raising 2 puppies together

1822 Views 7 Replies 8 Participants Last post by Alerondogs, Feb 5, 2012

wangz09

Discussion Starter · Feb 5, 2012

yes I know... BAD idea...

I have a 4 months old collie puppy at home (male, will neuter soon).. last week, I rescued a 3 months old rottweiler puppy. She came to me with cuts on her paws.. underweight!! and with high PH in her urine due to terrible terrible diet!!!! I think the ppl before were just feeding scraps!!! not even proper puppy food!!!

not vaccinated or dewormed!!!! I am so angry

She is sooooo affectionate, I think she's very thankful that she is with us in this house =) we love her

We love our collie too!! to death!!! but I sometimes feel like he is sad that he is no longer the only puppy in the house =(

they each had a bone to chew on, he got a little close to her and she growled at him! we corrected her immediately, but he was sad and just walked away without his bone =( when they "play" together.. it gets a little rough, she turns onto her back somtimes, but they still try to "play bite" It is fine for now.. but once they are full grown... it can turn serious. so we don't want them to do that

How do we get him accept her? We are willing to spend extra time walking them etc. I would HATE to give her away, but I am soooo scared that would be my only option.

Any help would be appreciate!! thank you!!

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Freya

· #2 · Feb 5, 2012

Ive raised 2 puppies before but they were brother and sister. so I may not of had the same experience. play with the both of them. bring them both on walks when there Vaccinated. Soon they will learn to love each other. when there play fighting, supervised them at all times. if you notice a yelp break them up.
I noticed when i bring out my male and female to play outside, she always seems very vicious only to realize thats how they play. I still supervise mine and there almost 2

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JessCowgirl88

· #3 · Feb 5, 2012

I raised 2 puppies before, they were the same age, 8 weeks but i pretty much did what freya said, i did everything with both of them, played with them both, when it came to walks both went ( once they were all vaccinated) which that was a blast lol, and if they started playing ruff i broke it up. I always made sure that if they both had a bone i gave it to them a nice distance apart just at the beginning then worked on haveing them closer so they would relize hey we are both getting one and i cant have both. It will take time but hopefully he will accept her!

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PatchworkRobot

· #4 · Feb 5, 2012 (Edited)

Do some research on Littermate Syndrome. While doing things with the puppies together may be good for getting one to accept the other it can also lead to some issues. Littermate Syndrome can be a big deal when puppies are raised together, even if they're not siblings.

As for bonding, yes to taking them on walks together. If you can take them somewhere that is new to the both of them and isn't full of the collie's scent that would be good too. But make sure to give them breaks from each other. Imagine if you were the puppy and all of a sudden another puppy showed up. Would you want to be around this new dog all of the time and share stuff all of the time? Time away from each other either alone or with you is good for the soul.

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osdbmom

· #5 · Feb 5, 2012

I dont think its necessarily a bad idea. I had a puppy for a few months and then we decided to take on another one. My are about 5 months apart in age, both girls. I thought my first dog (zoey) would feel "put out" or something, but it actually was kind of nice, as it gave her someone to play around with while my kids are all gone to school. I sometimes would take them on walks alone, and sometimes with each other. Or take one for a car ride to run errands, and leave the other one home. Take one to a different room and play with just that one puppy for a while, for individual attention.

Right now, mine are 1 and 1 and a half, and they get along great. I think the issues you are having are likely just regular "puppy" issues, it just seems worse since its times two. If you wait it out, it will get better.

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Bumble

· #6 · Feb 5, 2012

Puppies are like children. When one puppy is a lone pup it will become spoilt. Not spoilt in the sense of giving it a bath and a toy every 5 minutes I mean spolit as in, it's the only one and expects to be treated when it wants. Full concentration on that pup.
So when you get a new puppy, the lone one see's it as a threat. So, you start treating this other puppy and now the collie feels jealous? This could be why they are scrapping. Other than just being puppies and they generally do play fight! I suggest feeding them both at the same time, away from each other so they won't scrap. And any treats you give one give to the other. Remember that they are only pups and so if they're just being playful they may grow out of it in time.

Sammy.

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happybooker1

· #7 · Feb 5, 2012

Google 'raising 2 puppies together' and read some articles. Mainly it's important to do separate things with the pups in the beginning so they bond to you and not to each other. Let them have their little 'scraps' and growl at each other. This is the way puppies learn. They are trying to work out who is 'top dog' and who will be the 'underdog'. Do not punish them for growling.

Get them each a crate and feed the bones in there. Or just a 'special' rug or mat will do. If one tries to sniff the other's bone GENTLY guide him/her over to THEIR bone and show them. Or, when I give my 4 dogs bones they ALWAYS switch off until they find the bone THEY like -- which might not be the bone I gave them!! Yes there's growling at this time and one dog I have to watch until she settles down or she will take TWO bones & lay on one while she chews the other!! I allow my dogs some fussing at each other. Like children, they are allowed to 'express their opinion' just not enough to hurt one another. And if you've ever seen a litter of puppies play sometimes it will sound like they are KILLING each other--LOL.

One thing you might think about is a puppy class. You would have to have 2 people to handle the two dogs but they would be exposed to OTHER puppies and get some training going too. Petsmart has decent ones for puppies because the training is very low-key and pups are nearly always social.

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Alerondogs

· #8 · Feb 5, 2012

The mentions of Littermate Syndrome and such concerns are extremely valid if you plan to keep both puppies and raise them together. As a trainer, I have seen this occur more often than not with people raising two puppies together. Your priority needs to be that the puppies develop as individuals, that they have individual training, socialization and experiences more than together time. I wouldn't worry about them not bonding at all but would worry very much about them eventually bonding too much. I don't think there is likely to be fighting issues since they are opposite sex, so I'd urge you to reconsider your choice to neuter your 4 month old large breed puppy "soon".

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