Let’s talk about ‘littermate syndrome’.
Fancy term for:- 2 dogs from the same litter growing up and fighting.
Usually the dogs will be fine when they are young pups, anything up to 6 months is normally not a problem. Then hormones kick in and that’s when the trouble can start. The pups are no longer innocent things, they are more aware, conscious of competition and resources and this can lead to scraps that lead to fights that lead to serious fights where the dogs want to kill each other.
It can be really serious.
First things first, breeders should not home same-sex pups from the same litter. Opposite sex may not be so bad, but same sex is asking for trouble. I’ve seen it work but that’s rare.
In my opinion, any breeder that allows 2 same-sex pups to go to the same home is a bad one. Clearly this is about money and not the welfare of the dogs. And sadly I have seen this happen time and time again. People get emotionally blackmailed into taking another dog, they only went for one but they come home with 2!!!
All is well until it isn’t, and it can be very dangerous indeed. The dogs understand that they are in full competition with eachother at a time when hormones are sky high, seasons are happening or testosterone is raging, and this leads to fights.
In situations like this it can be really difficult to create harmony, and it might mean one of the dogs being neutered but hold on, that’s barbaric to do at such a young age and throws up more problems, so what do you do?
Separate, train, dedicate, adapt diet to the individual character of the dog, bring in strict house rules, don’t allow anyone in the house that isn’t going to follow rules, hope, pray and see what happens.
For me I am inclined to recommend a rehome rather than recommend neutering a young female, I just don’t agree with it. Yes altering the hormones can create harmony but my god can it do serious long lasting psychological, emotional and physical damage to that dog. It becomes a moral issue.
It angers me when I see this, breeders taking advantage and allowing this to happen.
Now I know there are some of you out there with littermates and all is well, and that’s great, but that is not common. You are the few.
I once worked with a couple who had 2 male Huskies from the same litter and their home was quite small and the female owner was on her own at home most of the day, and not confident at handling dogs. This was a rehome recommendation, the dogs were fighting and it was only a matter of time before something horrendous happened. They went for 1 puppy, came home with 2 🤬
Most dog owners will not have the skill, knowledge, understanding and capacity to deal with 2 dogs from the same litter, so think twice about this and walk away from any breeder that is pushing this on you, it is likely they do not have the welfare of the dogs at heart.
If you do want 2 dogs then my advice is to get them from different litters and to get them at different ages and to get different sexes. This is your best chance of success.
