Having more than one dog..

i guess you will get way better advice than mine pretty soon. but at least i will share some of my experiences (not that it's a lot [])
 
getting two different sized dogs: well, i wouldn't know, but i think as long as they get along, it should be okay. i see many people do it.
 
about the gender: well i think getting male and female (both spayed an neutered, of course) should be a rather good combination, since i do hear about a lot of male on male, and female on female fights. mine (1 male, 1 female) fight occationally, but never to the point, where i would worry too much.
 
aside from that if it was me, i would get a puppy first. start all the basic training, and after a couple of months, maybe even a year, i would adopt a young adult. this way you can try to better match their personalities and such...
 
well, as i said, this is just my humble opinion..

Dogs get along based on personal temperment not breed.  Your training and handling of the dogs has more to do with the peace or lack there of, than any other factor.  Get one dog, grow it up and get it trained.  Learn its personality well, then select the second dog 2 years or so in the future, with the intent to find a good fit.  In most cases, one of each is easiest, but you can have the same sex, if you have done the training.  Older dogs are easier than puppies, especially toy puppies (due to housebreaking, the accidents may be missed due to minimal volume and the puppy have  a hard time catching on;  and feeding schedules to avoid hypoglycemia problems)

Next would be the subject of keeping a male and female dog.

 
We've had male/male and male/female and both were fine.  All neutered of course.  It is the personality, not the breed.  Some dogs will be fine with some dogs of the same gender and not others.  Same goes for opposite genders. 
 
Knowing that Kato is a submissive dog, he did well with bringing home dogs of both genders.  He barked at them, sniffed, ran around and then laid down in submission. They immediately set their ranking and all were peaceful. 
 
Some dogs don't do well with ANY other dogs around, so it's all in personality.  I don't think I"d ever want 2 puppies at the same time, so I'd take the advice of raising one puppy and then adding a 2nd later when the first pup's personality is clear.

Welll, I say pffft to your friend who says you shouldn't have dogs of different sizes. It really all depends on the individuals, and a great many large dogs are excellent at controlling themselves around smaller dogs to avoid hurting them. My big boy, Conrad, loves playing with tiny dogs--he lets them jump all over him and he loves them to chase him, even though he frequently has to stop and wait for them to catch up! In many households, it is the smaller dogs that rule the roost. Many smaller dogs have big attitudes and several breeds (especially the small terriers) are incredibly tough.

For gender, the best bet is either to have one of each or two neutered males. Two females can get along in one house, but if they do start fighting, female dogs (it doesn't seem to make much difference if they are both spayed) do not stop until one is dead or out of the house. Most of the time when it's two neutered males fighting, it's all about a display and looking all big and scary but not so much a lifelong deathwish like with the females. I've always had neutered males and while there have been squabbles, only one minor injury ever and they snuggle and get along great 99.9% of the time.

As far as timing--get one dog, wait at least a year and then think about getting another. It takes a dog 6-12 months, in my experience, to really start to fit into a household, and for the humans in the house to really begin to understand and get good routines around the care of the dog. Even if you've had dogs all your life, every dog is an individual and every dog needs a few months (if not more) to get comfortable in a house and get all the training and behavior gaps filled.

And as everyone has said, dogs are individuals and whether or not they get along depends more on that than on breed. There are a few breeds of dogs that have a tendancy (but by no means are gaurenteed) to be dog-aggressive, but you didn't mention any of those breeds in your post so that probably won't be an issue for you. There's things you can do to introduce them (in a neutral setting so no one is feeling territorial, off-leash so no one feels trapped, etc....) but beyond that it's just up to them being individuals that mesh well. Just like people.

I also grew up in a one-dog-at-a-time household.  In 2002 I adopted my black Lab and in '03 I adopted a chocolate Lab.  I will probably not have two dogs again.  It was great from the standpoint of them being able to keep eachother company and play together, but it was difficult from a competition-for-attention and management standpoint.  I'm 5'7" and 130 lbs, and it can be difficult to walk two dogs who together outweigh me by 10 lbs, even with pinch collars.  I sustained an injury while jogging with the two of them and having one of them cut me off suddenly - I'm still trying to heal from that.  It was also difficult from a training standpoint for me. 
 
I really enjoy the one-on-one bond with dogs. 
 
Oh and I don't think the size issue matters.  My stepdaughter has a yorkie that she brings whenever she visits, and my dog has no problem with her (they basically ignore eachother, although I do LOL when I see my dog, Cole, do the butt-waggle up to Abby to say good morning to her).  Also, my dog has played with 30 pound heeler mixes and 100+ lbs Bernese. 
 
I agree with the poster who suggested getting one dog, train and raise it, and then select your second dog after a few years.  You want a decent age spread between the two dogs - if only from the standpoint of not having to eventually lose them close together. 
 
I would also suggest a male-female pairing if this is your first time with two dogs.  Male-females typically settle their pack disputes once and for all.  Female-Female pairings tend to keep testing eachother.  In my family we had a mother-daughter combination (we had the Mom dog and my Uncle owned the daughter) and the two of them would fight pretty regularly, retesting who's more dominant.  I haven't had experience with male-male pairs but from what I've heard they are usually quite stable so long as both dogs are neutered. 
 
All that said, good luck with your choices!

Ditto - forget female/female. I have English bulldogs and my dogs mother and her sister got into a horrible fight and lost teeth (at the breeders house).
 
I have 2 males (7 and 5) and 1 female puppy 9 months. The males are great together and the female is already showing signs of beiing topdog one day.  
 
I would get the puppy or first dog for a year or more.  Then bring in the 2nd dog and prefferable have 2 year age gap between them.   

