) to the older dog, may challenge for dominance which can lead to fighting, and may end up with an "I want to be the only dog" personality when mature. Being raised with another dog should significantly decrease the odds of the puppy not liking the other dog, but you don't really know until around 2 y/o. With an adult dog, you do know what personality you're getting. Anyway, just something to think about. I'm still trying to decide between puppy or adult myself.

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Permalink Reply by Mochi The Corgi on May 21, 2008 at 5:50pm

If Milo is an intermediate in dominance he really needs either another pup that is more submissive or completely dominate (female) otherwise if you get another pup that's the same level they will have issues because there has to be one that's more dominate over the other to get along better. Traditionally in corgis, the females tend to be the more dominate, that's why the female/male mix works a lot.
I know it will be hard because if you get a puppy, then you won't really know how their personality will be dominance wise. But if you adopt then you could find one that will fit you needs. There are always adult corgis that need new homes from either retiring from the ring or breeding.

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Permalink Reply by Milo Love on May 22, 2008 at 3:20pm

Yes! Our Milo is the more dominant one. Even with our friend's dog or the other dogs from our relatives, he is the most dominant one. He is quite bossy. But he's also the oldest and he was the first to live in the house and be with everyone. He was spoiled. He doesn't need the attention all the time and he is quite independent. He will go to his bed to sleep when he feels like it. I know if the new puppy is dominant, then both of them won't quite work out.

I didn't know females were more dominant! Milo is assertive but he's very sweet. He knows when he's wrong and will put his head down. He never bites us or barks "back talk" to us. He is a true adult corgi now and we see his natural personality. We just want one that is complementary to him.

Thank you for all the advice. We really need it. Seems like Milo is good with dachshunds. He is good with pugs too. But we really want another puppy corgi and yes puppy for now. Puppy corgi so we can experience "puppyhood" again.

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Permalink Reply by Milo Love on May 28, 2008 at 2:48pm

I agree. I can't have just one corgi! After 2.5 years with Milo, we're ready with another one. I think he will learn that Milo is definitely the older brother.

Thank you everyone for telling me how hard it's going to be! I think we have certain expectations since Milo is an angel at home - no biting furniture, no destroying cable wires, and no pooping/peeing inside the home. We had other dogs visit and they actually destroyed our cable wires and slippers. I'm hoping the new puppy would be good. It'll be a lot of TRAINING! Can my Milo actually train the new puppy too?

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Permalink Reply by Laurie on May 28, 2008 at 3:38pm

We have found that we have to train George away from Rosie, because she butts in and stops us from working with George. George is also proving harder to potty train then Rosie was.

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