I have the privilege (and responsibility) of dog-sitting two of the pups from my most recent foster litter – for a whole week! – while their family is on vacation.
How many of you caught the “two pups, one family” thing? If you noticed it (and winced), you’re probably a dog trainer.
Originally, the family was interested in adopting two pups, and I talked them out of this (they are my former in-laws, so we have more of a rapport than in most cases!). Most training professionals try to dissuade people from adopting sibling pups – and insist on a singleton adoption in cases like this, when the family lacks a lot of dog experience. There are numerous reasons for this, but to name a few:
• Sibling pups often bond more firmly and pay more attention to each other than to the human family members.
• House-training (and every other kind of training) often requires twice (or more) of the time that it takes to train one pup.
• Many families lack the time and resources to separate the pups frequently enough that they learn to be confident and social when they are not in the company of their sibling.
There are more reasons to not adopt siblings (and some workarounds, too) in this article by WDJ Training Editor Pat Miller, and I listed all of them to this family. They listened, heard me, and ended up adopting one of the two females in the litter that strongly resembled a purebred Rhodesian Ridgeback. They named her Xena.
But a couple weeks later, the husband’s mom, who lives in the same town as Xena’s family, met Xena and fell in love with her, and then contacted me to inquire about adopting one of the two remaining pups. I ended up driving to the town where both families live, to give the mom a “meet and greet” with the two last puppies, so she and her husband could choose which one suited them best. They ended up falling for the boy pup, and I left him with her and her husband.
I then visited the family who adopted Xena – who was overjoyed to have a chance to play with her last unadopted sibling, whom she hadn’t seen for a couple of weeks.
Over the course of the afternoon that I visited with my former in-laws, they fell in love with the last unadopted puppy, and made a strong and renewed case to be allowed to adopt her, too. I could have just said no – even though the shelter that I was fostering the pups for would have said yes; they don’t have a policy against multiple-pup adoptions. We discussed the pros and cons again, and I reminded them once again about the many accommodations they would need to make to ensure that both pups would end up as well-trained, socially secure pups who could be separated without trauma. They were willing to do the work, they said.
Two things clinched my decision to permit the adoption to go forward:
1. They were doing a great job already with Xena. After just two weeks in their home, she was clearly bonded to the whole family, responding appropriately to her name, nailing a “default sit” whenever anyone made eye contact with her, and still at a healthy weight. I saw lots of dog toys laying around, and a crate in the parents’ bedroom. (I like to see this; it’s the only way to hear the pup who might be fussing in the night because she needs to go potty. People who put their puppy’s crate in some distant room or worse, the garage, end up with dogs who hate their crates and/or learn to just go potty in the crates, since no one could hear or would respond to their cries of distress.)
2. They are in the process of building a new house on a rural property. Frequently, the dad stays in the not-quite-finished house and the mom stays at their old house in a nearby town. This gives them an easy way to easily and frequently separate the pups for a night or day during this critical socialization period.
But, some weeks later, ironically, I feel like I’m the one who has been most inconvenienced by this sibling adoption. While I’m truly happy to be able to spend a week with the pups (I hardly ever get to get my hands on foster puppies of this age; once they get adopted at about 10-week-old mark, I rarely see them again!), now I have to take my own advice and separate them for training and socializing! Especially since, just as I worried, the family is finding it difficult to find the time to take them on separate outings and hold separate training sessions – so I feel I have to do it! And BOY does it take a lot of time!
One thing I should be doing but just don’t have the time to do is to take them on separate walks. I’m already taking my own two dogs on separate walks on certain days! These days, with 14-year-old Otto losing the physical ability to take long walks, I often take just 6-year-old Woody for a drive to our favorite off-leash trails, and then come home and take Otto for his own walk in our rural neighborhood. At this point, he’s content to walk on leash and leave his mark on trees and shrubs along the roadside; we go about a half-mile up the road and then mosey back to our house. In order to get any work done with the puppies here for the week, I need to exercise them to the extent of their energy and fitness level, so I have been taking them out to the off-leash trails with Woody. This is terrific for tiring them out, but it would be better for their social development if they were taking individual outings, not just relying on each other for confidence in new situations.
Did you or someone you know adopt sibling pups? How did it work out? What were the most challenging aspects of the adoption?
I have a male and a female siblings, but slightly different — Pippa was born on Oct 23, 2013 and I got her as a maybe 1 pound baby Chihuahua mix on Dec 24, 2013 – I got her half brother Brownie In Oct 2014 (born June 6, 2012) as a 28-month-old 6 lb Chihuahua mix – (i got him because he was an escape artist – (he still needs close watching but as long a I see and call him he comes back to me) they are both bonded very well to me and to each other. Both are neutered and I have worked on the yapping and they do bark if they hear someone at the door or a car door outside, but will quiet when I tell them to shush or hold my hand palm facing them,
Pups losing their mom seems bad enough. I wouldn’t want to be extra cruel and separate siblings unnecessarily. What a heartless “rule” to follow. And no, I don’t store my dogs in cages either. They are part of the family, and I want their lives to be as happy and carefree as possible. People are so selfish. The priority seems to be what is easiest for them, not what will make the dogs happiest.
