One or Two ?

[Hill_l]

I'm new to the forum as I'm planning on getting two cocker spaniels in the new year.  My questions are (a) how easy are they to train and (b) should I get two at the same time or wait until the first one is house trained ?

Only had golden retrievers before so I'd like advice from experienced cocker owners.
Thanks

[Pip895]

The received wisdom is to wait until the first is 18months + before getting the second.  There are several fairly recent threads on this topic.  I will have a look for one for you if someone else doesn't beet me to it. Two pups at the same time is only for the brave.

[bracken]

I have a golden retriever and 5 cockers, sadly lost my other goldie recently.

In my experience cockers are more difficult than retreivers to train including toilet training, saying that we have a new cocker pup at the moment and she is my best ever so it varies hugely, also it depends on how much time and hard work you are putting in.
 Cockers will demand alot more of your time and they are shadows   I love cockers dearly thats why I have 5 but they are so different to retrievers.
I would never get two pups together personally, I would wait with at least a yr between, however there are a couple of people on COL at the moment that do have 2 pups together maybe they will be along shortly to tell you their experiences  
Welcome to COL  
Jo

[supergirl]

Does depend on how much time you're prepared to commit and also on the personalities of the pups.  I got my 2nd when the first was 6months old - I work from home and have no children so I was able to spend a lot of time with them.  My first pup was a very easy pup and had no problems being left from day 1, though her housetraining took some time.  My 2nd arrived when he was 10 weeks old and was practically housetrained, but had a real problem being left for even the shortest amount of time and was quite an emotional type of dog = he did take a lot of hard work and training - I found him very stressful in the early days.  I also had to spend a lot of time training them individually which is a must and does take up a lot of time.

I think if I had a family and worked away from home it would have been a nightmare having two pups at the same time.

[Pip895]

The main thread is here:-
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=2017.msg17194#msg17194

Others with connections to the issue:-
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=42988.msg602670#msg602670
http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=14682.msg178241#msg178241

Welcome to COL btw.

[bluegirl]

I got two cockers together, brother and sister and whilst I had no problems with the two of them getting on I did find that a few issues arose that I would say you really need to consider.

Two pups meant double trouble, I had two lively pups, one was a real little firecracker who was up to no good (in a mischievious way 24/7) you had to have eyes in the back of your head and usually they'd split up so you had less chance to see exactly what they were up to. One you can follow and train, with two I  found it impossible so we ended up limiting them to where they could go, but that meant that they never calmed down because the minute you gave them access to a restricted room they went hyper (and everyone had always had enough before they'd calmed down). I had never needed to restrict access before when I only had one pup.

Toilet training was the same, I had to restrict them to certain areas again because they both shot off in different directions and were piddling and pooping everywhere and because you couldn't follow both training again took a lot longer than with one.

The worst was walking them, up to about 6 -7 mths old they were angels, they liked exploring but always came back, as they got to teenagers and beyond the male started to want to protect his sister and his sister wanted to bark. They became little hooligans and that has been the most damaging and challenging aspect of two pups together for me. They had and still have each other as back up so one only needs to grumble and the other is more than willing to get involved. They don't fight with other dogs but they are gobby. I tried one to one training and both together but it didn't make much difference because the minute they were back together again they were like a double act. I think as much as I love them they would have turned out so different if they were not brought up together.

That all said on the whole I have really enjoyed the experience but if you were to ask me if I'd ever get two pups together again I'd probably say no.

[Emilyoliver]

Has probably been mentioned on here before, but getting two puppies together can sometimes result in them bonding more with each other than their humans (which then makes training more difficult).  My parents got two rottie pups (sisters) together when I was a child and they were a real handful. 

[vixen]

Has probably been mentioned on here before, but getting two puppies together can sometimes result in them bonding more with each other than their humans  

I know that this can happen but with my litter sisters, they are very close to each other but they both still prefer me to each other,  
My main problem was house training as bluegirl has described.  Once they were past that, they have been little  
They do have their arguments (just like all sisters, I guess) but I know from experience how to handle it.   I do find that they can't have toys in the house (poor deprived girlies  ) as they cause tension.  .  They do play very 'sportingly' with a tennis ball outside and just accept it if the other one has reached it first.  
When I got them as puppies I didn't realize that it isn't recommended   but I have persevered and they are wonderful, different in appearance and character.  I haven't had a problem with them 'ganging' up on other dogs as they are quite submissive to other dogs.
Although they are only three years old, I do worry how they would cope if something happened to one as they have always been together.

[Raonaid]

Has probably been mentioned on here before, but getting two puppies together can sometimes result in them bonding more with each other than their humans. 

I got 2 male pups at the same time (littermates) and we have had problems but bonding with each other certainly isn't one of them 
Seriously though although it can work out if you put a lot of hard work in it really isn't a good idea and isn't something I would do again. We still have occaisional problems with fighting although this is getting better slowly and like Vixen we don't let them have toys around each other as it can lead to tension. We also never leave them alone together, they are seperated by a gate.
I would definately recommend getting 2 cockers however, just not at the same time 

[Danni and Freya]

I got Harvey when Freya was 8 months, and that was tough. I wouldn't recommend two at the same times based on our experience, although its worked out for the best now, it was bloody hard getting here at times. I hadn't heard of the 18months+ rule  Freya was pretty much trained to the standard I needed her to be though, so it was decidedly easier than teaching two at the same time