I have 2 girls from the same litter. The reason being that I was originally getting just Cariad as I knew Tawney would be crossing Rainbow Bridge very shortly and I could not bear the thought of being without a Ute!!! I had been looking around for another ute for many months (well before Tawney had her first stroke in fact) and was delighted to hear just before Christmas, that Lyn B had one, so she sent me some piccies over, I immediately loved Cariad and went over to see her the next weekend. I was due to collect Cariad on Saturday and on the Monday before Tawney had another stroke, she did not recover from this one and I took the extremely painful decision to let her go.
Now I have always had at least 2 dogs, sometimes 4!!! So now I was down to none at all. On the phone to Lyn telling her about Tawney and crying my eyes out, I asked her if she would be willing to let me have another girl if she had one available. She took the decision to let me have Maelona, as she knows I am at home most days as I work for myself. It has been extremely hard work, particularly in the early months, but I have enjoyed my time with them.
It has not been easy by any means, but everyone who meets my girls comments on how well behaved they are (they are total hooligans at home!!!) and how well socialised they are, so I must have done something right!!
We go to dog training once a week, again the instructor put them into intermediate class within 2 sessions as they already had the basics. When they were in kennels the other week for the first time, the owner commented to me how good they were, they didn't constantly bark and were very easy to handle (apparently she gets dogs in there that are really badly behaved). As I said they are loonies and mistresses of mass destruction at home (hence their nickname The Norties) but I have put a lot of work into them, I train for 10-15 minutes every day whenever possible.
So it can work out, it is just whether you are prepared to put the groundwork in, establish the rules and be consistent.

I would never in a million Years have 2 pups together I find it so hard bringing one up well. And to have to take two, to puppy classes etc and the thought of House training two never ever,no way.not on your Nellie

well I took the view might as well get it all over with in one fell swoop than just get one organised and then have to look for another one and then get that one organised.
No I went for the burn!!! And I don't regret it one bit either!!! To watch my beautiful girls play together and come over for a cuddle, watch them develop from little wayward balls of fluff (into large wayward chunks of dog!!! ) and their personalities grow, to watch them gradually gain confidence over the months has been marvellous and I wouldn't have missed any of it. Well - apart from when they stole my beloved long serving hunter wellies and ate them!!!

We have two dogs from the same litter, which we bred so may be slightly different..

But they have done ok. They were totally different dogs. Meg is very laid back, and just wants cuddles and to sleep, whereas Riley is very active and has to be constantly doing something! When they were younger Riley was quite nervous of new people, and having Meg helped him alot to build in confidence to walk in towns and stuff, and he's a really friendly dog now. It did mean, once they were a bit older, having to spend twice as much time walkiung them as its important to exercise them seperately of course!

As for house training, i found that no different at all with two as they learnt from each other. They both house trained at the same time, almost exactly, and training classes were not a problem with both, you just have to constantly be switching dogs through the class to make sure they both get a go! lol

I really enjoyed having two!! It kept me so busy and i love spending tiome with my doggies and walking them and stuff so it was great!!

We currently have two puppies, one 5 months and one 13 weeks. We dont keep them together because of the size difference, so thats not really relevant.

As a side point, we have found that our 13 week old pug has helped our older (9 months) pug tremendously! Lilah is moving great (she has back problems) and seems a lot happier having someone her size to play with so for us its been a major bonus having two young dogs together!

Many breeders won't sell two pups to one family. Besides being double the work often the pups will have such a strong bond that they will respond to each other more than their owner.

If you are at home all day I suppose it is slightly different as you will have the time to train and socialise separately but - for me - one at a time is hard enough

you just have to keep chipping away at their bond. I do understand what you mean by this and at the beginning it was something I actually used to my advantage. For instance when they were first let off the lead I kept one on the lead so the other one always stayed near her sibling on the lead, then I swopped them about. Gradually they became attuned to staying near me and coming back to me together because I always had a reward for them, and one didn't like to see the other get a reward when they hadn't so it was a competition to see who could get to me quickest!!!
As I started their one to one training I gradually started weaning them off their interdependence and now train them in front of each other without either one interfering with the other.
In dog training classes the instructor is totally besotted with both of them so I have one, he has the other (or his daughter does) and I swop over at intervals.
When off lead they play together but every so often one of them will come over to check up on me and see if there is anything going that the other one hasn't had. I always walk away from them so they always follow me, just as pups follow their mother, I would never follow them. If they are ignoring me deliberately I turn my back and walk away and sure enough one of them comes running and then the other, not to be outdone, comes tearing up as well.
My breeder always says to me that are very few people she would have allowed to have 2 siblings and I am one of them, even then we had a lot of discussion before she finally decided to let me have Maelona.

Tawneywolf and Jessica - I feel much better after reading about your experiences, I think I just needed some reassurance


I wouldn't get 2 pups if I didn't have the time for them but my partner works part-time and I'm in all the time so I know I have the time and attention for them both.

Thanks again everyone

I wouldn't want two pups together personally but think if people who do have plenty of experience and time to devote to each pup separately then it is their choice. Puppies are blooming hard work anyway though, so just one at a time for me

I kept two bitches from our very first litter and it really was a BIG mistake! Ended up having to choose which one to rehome when they reached around a year old, due to dominance taking over, it got very nasty and before long one of them would have got hurt.

So I personally wouldn't recommend it.

Edited to add: I don't work, so was at home all the time, but you can't watch them 24/7

We had two puppies at the same time, and no i wouldnt reccomend it to most people, what was different about us having two at the same time, was that im home educated and my mom doesnt work so that meant that we could spend all day training/looking after them and we could have one each when we went to training ect.... I would much rather have one puppy to spend all the time training it and bonding with it, rather than having two. It also mean you have to pay double vets fees, training fees, pay twice for dog cages, bowls, food ect...

Also most breeders wont sell two puppies together, if they are willing too i would be extra careful when checking out they are reputable. The breeder that we had lottie and dougal off was a bit different as we were good friends with them for years, they only live down the road and we also have helped look after littters that they have had in the past so they knew we would look after and train the dogs propley. All in all i personally wouldnt reccomed two puppies together at all.


sarah xxx