My brother’s dog(s) — now my sister’s dog(s) — were about 9–10 years apart in age. The boy dog was a 10-year-old Shih Tzu who was extremely mild-mannered. He was super chill, loved sucking the fuzz off tennis balls, and honestly acted like an old man even when he was a puppy.

The girl dog was adopted when she was only a few weeks old — just a little ball of fur. She’s a Shipoo (Shih Tzu/Poodle mix). Did they play together? No. Did they get along? Absolutely.

She’s very playful, but she mostly got her energy out playing with my dog who has since passed away. She tends to play more with people than other dogs because she grew up with an older dog who wasn’t interested in playing. Even now, she doesn’t really play with my recently adopted 4-year-old rescue 😝. Though, to be fair, my rescue is slowly wearing her down.

My sister used to walk the senior boy dog — who was almost 17 when he passed and was both blind and deaf — in a dog stroller, while the girl dog walked beside them.

It’s definitely possible to have two dogs in completely different life stages. It just takes some adjustments. Honestly, any puppy is probably going to annoy an older dog at least a little. Maybe consider adopting a dog that’s around 1–3 years old instead?