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Would It Be Wise To Get A Puppy When I Have An 8-Year-Old Dog?

by Mitzi
(Texas)

I have an older 8-year-old Mini Aussie and I'm thinking about getting a puppy. My older dog does not care for other dogs sniffing her or jumping on her.

Do you think this would be wise? Would it be better to just leave her an only dog? My husband and I are both retired and have been her whole life. We do also have 5 parrots, which she looks at and loves them to feed her, which is why she is fat! LOL

I was hoping another dog would help her lose weight and maybe make her life a little more interesting. She loves going for her 2-mile walk every day and to the park on the weekend, but a little fetch in the house.

Comments for Would It Be Wise To Get A Puppy When I Have An 8-Year-Old Dog?

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Depends on the dog
by: Barbara

It sounds like your dog would not enjoy a puppy since it would likely jump on/around her. As for a younger dog of the opposite sex, that might work better as long as you don't think she'll be jealous. I've found that my females tend to get more jealous than my males. You know your dog best. See how she does with socializing with other dogs first (maybe at a dog park) and then decide.

New Puppy
by: Robin Wade

I have a 9 yr old Aussie mix & a 7 yr old mini Aussie. My 9 yr old has health problems so I brought in a new Aussie puppy, hoping the old boy would help to train the new puppy while he was still able to. The puppy gets my old boy going, wrestling around, playing, nibbling at each other with that playful growl. They play tug of war & sometimes even nap together. My middle Aussie even gets in her play time with the puppy too. I’ve found that it’s been great having a young puppy around for both older dogs. They are more active & playful. Each dog is different though. If yours isn’t fond of others, I would definitely try to do a trial run first so you don’t get locked into a bad situation for all. Good luck to you!

Why I got a puppy for my 8 year old Aussie
by: Jennifer

My boy Apollo at 8 was starting to show his age and getting seemly depressed. He’d just lay about the house or the porch and you’d swear you could hear him just let out a sigh of sadness here or there. It didn’t matter that we had 4 kids to keep him busy and playing, all the toys a spoiled pup could want- it was very obvious there was a void we weren’t filling for him.

We made the decision to get a puppy when we noticed over time that anytime another dog came to visit or a puppy was in his presence you could see the light, excitement, and life just spring right into him. And man, once those visitors left... it was right back to subtle wines, sad eyes, sighs and laying about with no interest again.

So we got Denali! (Now 1 1/2) best choice we made. I try really hard to show both equal amounts of attention. But my old man taught this little pup a lot, and the little guy keeps him on his toes again.

Don’t get a puppy for your older pup unless you know how your dog will respond to puppies 👍🏻

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