I'm thinking to adopt a female toy poodle and a female lab, both puppies. Is there anything I should know before making my decision? Will they tear my house apart? Will they be easy to train?

Thank-you

How old are the puppies?

Of course they'll tear your home apart I know my pup did. Even though I had plenty of toys for her, and redirected her to the "right" thing to chew up, she still would get a hold of something she wasn't supposed to chew up. If you've already adopted them, maybe you should think about getting some of that bitter apple spray chew deterent. Sure, it's mostly to keep dogs from chewing on themselves, but it also works to save your furniture and belongings from those savage razorsharp puppy teeth. Generally, puppies teethe until they are about 6 months old, when their adult teeth come in. Even adult dogs will chew, if they are bored or if they weren't redirected to the proper chew items. If you haven't considered it yet, maybe you should crate train the pups. Of course, separate crates for each one. You want to get a crate that they will fit in as adults, not just a puppy sized one. They have great crates on the market that have dividers in them, that way puppy can grow with it. These crates aren't just great to keep pup out of trouble when you're away from the home (like from chewing electrical cords, and getting into the trash) but it's also a great aid in housebreaking. Dogs generally won't soil the place where they sleep or "den." So pup will hold it until you take him out. Crates aren't just for puppyhood, when pup gets older he can use the crate too. Think of it as the puppys bedroom.

Well, I hope that I've been somewhat helpful. Let me know how everything goes!

thanks Dragonfly, you were a big help. the toy poodle is 8 weeks and the lab is 9 weeks. what breed do you have?

thanks

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Originally posted by Julie:
I'm thinking to adopt a female toy poodle and a female lab, both puppies. Is there anything I should know before making my decision? Will they tear my house apart? Will they be easy to train?

Thank-you

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The biggest concern I would have is the size differnce of the two pups ,now and later.You will have to be careful that the larger one doesn't injure the toy poodle.

I just gave away my german shepherd/yellow lab mix, but she's much happier now, five kids to play with all day and a whole yard to herself. I also have a chow/collie mix, but we have to get rid of her too In a few months, I want to get a small dog, but when we're ready. We got these dogs waaaaaay to soon after my best buddy, Tucker, died (like within weeks).

I suggest getting some Kongs. They're virtually indestructible rubber toys that you can stuff kibble in and keep your pups entertained for HOURS on end. You can even put a little (and I mean A LITTLE lol) of peanut butter or something else appealing that's mushy inside. Make sure that you get the right size for the pup. Say for your toy poodle, you could get her the medium sized one (those puppy teeth knaw through toys pretty quick, no matter how indestructible they seem) and for your lab, consider the black ones. They're made for dogs that will be bigger someday.

The size difference wouldn't worry me all that much, since they are going to grow up together. Just make sure that you're the Alpha female in the "pack" and not one of the pups. Some suggestions to establish that, eat dinner BEFORE you feed either of them, and feed them both at the same time. But they should have their own food dishes, their own toys, etc...

Good luck!

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The size difference wouldn't worry me all that much, since they are going to grow up together. Just make sure that you're the Alpha female in the "pack" and not one of the pups. Some suggestions to establish that, eat dinner BEFORE you feed either of them, and feed them both at the same time. But they should have their own food dishes, their own toys, etc...

Good luck!



Not to be agrumentative but even if the dogs grow up together the size difference does matter.I have both large and small dogs,you do have to be watchful of the larger one, even in play an injury can happen to a toy dog.

My mom had a smaller dog and a lab rottie mix. Needless to say, the smaller dog was the leader and beat up the bigger dog. I've seen many dogs that get along great that grew up as pups, they consider themselves siblings, even if they aren't. When you introduce another dog to a new home where there are dogs, then you might have a problem. Again, these are just my experiences.

I agree with you Patty.....I have a chi and a vizla that were born about 2 weeks apart. They grew up together and it's amazing to see them play together because of the size difference. The little one seems to know just when to duck so the big one doesn't end up pouncing her and the little one has lots more advantages...she is faster and can go right underneath the big one, duck thru her legs, etc. They really are a hilarius site. My little Laurel and Hardy. haha!!