Littermates

iguana

I have two male puppies from the same litter and I know at least one other person here has littermates. I'm wondering if anyone has any tips on helping them to grow up together but being independant dogs at the same time.

We've had them 15 days and they're nearly 12 weeks old, they are very smart. Almost house trained, can follow commands such as sit and stay. They both walk well on their leads and don't pull or strain. They can also be left run off their leads in the park or by the river and they are well acclimatised to other dogs and people.

They are normally only apart if one pees inside and is put out for a few minutes, and we know they need to start learning to be apart sometimes. We plan from tonight to start taking them on seperate directions for a small portion of their walks to see how they cope with being apart. Then we plan to build up to a point that they have a seperate walk 2/3 times a week. With myself and my husband alternating which dog we take so they don't become more attached to one of us.

I have read that we should start to have them sleep apart, but that seems cruel as they love snuggling up together. At home we often had a couple of dogs at a time and they slept together to no negative effect that we could see, although none of them were littermates.

Some of the main problems I've read about with littermates is that they are difficult to train, but my boys are far exceeding my expectations. They tend to learn things very quickly, even though they do occasionally test their boundaries. The other is that they don't bond to humans but they definitely prefer being with us than alone together.

I see why they need to learn to spend time apart. The nightmare scenario is that in 5 years one dies and the other can't cope. They also have quite different personalities and have different preferences for activities so I want to give them a chance to develop as individuals as well as brothers.

Alfasudcrazy

I have two doberman pups - which are now 14 weeks old one male and the other female from the same litter. I had wanted two males but the lady who bred them (they are pedigree's) said you can't have two males together as they would eventually kill each other over dominance issues when they grow up.
I don't know if this is true but it made me recall when we got a new male terrier when I was growing up. We already had an older terrier which was in the family since I was 4 and he was like a brother to me. The new (younger) terrier tried and almost succeeded in killing our old terrier within a short time. Luckily I was there and saved him. We got rid of the new terrier after that and just kept the old terrier until he died. But it must be said that new terrier was mad anyway so that may not have been a good example of two male dogs living together.

Even the two dobermans I have got into heated rows with each other when I was about - basically fighting for my attention. They have calmed down a bit now as they know I don't like it when they fight. You have to be careful to give them equal attention. The male will jump up on me all gung ho style while the female sits just watching. You must go to her to and pet her as she still wants the attention just as much as the male but will not show it in front of the male as he would only get annoyed.

I don't see the need to make my dogs independent of each other. In fact I got the two so that each could always be together and keep each other company. I too considered the effect of one dog dying but just said I would get another to keep it company. I had a one doberman before by himself and it was on reflection a lonely life for him as these dogs need other dog company so I don't want to repeat that mistake.

iguana

At home we always had two male dogs together, though not from the same litter. There were jealousy and dominancy issues but they just have to be carefully dealt with. Generally one dog would become dominant and then they settle. I don't see how they will be worse because the pups are from the same litter.

Calibos

I think the litter mates issue is possibly down to the dogs being more likely to be evenly matched in age, weight, size etc. Hence it takes longer for one to establish dominence over the other. ie it takes a lot more scraps to find out who the winner is.

In saying that I have two westie male brothers from the same litter, both neutered and they get on like a house on fire. I think they had 2 serious scraps before they were one year old and ever since just the odd grumble from the same one to the other and a bit of quivering tail and circling. The other lad stands still with tail down and ears back. This is rare though and the are upset when separated generally.

You might say well he's the dominent one then. In the house he is but outside the other lad is the boss funnily enough. The growler inside is the biggest coward outside and is submissive to every other dog whereas the submissive inside dog is a cocky little fecker outside. Gets to walk in front and the inside boss follows him around.

Alfasudcrazy

I have read that the norm is for the female dog to always dominates the male.

At first that did not seem to be the case with my pair as the male dobe was the bigger and stronger of the two - but of late it seems to be working out as predicted.

The female can be quite vicious to the male if he annoys her too much - and she has caught up in the growth stakes as well. She also doesn't suffer fools gladly (as in other dogs) while out for walks and will bark at them if she does not want to be bothered.