Litter mates...

Starlights

Ive been told a few times that its not advised to keep litter mates together as they fight and dont usually get on in later life as there is always competition between them?

Is there any truth in this? Has anyone kept two or more litter mates?

Thank you in advance.

Whispered

Do you mean pups?

I don't know if they fight. I think the general opinion is that they bond very firmly together, making you a bit of an outsider. Meaning they are less likely to listen to you. I don't know how true it is.

Another problem I have heard of is that one will be a bit more confident. As they get older the confident one will be the first to try new things, greet people etc, they will grow even more confident while the shyer one will begin to depend on having their more confident sibling around. The more confident dog will pick on the other one, but I'd imagine this happens regardless of them being littermates or not.

If you want to get litter mates then I think you can overcome that little problem by giving them a bit of time without each other every day. Just to give them a chance to develop independant personalities as opposed to roles with regards to each other.

Phlegmo

Or do you mean cats?
I have 2 cats from the same litter. My sister also has 2 litter mates.
All are fully grown and get on fine together - usual spats but they dont last long.
They share the same food bowls and sleep curled up together.

Starlights

Hiya,

I mean puppies.

They would obviously have their own time and space away from eachother and I know what you mean about sticking together. But would any two dog regardless of being litter mates do the same?

I already have two dogs..they couldnt be more different but they do stick by eachother alot but get their own time away from eachother and they each get one to one time with me and my partner.

I have asked this question because alot of people were saying how bad it is to have the same litter mates together. but i dont see any problem that would differ from two out of different litters?

wazzoraybelle

We have both cats and dogs from the same litters and their mothers!! and it certainly hasn't been an issue for us, if anything the kittens and puppies were inseperable from their siblings and being the same age where well matched companions.

suziwalsh

Most of the time once they hit 6 months it doesn't work out but again it depends. I do not rehome siblings together as it is too risky that it might not work out, actually I only home pups together if there is a difference in age also. I find it much better over all.

It depends also on experience of home and breed or dog I think also. But in gereral as a rule I would not recommend it to be on the safe side.

votejohn

Personally I think it would be madness getting two pups at the same age. Its double the cleaning time and half the training time.

I spend 24 hours a day with my pup, but I still feel that theres not enough time in the day for her, you need a LOT of one on one time with your pup to bond, become the pups pack leader, and teach your pup right and wrong. In my opinion you probably wont have enough time to do this with two different dogs.

Unless the dogs are a lot older and they have already grown up together?
If its pups your best bet is to get one now, then wait a minimum of 6 months before you get the next one.

Inexile

Best advice is dont get two from the same litter and get them different ages. Though I have two litter mates, eight years old, and they are great we also got two other dogs this year and so far there are no issues. I think we just got lucky as both the litter mates have great temperments. I got them because I knew the mothers temperment was good so perhaps its been passed down. One is more dominant than the other, but not in an aggresive way. But aint that normal with dogs.

baubl

votejohn wrote: »

Personally I think it would be madness getting two pups at the same age. Its double the cleaning time and half the training time.

I spend 24 hours a day with my pup, but I still feel that theres not enough time in the day for her, you need a LOT of one on one time with your pup to bond, become the pups pack leader, and teach your pup right and wrong. In my opinion you probably wont have enough time to do this with two different dogs.

Unless the dogs are a lot older and they have already grown up together?
If its pups your best bet is to get one now, then wait a minimum of 6 months before you get the next one.

I have 3 miniature jack russell pups 1 male 2 female, from the same litter, I already have a 15 year old normal sized jack russell, I adore all of them, I find this interesting, am interested in hearing from people with the same kind of family as mine, we adore them, I do hope they will make good buddies, I am at the moment toilet training them, tips please on food, training, and things the jack like, I love them all.

Sigma Force

I'm not sure what difference it makes getting pups at diff stages at the end of the day no matter how many dogs it's all in the training.
So if you get one or two enroll them in puppy classes from the start that way if there are any probs. they can nip them in the bud as soon as.

Some breeds also do better if there are two or more as they love the company of another dog.

Saying that one pup is hard work but two can be double trouble, although at the same time if they get on well they will run around and tire each other out.

Starlights

Thank you for all your replies!

I know mother and father temperament because i own both mother and father. They had a litter and we were only for keeping one. All other pups have homes secured for when they are ready for going, except for two so we were thinking of keeping both instead of just one.

We have researched puppy classes for when they are ready.
We have started training them on the paper already and they all seem to be getting on well, though they are still very young