I had a feeling it was more about personality than breed. My friend who told me about big and little dogs also told me that different breeds often don't get along. She keeps telling me min pin won't get along with any other breeds when they have to live together. She's a good person, but she's the type who will talk more than she knows.. Sometimes she has good information, other times not so much .. why I want to check with others. []
My min pin would run around with much bigger dogs. Once was very funny, he would stand on his back legs and put his front paws on her side. She just sort of ignored him, haha. They were so cute together. They didn't live together though, and she made it sound like that's when the disaster would strike. []

There are a few breeds of dogs that have a tendancy (but by no means are gaurenteed) to be dog-aggressive

Out of curisoity, what breeds would those be?

I'm 5'7" and 130 lbs, and it can be difficult to walk two dogs who together outweigh me by 10 lbs, even with pinch collars.

Yeah, I walked two large dogs once at a family event.. I'm small, so it was interesting! [sm=eek.gif]

So I think we'll follow the advice and get a male and female this time, and wait some time after getting one before getting the other.

Has anyone here raised two puppies at once though? Don't think we're going to go that way, but I'd like to talk to someone who has. 

Any breed that was originally bred for dog-fighting (think pit bull typed breeds) can have a tendancy towards dog-aggression. Now, keep in mind that dog-aggression is different from aggression towards humans, so dog-aggressive dogs can be quite wonderful family pets as long as the humans in charge are honest about the aggression issue and don't allow that dog to be around other dogs.
 
I walk a combined 150 lbs. of dog daily and I'm by no means a large woman. I'm not itty-bitty but I'm not a bruiser either.  The key was to train them to walk nicely on leash seperately, then put them together.  This is why people with small dogs can get away with slacking on training in a way that many large dog owners can't. You can have a small dog that pulls like a sled dog. With big dogs you really can't have that unless you want to walk your dogs every day wearing a suit of armor. It can still get hairy in moments of very high distraction (uh, trash day anyone?), but you figure out what works in those situations to muddle through and get on with things.

Ah, well, that does make sense. []

I don't know that I'm ittybitty, but I'm pretty close to it. The two dogs I walked are  well behaved dogs - they didn't pull even a slight bit, but they are huge (compared to me anyway). They kept wanting to circle around me or switch sides, and it was just too hard for me to keep them straight, etc, and really keep control though they didn't pull. I'm not sure if that makes sense or not..
I'm definietly a one big dog at a time girl. []

It's really not a good idea to get two puppies at once because they tend to bond too strongly too each other. It's also much harder to train two puppies because they get each other into trouble and they don't really "need" you. The other puppy speaks their language and is much more fun. [] It can work having two puppies at once, but it's a whole lot more work and you have to use certain management techniques like training them separately, kenneling them separately and spending time with them separately so they don't become too dependent on each other.

Here are a few articles about raising two puppies at once:

http://home.att.net/~pvee/dbltrbl.html

http://www.veterinarypartner.com/Content.plx?P=A&A=2043&S=1&SourceID=47

Good luck, Gardenia!   If you do decide to get an 2nd at some point, I'd train them both with pinch collars or a halti for walks, it will help with the pulling.  Also obedience classes are a must so that they learn not to keep circling around you.   

i think dogs of different sizes can get along together ok. be warned though that huskies tend to have a high prey drive and **may** attack a smaller animal. i know they have tendencies for attacking cats and squirrels and the like. considering that a min pin is probably about the size of a big cat, i would make sure the husky got along very well with a small dog.

you may also want to consider adopting dogs of similar energy levels, or be prepared to separate them if one has a ton more energy than the other.

we have two dogs and the get along well. one is a husky/lab mix and the other is a boxer/shepherd/pit bull/?? mix. no way would i try to have 2 puppies at once. just my opinion though. puppies are a lot of work.

after having two dogs though, i cant imagine not having at least two in the house now. i am hinting at wanting a third. (shhhh!) []

Next would be the subject of keeping a male and female dog. They'd both be spayed/neutered, so that's no problem in itself. What problems would come up otherwise, if any? What about keeping a male and male, or female and female?

My last question for now is about timing.. What do you think is easier? Getting two puppies at once (not at the same time probably, being different breeds, but close together)? Getting one, waiting a while and getting another? Getting a puppy and adopting an older dog..?

 
I'm a fan of the male/female pairing.  There seems to be less status seeking and less correction just due to basic roles which male and female seem to accept.  Both of mine accept that they are the "alpha" in their position besides me, the human.  Also the personalities seem overlap and compliment each other.
 
Two pups at once is a bad idea, no matter how you slice it.  Too much competition for attention, too much chance that the pups will bond more tightly with each other and not with their humans, too much chance that the pups will remain in the "stupid puppy" stage for too long, as well as the chance that there will be competition for dominance later in life-which could lead to some horrible battles, especially if you have two bitches.
 
My own recommendation is to wait until a pup is about 18months to 3 years old before adding another dog to the household.  Speaking from my own experience, having two dogs doesn't double the workload, it quadruples it.  And the dogs begin pick up each others bad habits moreso than the good ones.

ORIGINAL: gardenia

Has anyone here raised two puppies at once though? Don't think we're going to go that way, but I'd like to talk to someone who has. 

 
Yes I did raise two puppies, sisters from the same litter at the same time.  My current pack consist of the sisters, 2 8 yearold Great Dane, another male Great Dane that I got at 10 months old, and then I foster up to 3 dogs and they will vary in breed, age, and sex.
 
I remember telling myself at the time “do not ever do this again”.   All the effort is doubled and it is compounded by the fact that they are puppies and want to play all the time.  The memory has faded and I am considering doing the same thing.  The worst part of the experience was when the pups had their ears cropped.  Both were in bandages and eCollar and I had the many visits to the vets for retaping.  That part I will skip.