Litter Mate Syndrome – Don’t Get Two Puppies at Once

This is Ned. If you saw this without knowing anything about him, you might assume that he has been abused and is traumatised. But you’d be wrong. Ned and his sister Kelly have been in the same loving home since they were bought together as puppies and are now five months of age.

Buying litter mates together is something that people often do with the best intentions. It seems like a win-win as the dogs can grow up together and keep each other company when you’re away. But it can cause a lot of issues too.

Litter mate syndrome comes about because the two siblings are so emotionally dependant on each other that their learning is inhibited. Signs include phobias of people and other dogs, fears of anything novel, intense anxiety when separated, difficulty learning even basic training skills and can lead to the two dogs fighting when they hit adolescence.

Litter mate syndrome makes it more difficult to bond with and train the dogs and actually hinders their learning severely. You will likely never see the true potential of each dog as an individual but will have two difficult to manage anxious dogs that are not mentally developed.

This can also occur with two pups raised together from different litters or different breeds.

For the most success, each dog should be raised and trained completely separate from the other, except for brief interactions, until they are over a year old. This is a difficult task and so it’s often best to rehome one of the dogs so that both can develop into confident individuals. While a difficult decision, this is likely the best outcome for both dogs involved.

Many people are not aware of the pitfalls of raising litter mates together so the owners kindly agreed to me writing this with Ned and Kelly as an example to raise awareness so please share and tag anyone who is considering getting two puppies at once.