Puppies are so adorable that you might be tempted to adopt two instead of just one. Although having two puppies may seem like a good idea, raising them together can lead to long-term behavioral problems.
Harmony Diers, a veterinary technician at the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine & Biomedical Sciences, says that while these problems are not a guaranteed outcome when raising two puppies together, nor are they breed specific, the syndrome littermates is more common than not when raising two puppies. puppies from the same litter, or even two puppies of close age from separate litters.
“Littermate syndrome refers to a specific set of unfavorable behaviors that two puppies might exhibit if raised together immediately after weaning from their mother, such as anxiety or fear,” Diers said. “This syndrome occurs when a pair of puppies raised together develop such a close bond with each other during important stages of socialization that it hinders their ability to bond with their new owner.”
Recognizing Reach Syndrome
The socialization stage, or when a puppy is between 3 and 12 weeks old, is when the puppy’s senses mature, encouraging him to explore his surroundings and socialize with others. This is also the stage where puppies become aware of their relationship with humans.
“Puppies ultimately learn to respond to things they encounter in their world during the socialization phase,” Diers said. “If closely bonded to its owner, an individual puppy will look to its owner for an answer on how it should react, either to be praised for appropriate reactions or to be redirected away from inappropriate reactions.”
For example, if you adopted a single puppy and that puppy chewed a shoe, his decision to behave that way in the future – or not – will depend on your response to his interesting choice of “snack.” However, if you have two puppies, they might agree that shoe chewing was a great choice without waiting for your response, thereby reinforcing the unwanted behavior.
“A pair of closely bonded puppies tend to be ‘in their own world’ and will likely look to each other for guidance on how to respond to new stimuli rather than looking to their owner,” Diers explained. “This gives them the opportunity to prey on each other’s fear and anxiety, which can turn into unhealthy behaviors.”
According to Diers, common behaviors that can develop in puppies with littermate syndrome include:
- Separation anxiety when away from the other puppy due to co-dependency on each other
- Fear of new people, animals, objects or experiences
- Fear aggression, which can occur when a puppy has a new experience, feels threatened or frightened and reacts by barking, biting or trying to escape.
- Responsiveness on leash
- Fighting habits when they reach sexual maturity around 6 months of age
- Aggression or nervousness in the most dominant puppy; shyness and withdrawal in the less dominant puppy
Intervention as a method of prevention
Since littermate syndrome is common and can cause unwanted behaviors, potential dog owners should avoid raising two puppies at the same time. Still, if owners are in a situation where they are breeding a pair, their intervention is best to help deter these unwanted behaviors, provided the owners can engage in the process.
“Some experts believe that the ideal would be to rehome one of the puppies; However, with the high number of dogs experiencing homelessness or ending up in shelters, this is not always the best option,” Diers said. “If a family has two puppies of the same age in the home, owners should take intentional steps to allow their puppies to bond with them and develop as individuals.”
Diers encourages owners to start by crating puppies separately, either in different rooms or by spacing crates within the same room.
Walks are another effective way for owners to bond one-on-one with their pets.
“Puppies should be walked individually and taken solo with their owner during the first few months, gradually transitioning to each puppy being walked by a separate owner at the same time,” Diers explained. “Once this stage begins, owners should practice walking dogs in opposite directions to monitor their reactivity. Again, the puppy should be more concerned with the presence of its owner and not the lack of presence of the other puppy.
Finally, Diers recommends that owners schedule separate individual play times to develop a close bond with each puppy. If two puppies are undergoing obedience training, owners should also make sure the puppies are in separate classes.
“It can also be beneficial if the puppy pair joins a household with an older dog, because in some cases the older dog can teach boundaries and offer appropriate corrections if necessary,” Diers said. “Nevertheless, you should always seek advice from your family veterinarian when deciding whether to bring home a puppy or two and gather information about behavioral intervention if necessary.”
Having two puppies at the same time can be a challenge. Nonetheless, if owners become involved in puppy training, they can prevent behavioral problems resulting from littermate syndrome, ensuring strong human-animal bonds and dual love for the puppy.
Bringing home a new puppy? Texas A&M’s Dog Aging Project, the world’s largest observational study of pet dog health, allows owners to enroll new puppies and dogs of all ages, breeds, sizes and health conditions to help discover factors that lead to longer, healthier lives for dogs. . Join the Dog Aging Project Pack on https://dogagingproject.org/.
Pet Talk is a service of the Texas A&M University School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. The stories can be found on the web at vetmed.tamu.edu/news/pet-talk. Suggestions for future topics can be directed to vmbs-editor@tamu.edu.