Luvk9s Dog Training

Double your pleasure, double your fun?

Anyone remember the early advertising slogan for Wrigley’s Doublemint gum? “Double your pleasure, double your fun, with Doublemint, Doublemint, chewing gum!” The advertising campaign used twins as spokespersons as a play on the word “double” in the products name. There was even an ad that featured a young girl holding twin puppies.

Getting two puppies at the same time seems like a great idea. If you’re going to go through housetraining, why not housetrain two pups at once? For folks who work outside the home or just aren’t home much, the logic is that the two puppies can entertain each other and keep each other company. While this may be true, research has shown that other problems can develop.

Guide dog experiment

Guide dog organizations experimented with placing two puppies in a home hoping to maximize the use of their volunteers. What they learned was startling; placing two puppies in the same household always resulted in one puppy being temperamentally unsuitable for work, even when both pups started off as perfect candidates. The results of the experiment were so significant that guide dog organizations stopped the practice of placing two puppies in one home.

Why does this happen? Puppies’ brains continue developing until they hit sexual maturity (more or less) and there’s convincing research that bringing two puppies home at the same time prevents one of the puppies from reaching his or her full potential. When two puppies are placed together, they begin to rely on each other. One of the puppies almost always becomes shy, even when both puppies started out as bold and outgoing.

There are other behavioral implications for two puppies who are adopted at the same time. Often even the “bold” puppy turns out to be quite nervous and uncertain when separated from his or her littermate.

The puppies frequently become co-dependent, exhibiting anxiety when separated from one another. They often fail to bond to their human family as strongly as they otherwise would, or sometimes not at all. At social maturity, these puppies may begin fighting with one another.

This syndrome has also been observed and documented in puppies placed together that were not related.

How to make this work

If you’re in a situation where you have no options but to keep both puppies, what can you do to prevent littermate syndrome?

• The puppies should have their own bed and crate.
• Feed the puppies separately – no shared bowl.
  
• Play with and train the dogs separately.
  
• Take them on outings separately. This includes trips to the vet as well as socialization opportunities like taking the dog to the park, pet store, hardware store or outdoor restaurant.
  
• Set up separate puppy play dates.
  
• Walk the dogs individually.
  

The dogs should ideally have more one-on-one time with their owners than with each other.

 In conclusion

The puppies should be allowed to play together, but executing the separation procedures listed above is crucial. Keeping the siblings together at all times will create two parts of a whole, not two individuals.