I have seen German Shepherds and Utonagans bought as littermates where their ears have never become erect as with normal adults. my girl and focus on her for a couple of weeks while I focus on the boy-I feel like we need to break their cycle My partner and I have aquired two spayed female jack Russells die to their previous owner being unable to cope with them. Unfortunately, i have now retired and I would live to recommend someone who could do what I can do however that is not the case. Castration: If you have to neuter and I certainly do not recommend it for many reasons covered here whatever you do you must not spay or castrate both dogs. They play fight alot but mostly with mum one is more vocal than the other . The 2nd is friendly too, but is often left out/prefers to be with humans. Firstly determine who is the more dominant, reinforce that position by feeding, greeting, playing or letting the top dog out first. They often bark and yap at other dogs, and may either pretend to attack or actually attack to chase the other dogs away. The main problem here is lack of socialisation and of course the neutering though I understand why you thought it necessary. What do I do though going forward? I thought I was buying them from a reputable kennel. Grabbing dogs whilst they are fighting can result in "redirected aggression," where a dog bites you because he thinks you are part of the conflict. The 5 year old won't have anything to do with cockapoo since having her pup but not a major issue. When they arrived I had never seen such traumatized puppies in all my life. too old for separate feeding/walking/training to do any good? Over time, you can gradually phase out the reward part of the training and just use the distraction technique. I wish you the very best for these dogs. Having read the article by Stan Rawlinson, it would seem that we'd be foolish to enter into this. She is definitely alpha but not aggressive to him at all. Other breeds will fight to death, so it is important to understand what will likely happen if your dogs fight. If the fights are about dominance, position, and rank then neutering both leaves them at the very same level as they were before neutering. Through this, she was regularly fed by me and basically lived in a pack during the day and nights in my house. When two puppies of the same age are adopted, this can lead to several issues which occur as a result of the excess bonding and developmental deficits that takes place inevitably if no steps are taken. So many related characteristics make it difficult for them to decide who is the alpha or top dog; therefore fights occur because of the similarities. By determining what your dogs are fighting about, you can address the issue and put an end to it. Get the help that you need with a Certified Dog Behavior Consultant in your area. If you need to break up a fight, squirt the dogs with water, throw a blanket over them or make a noise aversion therapy sound to break the circle of aggression by distracting them. Take them on separate nights if that is available, hopefully to the same trainer. but they always seem to be playing or what looks to be fighting. In dogs, rivalry looks a lot like what human siblings do – they fight over your attention, toys and even food. The passive dog will typically display this with submissive gestures, such as rolling over, averting his gaze, moving out the other dog’s way and patiently waiting his turn to feed. One of the best ways with dog is who pees over the other. If you can I would rehome one. It's interacting with the world that is an issue. I live in a developing country and have ended up with 2 unrelated young dogs with very different eating backgrounds. Things You Must Do: Everything must now be done independently to allow for the Siblings to have any chance of becoming separate entities instead of the reduced sum of the whole. Dogs are generally good at maintaining their own societal structure and they are instinctively averse to risking injury by fighting unless survival, food or the opportunity to mate are at stake. Can't identify who the alpha is now at this stage and whether castration should be the way to go. Unfortunately, it is normally a false boldness, in reality, he has been emboldened by the others siblings weakness. My sister and I purchased dogs from the same breeder, but different litters. They fight regularly, particularly when my partner and I are around. Does this article aply to them also if i have another two dogs ? Then it's easy to blame "littermate syndrome" then own up to the true cause of the issue, the owner's behavior towards them. A couple questions, should I get Lucy spayed even though Bailey is the alpha? It now seems to be much worse and can lead to full blown fights over no trigger we can visually see? I appreciate I should not have gotten 2 pups but equally they are really good with each other and each brings out the others character. At some point he suddenly decided to rejoin the world and camped out under my bed but still not interacting with either of us. It's been 3 months. Forcing her to go on outside may result in dog fights, if not immediately, eventually. Normally it is just one of the dogs that start this behaviour, then the other one joins in acting almost as a mimic. My theory is that most "littermate syndrome" issues is really just people not providing enough care and attention to their dogs. For example, if you give a toy to the passive pup, the dominant pup may become rough with him to assert superiority. Another Potential Problem Among Littermates: Fighting. For example, firmly saying “NO!” or giving the dog a spritz of water from a spray bottle may stop his behavior. With the busy lifestyles, we now lead, it would seem feasible to take on two pups. I really want to help them. The pups are not together each minute of the day. Take extra care in case you are raising sibling puppies of the same age and gender. I moved and took her with me and lived alone with me for a while until I spotted n excruciatingly skinny pup at the side of a desrted road, took him home where he stayed in my bathroom for several weeks just eating and sleeping. We got two adorable puppies a week ago and it's already clear that this was a huge mistake - they fight continually. Schools now separate them into different classes so they can learn without the constant interaction with their twin. Whilst these litter mates are together they learn how to inhibit their bite, how to meet and greet each other and that all-important body language is learned from their siblings during this time. Sibling puppies, therefore, will be as difficult to handle as two fighting human siblings. Usually, this will help, but not always. She is an energetic clown, he is sweet and kind. : With wild canids, the young pup's stay within their pack and play together constantly. I had to jump in and separate them. To do this you will need to work twice as hard because all the things you did together you will now need to do totally apart. Me and my sister both purchased sibling puppies, they live separately full time. Is your dog pulling on the Lead, Unruly, Bad Recall, Aggressive on Lead, Jumping Up? (4-5 street dogs who live on our road.) I would suggest you buy my jingler and DVD as it will certainly help with the lead work conder the leads as well as they are manufactured with the jingler in mind. The next time your kids start to argue, stop sibling fighting by allowing each child to express their negative emotions. Many thanks. My parents are at our house ever day but the pups would not have to be together, but all of us do spend Christmas and some holidays together. I hope you read this message since I was confused about littermate syndrome. Any help would be appreciated. They have a love hate relationship and since we have moved house in october they have been very unsettled and had a few fights. Fights and squabbles may regularly break out culminating in what appears to be all out war, where they cannot stand the sight of each other.