Expert: Anne Springer, B.S., Dip., CAPCT - 2/22/2010

Question
Hi, we have a 15 month old spayed female australian shepherd.  we are considering getting another aussie puppy. My question is, will our 15 month old female be a danger to a new 8 week old puppy?  She has a strong chase/kill instinct.  Many chipmunks, baby squirrels and even a baby turkey have been killed by our dog. She has never shown any aggression to other dogs or people. I'm just worried that a small puppy might bring out that kill instinct.

Answer
Adult dogs usually treat very young puppies with care, however, you should not get a second dog unless the first dog is completely trained to voice commands, including "leave it" and "come", so that you can ask her to return to you if she is playing too roughly with the pup.  My advice would be to space their ages more, so wait until your first dog is past 2, and also *not* get another female.  Getting a male that seems more mellow than your female is a great choice.  Ask the breeder (and, please only buy from a breeder with a lifetime guarantee who also does genetic testing - Aussies have a lot of issues that can be costly) if you can take a pup on trial so that you are sure your female gets along with it.  Many Aussies have high prey drive, but if you took the time to socialize your current dog in off leash situations with other puppies while she was young (8-16 weeks of age), then your chances for success with another household dog go up.