THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW BEFORE BUYING SIBLINGS

too funny

Whether it was an impulse buy or whether you planned on obtaining siblings from the same litter, there is more than just the double trouble of 2 young puppies to be aware of.

1. The first 16 weeks is not just a critical time in the pup’s development period for socialisation, it’s also when imprinting occurs. This means that there is a very strong chance of imprinting/bonding to each other merely due to the fact that they will spend a lot of time together. Once bonded to each other, it becomes almost impossible to separate them if need be and can even make attending things like dog training quite a nightmare. We strongly suggest spending as much time with each puppy separately to ensure that they wil also bond with you, the human. This means playng, training, walking etc with each puppy separately daily..even twice daily until they are at least 16 weeks old.

2. Fighting amongst siblings may occur when they hit the age of sexual maturity. Sexual maturity commences at various ages for different breeds and sizes of dogs, but generally from 7 months of age onwards. At sexual maturity dogs may start to fight over resources (things they both want) like food, bones, toys, beds and attention from you. At this point we strongly recommend upholding their obedience training and it’s probably a good idea to set some firm rules and boundaries. Good leadership from you should keep scuffles to a minimum and not allow them to escalate.

3. For siblings of different sexes, we highly recommend desexing both before the onset of sexual maturity so that you don’t end up with inbred puppies. Inbreeding is not only completely irresponsible, it can produce puppies with horrible deformaties and even psychological issues.

4. And of course it’s the double cost of everything for the entire life of each dog. Think vet bills, food, beds, toys, boarding, training..etc…etc…etc. It won’t be cheap!

Double trouble…and of course double the fun too!

Best of luck with your puppies!