RAISING TWO PUPPIES TOGETHER

Most trainers will give the blanket statement that you should never do this, never raise littermates or two puppies together. While I agree that it’s often a bad idea and will not be appropriate for everyone, with proper training and planning it can work out really well. I’ve actually raised multiple puppies together twice: the first time was 3 puppies together (two were littermates and a third who was a month younger) and am currently raising Olive and Oak together, who are only a week apart.

WHY IT CAN BE PROBLEMATIC

• it’s a lot more work than people realize

• it’s more expensive and time consuming than people realize - twice the food, treats, training costs, puppy vaccines and spay/neuter, etc

• with two dogs the same age, you may end up with them competing for resources - food, toys, chews, your attention

• with two young dogs the same age playing 24/7 with each other, it’s common for play to become aggression and fights to start. People often get two to give them a playmate and let them play constantly and unsupervised, which is a recipe for disaster

• you may end up with the dogs codependent on each other where they cannot let the other out of sight without losing their mind 

• they will teach each other bad habits - one puppy digs? Soon they both will! One puppy is reactive to other dogs? The other is more likely to pick that up. One puppy starts counter surfing? Soon they both will!

WANNA DO IT ANYWAY? HERE’S WHAT TO KNOW

If you want to do it, that’s great! Just go into it knowing it will be significantly more work than one puppy. A lot of people get two thinking they’ll keep each other busy, making your life easier. While in some ways it’s true, in a lot of ways it isn’t.

MONITOR PLAY

Yes, Olive and Oak play with each other and wear each other out. I monitor their play to make sure they aren’t getting intense and out of control with each other. To prevent fights, it’s important they play in a healthy way, being respectful of each other. They do not get to play in a way that’s wild and out of control, and they don’t get to play 24/7.

TIME APART

It’s important that Olive and Oak spend time away from each other. Olive’s life doesn’t revolve around Oak and vice versa. I don’t want them developing separation anxiety with each other or getting jealous and upset when the other gets to do something and they don’t.

It’s also important they develop the social skills to play with a wide variety of dogs, not just each other, so they played with other puppies in puppy class and they do daycare now, usually on separate days.

I also don’t want them to be so fixated and obsessed with each other that they can’t listen to me. I take them on walks separately, train them separately, and play with them separately. Not only that, but they are crated separately. They know how to cope without each other.

I’ve had numerous littermates in classes that simply can’t cope without their sibling. If their littermate is out of sight, they scream and lunge and cry and cannot pay attention to the human holding their leash. Clients have told me their puppies at home fight constantly, play intensely, and scream if they’re away from each other. This isn’t normal or healthy.

PRACTICE CALMNESS AROUND EACH OTHER

Your two puppies shouldn’t be wild and insane 24/7. They should be able to be calm in the presence of each other.

I’ve leashed Oak in the living room to help him relax around Olive. There are times she’s trying to sleep, and he’s just being a wild pest who will not stop bugging her. There are times they’re BOTH being wild and won’t stop tearing through the house and loudly wrestling. So we practice calmness around each other, and now they can just go lie down somewhere and rest without needing to be constantly playing. And they don’t lie down together, they will separate for some alone time and rest.

WHAT I LOVE ABOUT TWO PUPPIES

Even though it’s a ton of work, there are some benefits! I love that my dogs will have a playmate for many years, and because they’re the same age, they will grow old together. They should stay relatively compatible in energy levels (rather than having a young, energetic dog who likes to wrestle and an arthritic senior who wants to nap). They’ll be energetic together and start to slow down together. They’ll have companionship when I’m not home. If properly managed and the dogs are a good fit, they do a great job of helping each other. Olive and Oak’s social skills have improved being able to practice with each other constantly. They’re learning to navigate boundary setting from other dogs, especially around resources. A confident puppy can be a big help for a shy puppy. Because they have each other to play with, it’s helped a lot with puppy biting - Olive essentially stopped biting me when Oak arrived.