GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - Many people believe you should not have two puppies from the same litter. The reason is littermate syndrome, a broad term for a range of behavioural issues that are said to occur when sibling dogs live in the same home.
Many breeders agree with this and will advise against it, but what is it all about?
Local animal behaviour practitioner George van Huyssteen explains:
When getting a new puppy, it will learn from its new owners and a possible existing older dog. It will learn to be polite towards the other dog and will be guided when play is not appropriate.
During the first few weeks at home, the puppy will bond with its new owners. The owners will teach the puppy rules and help it settle in. House-training normally happens fairly quickly and in no time you have a new well-mannered companion.
So why would two puppies be any different?
Should you get two puppies of the same age, things might be much more complicated. There are a number of things that might go wrong.
• House training might become exponentially difficult. While you are showing one puppy the ropes, your second puppy might do as he pleases in another part of the house.
• Puppies of the same age will not have a way to learn appropriate play with other dogs. As they are exactly the same age with no older dog to show them the ropes, playing might cause over-excitement and might end up in fights. This especially happens once the pups reach adolescence.
• Puppies of the same age might form a really tight bond with each other and in the end, might completely ignore their owner. Training such pups becomes very difficult because of their attachment to each other. In some extreme cases, separating such puppies might provoke extreme distress and the puppy might bark or yelp when away from the other - even if it is only a few metres.
• Most times owners also think that two puppies can keep each other company so there will be no need to teach them socialisation. The puppies therefore never get socialised with other dogs or even humans. This becomes an enormous problem later in life when the dogs get to meet an unfamiliar dog. They might react to this new dog with fear and could freak out.
The controversial part is that this applies not only to siblings, but to any puppies of the same age. There is actually no scientific proof that the above has anything to do with being littermates. It has all to do with puppies of the same age in one home.
Sometimes getting two pups of the same age ends in heartache and tears when adolescent fights force owners to re-home one dog, as behaviour modification programmes cannot guarantee success. In fighting breeds, this is normally the only way out as some dogs might end up biting owners when they try to break up the fights.
Already have puppies of the same age?
The best thing you can do for your same-age puppies is to make sure that they spend significant parts of the day apart. They should be separately walked, played with and trained. Even trips to the vet should be on separate occasions. Socialisation with other dogs and humans should also happen separately. They need to learn not to be totally dependent on each other.
The bottom line here is simple. When looking for your next companion, it might be a good idea to get dogs of different ages to prevent behavioural problems in the future.
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