06/11/2024
Great advice!
– Littermate Syndrome
When faced with a litter of puppies all snuggled up or playing with each other, we as humans may feel bad about separating them by adopting just one. And when it comes to kittens, two IS better than one! However, adopting puppies in pairs can lead to behavioral challenges due to something called littermate syndrome.
Puppies adopted together may become overly dependent on each other, often at the cost of bonding with their new humans. Puppies need to learn how to be independent, confident adult dogs, and should look to their humans for an answer on how they should react to new things instead of their littermate.
According to the Texas A&M School of Veterinary Medicine and Biomedical Sciences, common behaviors associated with littermate syndrome include:
- Separation anxiety when away from their littermate
- Fear of new people, animals, objects, or experiences
- Reactivity when on a leash
- Fighting habits when they reach sexual maturity around 6 months of age
- Aggression or nervousness in the more dominant littermate; timidity and withdrawal in the less dominant one
If you do adopt two puppies together, make sure that each puppy gets plenty of alone time with you and other humans. That means walking them separately, feeding them apart, and playing with them solo. Training should take place one-on-one so the puppy isn’t distracted by their littermate.
