two pups together

[louise1967]

My labrador bitch has had 8 pups, I have homed 6 of them, but then decided to keep 2 that I have become very fond of, this was not the plan, as I only wanted to keep 1, but I have kept two and am thinking that I may be mad.

I want some advise on anybody that has had 2 pups together and how they found it. There mother Jess is only 2 1/2 and has been very well behaved from a pup, she has never been on a lead and comes running with me on the main roads without a lead, extremely well behaved in all aspects, I had two terriers before her a but they were a yr apart so not two pups together. So I have had lots of experience of pups, but not two at the same time.

Advise Please!!!

 

[echodomino]

Don't do it unless you have a hell of a lot of time to put into it. We've done it before and said we'd never do it again. They tend to listen to eachother as opposed to you. They seem more dependent on eachother too. It can also go the other way and you suffer the outcomes over major sibling rivalry.

We kept two out of the last litter we had, one for mum to continue showing and mine because she was the runt etc and I got attached. This worked out because I insisted on doing everything with my puppy by myself and that they did everything seperately until they were old enough to know who's boss.

In all honesty I wouldn't recommend anyone keeps two from the same litter, I know people who've done it and later regret it.

That's just my opinion though.

 

[CAYLA]

Agree with Echodomino...you would have your work cut out

 

[Booboos]

For what it's worth, I completely agree with everyone else. Two pups together re-inforce each other's behaviour (which is likely to be cheecky!), they are more likely to have recall problems as they will be more than happy to stay together away from you and you will have to spend a lot of time doing things with each one on its own.

 

[MurphysMinder]

Sorry, I agree with everyone else here. keeping 2 pups from a litter is not a good idea. They will bond with each other rather than with you. Also at the risk of being accused of interfering, I personally would never take any dog on a main road off lead, however well trained. Even the best behaved dog in the world can be distracted by something and run into the traffic.

 

[Blue-bear]

I have 2 pups together, although they are not out of the same litter or even the same breed, they are also slightly different ages but ultimatly i have 2 together! lol. I find it works well as they entertain each other when necessary and i have found that as long as i make sure i do there training separatly most of the time and together say once a week they are learning to work well alone and together. Sorry if that doesnt make sense but i know what im trying to say!!

 

[BroadfordQueen]

I had 2 pups together from the same litter, and I must say they must be an expeption to the rule! They are both very enegergtic and I guess they are double the work, but I don't find that they are dependant on each other- although we usually try walking them seperately. Sky is often found in my room with me while Jack is in the living room with the parents. They listen to us (especially when foods involved lol!), but they do love going for runs together, which means less work for us- they tire themselves out by chasing each other

 

[teabiscuit]

we kept two pups from the same litter along with mum

mum did a good job of keeping the two pups in their place and so we've had little trouble with them.

the neat thing was giving them individual names and a collective name

so when they need to be called back we can just use their collective name, which is 'puppies'

sounds a bit odd now that they're 6

all in all it's worked well for us

 

[louise1967]

Thank You for all your comments, I understand all the good and bad things that siblings do. I use the collective name puppies too, as that always gets their attention, as I used to use that word to call all the puppies when it was feed time when there was 8 of them.

I think I will try to do more things separately with them, so far they arn't too bad, I take them to the stables everyday and they always stay with me even when mum runs off, they have such different personalities, the boy is totally potty trained, but much more destructive and braver than the other, she is more reserved, more obedient, but not so good with potty training, although neither poo in the house, she occasionally wee's.

The are 13 weeks now, I do have quite a bit of time to spend with them as I work from home, they have a run, kennel, a garden and the house, they have access to all that and they have 2 small walks a day at the mo, that will increase as they get older, untill they can do as much as their mum.

I really wish could part with one, but I would never be ever to choose between them both, the boy was the runt, and he was almost dead and we gave him the kiss of life, then he was totally blind for 5 weeks, even when the others could see perfectly, but he has grown into a perfect hansome boy now, and the girl was the smallest in the litter, both were bottle fed in addition to mothers milk. so I have a special bond with them both.