The recommendation that canine siblings not be kept together has nothing to do with people wanting to take the easy route or being selfish. There is a great deal of research and documentation behind this recommendation. Littermates raised together can often develop unhealthy codependence and experience developmental issues resulting in dogs that are fearful, lack confidence, and often do not fully develop appropriate social skills. The time commitment, effort, and amount of behavioral awareness and education required to ensure that each dog develops appropriately goes far beyond the typical commitment of being a good dog guardian. Please do your research, or speak to a qualified canine behavior professional, before making rash judgements based only on your own emotions.
I’ve never heard of anyone storing dogs in cages. That’s ridiculous. They’ll spoil in cages.
If you want to properly store a dog please use temperature controlled hermetically sealed compartments. Or keep them in a vacuum sealed bag and they’ll take up less space if you don’t have a lot of storage area.
I work at my veterinarian’s office and many years ago an older couple adopted 2 “husky” rescues, 1-M, 1-F. I tried to warn them about the pitfalls of having 2 which might or might not been siblings. By the time the dogs were 2 years of age it was impossible to separate them unless husband or wife each had one. They could not be brought in together because the male would attack anyone (human or canine) who came near them. Left at home the female would scream and try to eat her way out of the house even with an owner present. This state of affairs continued for over 10 years. The male has now passed and we have not heard the outcome of the female’s reaction.
We have been a dog household for 50 years. Our first dog was the hardest to train as we were inexperienced. We then had 2 cocker spaniels from separate litters (1 yr apart in age). When the first one died unexpectedly at age 10, we got a rescue cocker spaniel (1.5 yr). Shortly after the older dog died from cancer. We then got litter mates cocker spaniels (M, F, 8 weeks) so 3 dogs. We had no problem with separation or training. My husband would take 1 or 2 on a walk, fishing or camping. The older rescue dog was more of a loner due to the way she was raised (penned outdoors during the day, in the garage at night and I suspect not allowed in the house much or at all). Our daughter was still living at home and worked a later shift so at home in the AM. Our dogs have always sleep in our bedroom. I probably would not recommend getting littermates if a first pet, but it worked out great for us as follow on pets. After our current pets cross the rainbow bridge, I think we will foster or adopt senior dogs limiting to 1 or 2 at most.
Another issue that we ran into was that the two dogs were very dependent on each other, had severe separation anxiety issues, chewed everything in sight for almost a year so it was difficult. We did not realize that they should have been trained separately to build up their confidence.
hi we adopted a brother and sister at 10 weeks old. They never fought with each other but one problem we ran into was that the male acted like his sister was “his woman” and so he was very protective whenever we met other dogs. In general, as an observation in our neighborhood, when a family has two dogs it mostly seems that one of the pair becomes snarly when approached by a lone dog. I also found it hard because my male was a big softie but because he was overprotective of his sibling some people were a bit hesitant when we were out and about which made me really sad. He would not have hurt/bitten a dog/or anyone but he would use his nose to snuffle/get between my female and other dogs so it could have led to issues. Because of this i was nervous at times walking the two dogs and the other dogs picked up on it.
We have 7 year old golden doodle siblings that are amazing! I admit that it did take close to a year before they really bonded with anyone in the family – for a long time, they cared more for each other. We did our research ahead of time and knew what we were getting into. We were committed to separate training times and time alone with each puppy and stuck with this for a good two years. It was a lot of work but worth it in the end. They trained easily (but when together they would ignore commands and lead each other astray). They still play together nicely and are now bonded to everyone in the household. Surprisingly, I would say at this stage, they are more bonded to people than to each other. I have never regretted getting siblings but again it was a lot of work. Would I do it again? Maybe….
I am a dog trainer who has worked with 2 sets of siblings adopted or purchased by 2 different clients. The first pair were two 1.5YO Golden Retriever sisters from same litter, with the foster telling the adopter that “the girls must go together.” I agreed to train both dogs at the same time provided there was a handler for each dog and that the handlers would work with the dogs separately. During training sessions the two dogs were such a distraction for each other that they wouldn’t pay attention to their handlers until we put them in separate areas with baby gates in doorways. The couple did the best they could but the needier of the two dogs panicked whenever the dogs were separated. The dogs were very destructive when left home alone, to the point that the couple ended up rehoming one of the dogs. The second pair are new clients with two 6MO Bulldog sisters from same litter, bought from a breeder on the same day, and the breeder was happy to do it (and didn’t say anything about potential problems). There is a resident 10YO bulldog female, who is not interested in sharing her territory with the puppies, so the puppies are currently housed in a 3-stall climate-controlled garage, that is equipped with 2 large kennels. The puppies share toys and play well together – and I’m pretty sure they sleep together – but leash walking is difficult, and housetraining (because of the older dog) is at a standstill. The dogs will do skills for me during sessions, but owners haven’t done much one-on-one work – walking, training, playing – with the puppies. Too early to tell how this will end up so I remain hopeful and helpful.
Many years ago my rough collie had a litter of twelve! Due to unavoidable circumstances I wound up keeping FIVE of those puppies. Perhaps because of the breed or just dumb luck, I never had any of the issues discussed. They were all happy, well adjusted and trained. They related well to each other but were definitely bonded to me. Did not display any separation anxiety. The only really difficult part was loosing them all in a two year period at ages twelve and thirteen.
We adopted two German Shepard puppies, they not only bonded, but both being male, they fought over being alpha for 12 years, sometimes drawing blood on each other, and me.
Then losing them both within about 6 months was devastating.