Raising two puppies: total insanity or just mild lunacy?
8Some of you who may have been following the news about @mfladd’s adorable sugar gliders may have read that my family and I had decided to adopt two homeless puppies. Well, I’m pleased to introduce our new little guys, Agamemnon (the bigger one) and Hector (the incredibly small one). 
We brought them home from Denver last Saturday and already we adore them beyond all reason. Their mom, China, was recently rescued from a puppy mill when she was seven weeks pregnant. Her four pups — all boys — were born free, but needed homes. Two had been spoken for already, but Agamemnon and Hector were still available. We couldn’t bear leaving one behind, so my wife and I agreed to spend a small fortune on adoption fees, airfare and accommodations so we could fly two-thirds of the way across the country and get them both.
Then we got home and read all kinds of information online that said NEVER get two pups from the same litter, because they’ll bond with each other instead of their humans, they’ll fight, they’ll have terrible separation anxiety… the list goes on.
So here’s what I’m wondering: have any of you fine Mehricans raised two (or more) puppies from the same litter? Was it hell? Did they turn out okay when they grew up? Any tips?
Of course, no matter what kind of horror stories you share, we’ll never regret adopting them both – we love them way too much. 
- 17 comments, 16 replies
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What?! I had never heard anything about never getting two pups from the same litter…
All I can say is that I’ve had plenty of dogs, some who had litters of their own. Kept some of them, from the same litter or not, and never had any particular issues whatsoever…
@ELUNO There are tons of articles like this one from the Atlanta Humane Society that warn against it. http://atlantahumane.org/education-center/one-puppy/
I’m really glad to hear you haven’t had issues. Finger crossed all goes smoothly with our little guys!!!
@rv617 I think everything they describe can happen with puppies from different litters, and when you get them at different times. You just have to care for them and be alert for any behavioral issues. Anyway, even then it will most likely not be an issue for you. Good luck and congrats!
@ELUNO Thanks!!!
Stuff Could Happen, but warnings sound overblown. Perhaps in a small minority of cases and all that.
You did a wonderful thing.
/image don’t worry be happy
@f00l Yeah, I was just reading some of the reasons, and it does seem overblown. As long as you take good care of them they should be fine.
@f00l It’s hard not to be happy with a pair of pups on your lap. The warnings do seem a little hysterical, don’t they?
Too early to worry about now, but please don’t neglect training and socialization. We know several people/families that we can’t visit (even in neutral territory) because their dog(s) have never been taught to behave, especially with other dogs/animals present.
Good luck with your 2 new cuties
@compunaut Definitely will focus on training them right! We raised another of the same breed and he turned out to be a real sweetheart – he loved everyone: family, strangers, cats, other dogs.
To answer your question: total insanity.
That said… LOVE THE NAMES!
@katylava Aw, thanks! And oh, no! (Not necessarily in that order.)
I’ve had dogs and puppies all my life. The alarmist garbage is new to me. Littermates go through the same stages together: the teething will eventually end, but if you get one pup, then another one later, then another one later, you will never have a pup that isn’t teething. Or at least it feels that way. As long as you’re clear on who the leader of the pack is (that would be you), canine instinct is to relate to the leader. One of them will always be more dominant than the other, and it doesn’t matter which one, as long as you’re the one giving the pack commands. Early socialization (exposure to other people, then other dogs) is vital, because they take their cues from you. Stop reading the silly stuff, enjoy your dogs, and thank you for not naming them ‘Angel’ or ‘Sweetie’. (Since Hector was a pup… got it.)
@OldCatLady Thanks for the advice! And no worries, Agamemnon and Hector will never be Angel or Sweetie.
Ready to be alpha doggies?
Two are always better, they keep each other company and busy when you aren’t available. They still bond with you as Alpha, but they are happy together.
@zahita459 That’s what we figured when we got them. But the gaggle of dog training pundits say otherwise. This may come as a surprise, but I guess you can’t believe everything you read on the internet. Huh…
/giphy liars
Three of the best-behaved dogs I know are from one litter that a friend (insanely) bought and raised together. The owner is a strong alpha dog.
I think three dogs is too much dogs in one house. Even if they are two dark chocolate labs and one salted caramel lab.
