# raising two female pups(GWPs) from the same litter.



## smithdp (Jan 25, 2012)

We are being told that is is highly discouraged.

Mostly what I hear is that it requires STRICT separation of the pups for them to develop and to bond with humans.
Otherwise , you risk them "packing" (bonding with each other) and being wild and not very obedient (even dangerous). 

Advice? 

What has been your experience?


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## Sibe (Nov 21, 2010)

You definitely need to spend one-on-one time with each puppy. Train them separately, and do some activities separately too. I disagree that you need to keep them completely separated all the time though. They can potentially bond with each other more than they bond with you. As with ANY puppy, they need socialization, training, and to learn human household manners.

Some females do not get along well with other females- same as some females don't get along with males, and some males don't get along with males. It depends on the dog and I don't think it's a fair generalization to say that females tend to not get along with other females. I have two female huskies of the same age (not of the same litter, and have only had one for the last 3 months) but they get along great.


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## PatchworkRobot (Aug 24, 2010)

Another thing to keep in mind is that littermates (be it that they're related or just raised together) can have issues with eachother later in life. I've seen this plenty of times, especially with two females. Things are all good for a few years and then one day, usually as the dogs are hitting maturity, they start fighting and the fights are nasty. If this happens I've rarely seen the issue be able to be worked out. I know two dogs, littermates, who were raised together and got along SO WELL. They'd come to my work a couple of times a week and one day we got a call from the owner who was besides herself because one almost killed the other and they couldn't be in the same room together anymore. This was a year ago and my boss has been working with them to try to fix the issue ever since and within the last month we were able to have them in the same room together (leashed, on opposite ends of the room) without them going after one another. Of course, this is kind of an extreme issue but I've seen it happen plenty of times.


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## Bordermom (Apr 28, 2010)

And even if they got along great, what can happen is one can get sick or injured, and the other can become depressed and withdrawn, because they don't have the same coping skills as an 'only puppy' would have. I've seen that too where the dogs have a really hard time not being together and that's just as sad. 

You have to be prepared for a lot of work and the chance that things don't go well and you have to separate them etc....

I heard a good quote the other day, from a very experienced dog person. She said the people who could raise littermates properly are generally the last ones to ever do it, because they know how much work it can be.....

You're better off (IMO) to get one pup, do classes, work through the first 2 years, then bring home another puppy. The second puppy will be well off since you can learn from the first. Really I learn from every dog so one day I might be perfect. HA!


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## Abbylynn (Jul 7, 2011)

My two Schnauzer/Poodles are male littermates, born August 26, 2006. We got them when they were 12 weeks old. They are now 5-1/2 years old.

First we had them neutered at 6 months of age.

They had one argument at approximately 7 or 8 months old from what I can remember and after that never another one. I believe it was a spat over a bone. I separated them with high value treats and taught them not to resource guard. It was not hard. Now they can eat anything by each other without a problem ... in fact they even trade their items.

I kept them in separate crates, but the crates were in the same room ( kitchen ) for about 6 months. After that I put their crates in separate bedrooms. They slept in separate bedrooms after 6 months of having them. One was my Mother's and one was mine. One slept in a crate in my Mother's room and my pup in my room.

They were trained separately with obedience and some things together such as taking turns with treats...some games, etc....

I gave them time alone and also time to play with each other. I just always supervised. They need to be socialized with everyone and "each other." This is very important that they be socialized with each other IMO. If you supervise you can catch anything that wants to go awry and fix it before it escalates and becomes a problem.

I did however keep them on the same exact eating schedule. I also potty trained them at the same time. It was much easier this way. They followed each other around and did their business together. 

My Mother has passed on and I now have both dogs all the time. I still use the same schedules and they are wonderful together. I am either lucky or I possibly raised them together correctly .... I would like to think more the latter! Lol! 

EDIT: After reading through this whole thread again ... I did forget to mention that I am retired and was training and with these two dogs 24/7 all these years. It may be different if you still have to work and cannot be around like I was? Not sure.


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## elrohwen (Nov 10, 2011)

I'm a newer member here, but I do have some experience with raising litter mates so I thought I'd chime in with my story. Sorry if it's long! My thoughts are all over the place.

Back when I lived with my parents we got two mini schnauzers - brother and sister. Overall they were good dogs and never developed the fighting behavior that can happen with some pairs. They were bonded, but definitely not to the extent that we were left out or they were upset when the other dog was gone. In fact, they didn't sleep together or anything that other bonded dogs do, and never played with each other (both would play with us separately, but never learned to play with other dogs). The male was very bonded to my mom and the female was more independent (in fact, the male pushed her away from socializing with my mom, which didn't help her confidence).

Despite my good experiences with them, I'd never get litter mates again. For one, they definitely developed the opposite personalities I've read about for litter mate syndrome - one dog was pretty bossy and overconfident while the other was timid and shy. The confident dog wasn't actually confident either - he would boss his sister around (push here away from food or attention), but around other dogs he was fearful and not that well socialized. On walks he would bark his head off and lunge at other dogs, but once introduced he was very tense. He never bit or fought, but we watched him like a hawk with other dogs and didn't let it get to that point. The female was very sweet and well behaved but definitely tended towards being quite timid. When the male died (years before the female) she actually came out of her shell a lot and was a much friendlier dog. On walks and off leash they egged each other on to bad behavior - they were awful on leash, but walked separately they really weren't bad (the female was actually extremely well behaved on her own). Their relationship just played on their weaknesses when walked together.

I didn't realize that all of this behavior was related to being litter mates, but the more I read the more I see those traits in my dogs. If they had been separated they probably would've developed into very nice well socialized dogs. Because they grew up together (we didn't do much to separate them, not knowing any better) their personalities developed in parallel and neither really achieved what they could have alone.

My story isn't gloom and doom - they never fought and were generally good dogs - but knowing now how being litter mates stunted their personalities and was probably the root of any issues with did have with them (specifically leash walking and socialization) I wouldn't get two puppies at once again.


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