Hunting / Owning 2 Dogs

Hello,
I currently have a male black lab that will be 3 in March and was thinking about getting another lab this spring, either male or female. My question is what are the pro and cons of owning, hunting and training two dogs. The dog I have now is trained and has 3 hunting seasons under his belt. Both would be inside / family dogs when not hunting.

Thanks.
Matt

Cost and time are a couple of things to consider first. Food,vet, training aid costs are all going to double. You will also spend extra time on indivdual training, especially starting out. I would look at a minimum of an extra 40 minutes per day.
The benefit of having two dogs far out weigh the negitives. After working together for awhile, they will develope into a team. One of the biggest things to watch for is retrieving. train them to honor and be steady so one is not stealing birds or getting all the retrieves.
Another benefit is ealry season hunting when it is hot. You can alternate dogs to avoid overheating. Also if an injury occurs, it won’t put you out of action.
Having two or more dogs on a hunt is a blast. Mine are well adjusted to being house pets also. I have had no problem leaving them home alone.

Great question as we are possibly looking for another one also.
I would think time, food and vet costs would be the biggest factors like Don mentioned.

What has been said so far as to time, and cost are probaly the biggest factors. Like Don said though the postives are greater.

For the most part the time really won’t be that much more now. Seeing as how your other dog is already trained. With this your other dog will help cut down the time. They will do this by training the other dog in ways you can’t. The only drawback is bad habits. They will also teach these.

Costs will go up a little. The biggest one overall will be feed. Vet won’t be that bad. At least if you have a decent vet. Most will only charge for one office visit if they go together. Yes you will have to get 2 of every now though. A lot of that cost can be made up by givng your own shots, and doing the minor doctoring on your own. We do it all here right up to our own stiches when needed. We still see our vet regularly for the other stuff. Will even purchase our supplies from them at a slightly higher cost out of gratitude for the discounts.

having more than one also means you will still have a huinting partner if one is sick, or hurt. Also gives them a buddy that helps to push the hunting abilities to new levels.

I have 5 now, and always seem to need a few more. Did have 6 unitl last friday when one of our best passed due to anaplasmosis. That was a tough one, I HATE TICKS!!! With the type of hunting I do having 12 may not be enough. When I still did a lot bird hunting always had at least 4. That way I could rotate them making sure they were always fresh.

having multiple dogs is a lot like having multiple kids. Once you get pass the first 2 it gets easier to handle.(other than costs) Seems taking care of 2 is they same as taking care of 10. Well dogs at least. I had 8 kids for an entire summer from 5-12. Other than the laundry, the overal work was about the same. At least in my eyes. My wife willmost likely tell me I’m wrong.

So go for it. Get as many as the little lady will allow!!

Steve

Thanks for the replies and for some things to think about.
I may have to start looking for a little black lab girl.

The lil black girls will amaze you. I run two dogs for the most part. If it’s really hard going I’ll switch them back and forth so I have a fresh dog. The SD snow filled cat tails really put the hurt on them.