@sligett Two words:
/giphy outdoor dogs
Don’t buy into the Alpha Dog stuff. That’s based on a wolf experiment that is long-discredited. Try to get training and advice from someone who does Positive Training. And take them out and expose them to as many things as possible before they’re 12 weeks old. (Yes, before they’ve had all their shots. Just keep it a controlled environment.) Things they see early get defined as normal. Things they don’t see until later are not normal and are cause for alarm. The more they get exposed to now, the less they’ll be scared of and barking at later. We adopted a five-month-old Border Collie earlier this year who wasn’t exposed to anything and that has been a bit of a problem because she barks at everything.
@SSteve Not sure if there’s a correspondence with Alpha Dog theory, but my experience with several dogs (and dog groups, including litter mates) in my lifetime seems to substantiate the concept of Pack Leader.
Make sure one of the humans is the unequivocal pack leader, the ‘maker of all rules’
@SSteve Good advice. Thanks!
Total insanity, but for me, worth it.
(sorry for the potato quality)
Same story as OP. We were presented with the last two in a litter and couldn’t walk away. The dogs are Kai Ken, which are notoriously aloof anyway. Having two in the same litter exacerbated the situation. Truth- they only cared about each other for the first year. Truth- they were nearly impossible to train unless separated. Truth- if they are apart they are totally stressed out.
We though one of them was deaf for the first few months. It turns out she truly didn’t give a shit.
All that to say, with a considerable amount of work and time, I’m glad we did it and I can’t imagine having both of them. I’m scared as hell if one dies before the other, though, because the other one won’t handle it. I have a lot more to say, but I’m drinking. Let me know if you want to hear more
@marklog It’s funny – we’ve been trying to figure out if one of our guys is deaf. I figure he, like our human kids, has selective hearing.
@marklog Also, the potato quality is fine. The photo sucks, though.
/giphy potato
My brother got 2 from the same litter, one is more dominate and doesn’t listen for shit. (He gets disciplined quite regularly, no effect). The second one see’s how much trouble his brother is in, and is the angel. But he’s also twice as fat as #1; I guess he thinks while big brother gets all the attention (both good and bad), he’ll eat himself to an early grave. He’s the sweeter of the two, but they’re both Dutch dogs and STUBBORN doesn’t begin to describe them.
Just like children, spend time with them together, and individually. Definitely let everyone know who is in charge (the human(s)) and all should be fine. I have Australian Shepherds. My male dog, who is 5 now, was my son’s ‘playmate’ - and treats him as such. Ty (the dog) won’t listen to Jake (the son) - he considers him an equal. I, however, have no problems with him behaving nor do any other people he doesn’t consider his brother. My two younger dogs do listen to my son - he learned his lesson with Ty. All of my dogs get serious time, both training and play individually, and together.
All that said, good luck!
Z
Ugh…those puppies are soooo damn cute. You have done a good deed by giving them a home. I wish these new family mehmbers all the best in life. Make it so
Pupdates please?
@rv617 My fault, forgot to tag you.
I know cats are totally different, but mine are both from the same litter. For the most part they’re fine on their own but I’ve had a handful of instances where one will be sad if the other leaves. They both are super close to me and my hubby and don’t seem all that codependent.
@hollboll Cats seem to do just fine together in my experience, too. The only problem is when one dies, the other tends to get really depressed. It’s heartbreaking.
As requested by @OldCatLady, a pupdate!
The pups, Agamemnon (Aga) and Hector are about 14 weeks old now. And, boy, are they a handful. Aga sleeps through the night brilliantly in his crate. Hector, who, evidently, has a bladder the size of a grape gets up at least twice a night to go outside for a pee. So we’re a little sleep deprived, but it’s totally worth it! We love those little guys.
Here’s Aga taking a nap. Odd fellow that he is, he likes to sleep with his arms straight up in the air.
Here’s Hector posing with an eggplant. (Hector is the one on the right.) He’s essentially the size and general shape of an eggplant, so we had to get this shot.
The problem we’re having is with housebreaking. As soon as you turn your attention to one of the pups, the other one craps on the floor. Like clockwork.
Oh, also Hector seems to be stone deaf, so training him to do much of anything is more of a challenge than we expected. Still, he’s perfect just the way he is!
So, to answer The question I posed a while back, having two puppies at the same time is total insanity. But I wouldn’t trade it for the world!
So, I just weighed the boys. Since we’ve had them, Hector has grown from 2.5 pounds 5.6 pounds. Agamemnon has grown from 5.4 pounds to 8.4 pounds. THEY’RE HUGE!
/giphy giant dog
