I 2nd 3rd and 4th all of the above. I am sure that your friend really wants a dog and because they work all day they think that two dogs will be company for each other rather then leave one on its own. But I was always under the impression that in the dog world litter mates are not a good idea. I think that one could suffer from separation anxiety thus forming some behavioural problems and the other would just mirror this behaviour. So then you end up with double trouble. You could end up with two extremely stressed and confused dogs. Not very fair. I think this is just a receipe for disaster unless as already stated you have the time, patience and energy for socialising, training and properly caring for two little hand fulls.
I would stick to one and when that one has matured and is properly trained and socialised then maybe think of a little companion that can look to the older one for guidance. But it is not a good idea to leave any dog on its own all day. They are sociable (sp) pack animals who do not do well on their own.

was thinking that was well .....I don't know anything about this breed but have had many people ask to have 2 pups from my litters and have always said NO

I was very fortunate that the breeder of mine let them both come to me, it usually is a big no for her as well. It was only because I was already experienced with the breed and big dogs in general. By the way, she says they are a credit to me, so I must be doing something right!!!!!
But I am here with them the majority of the time and I have worked hard from day one to instill order amongst them, they have to sit before they are fed, sit to put their leads on or off, sit whilst I open the gate, walk through the gate and sit again whilst I close it. When I pick up after them they have to sit whilst I do it. They are by no means little saints but I have found out over the years that start as you mean to go on is a good adage. If this girl has the time to put in with them and is experienced with the breed then she will have an extremely hard but rewarding time, if she thinks she can leave them to play and to their own devices she is going to end up with 2 uncontrollable mountains of unchannelled energy!!!!

Just have to add my two pence worth. While it may be irresponsible to some to let two go at once, for others it may not. My breeder prefers to have two pups at once and has on occasion let prospective owners take two pups from the same litter.
Yes in this particular instance it may be wrong to do so, but don't assume just becasue they're letting two pups go together that they don't care about the good of their breed.

At the end of the day it's about differing opinions AND circumstances. And everyones circumstance are different.

Just to reiterate - these dogs love company and they adore their human companions. I am lucky enough to be able to be home with Loki (Utonagan) but he wants to come everywhere with us.

When he is left for a few hours he can be destructive and this type of dog are also great escape artists - both of these traits are characteristic of this type of breed apparently. They are very intelligent and need lots of stimulation. I was told they had medium exercise requirements but not Loki - he needs hours a day and preferably not just trailing along on a lead, but lots of games, different routes and different terrains. I have just had to replace yet another expensive lead because Loki chewed it up and he has even gone through a wooden stair gate in order to get upstairs and wreak havoc in the 'interesting' but usually out of bounds bathroom while I was out.

Didn't Jen take her two Merles together? (just a question)

Anyway, I think your friend doesn't know what she is letting herself in for. I desperatly wanted to take Roxy's sister, but now i am so glad we didn't get her, Roxy is a handfull as it is!!! And as you have already said when puppy dobes are together all hell is let loose!

Could you not speak to her? I just noticed you said she had a dobie, If she cant handle a Dobie how the heck is she going to handle 2 NI's???

Your friend is crazy !

I agree with all the others say about not having two puppies together for all the reasons given, also when I have a puppy I like to enjoy it to the full, you can't do this the same if you are dividing your attention between two.

For me the ideal solution is stagger the ages of your dogs and to get a second puppy when the first is mature. This way you get two lots of 'puppy joy' and a variation in ages so less chance of being left with no dog.

oh believe me I tried to speak to her but she has already made up her mind!!! I told her what I thought!

I agree it is not necisserily irresponsible for a breeder to let 2 pups go at once. As long as the breeder is satisfied that the prospective owners have enough room for them both, & enough time to spend training them both (as this is usually better done on a 1 to 1) & is satisfied that the prospective owners are fully aware of what they are letting themselves in for & that they know its gonna be hard work, & better still have past experience with similar types or size of dog then theres nothing wrong with it at all, because its being done in a responsible way.

I have NI that are just a few months apart & I manage fine, however I have lots of time on my hands as I don't work, in my personal opinion I don't think I would be able to cope with just one of these dogs if I worked full time, they are so demanding that after a long hard day at work I would probably be too tired to put up with their demending personalities, thats if I actually had a home left after I'd been at work all day, mine have done plenty of damage after only being left for a couple of hours nevermind a full day!!

As for crateing I don't think its fair to crate any dog for 8 hours straight, & if shes planning on crateing them at night too thats gonna be more than half a day spent confined to a small space!! Thats probably enough to drive any dog nuts.

my chi's just had puppies and my OH told one lady that she can have two and "can't see why it would be a problem"... I've had to set her straight and tell her all potential risks.. she's now in a quandry over the whole thing... I have told her to do as much research as she can before she decides... then, if she feels that it is ok and she can cope with the demands then we will let her have them both. Of course if there are problems we will take one (or both) pups back.

It's very frustrating that my OH didn't consider the problems and it has meant they I have had to contradict him.. very unprofessional... I wish he would do more research before he jumps into things!

But anyways back to the thread.. I can understand the desire to keep two dogs as company for each other when one is at work all day..

I also feel that if someone wishes to home a puppy (or two) they should spend the majority of their time at home with them in order to teach the necessary controls...at least for the first couple of weeks. I feel that putting them in a cage all day is a cop-out from basic animal training (house training, not destroying furniture, etc.) and it will reduce the possibility of a tight bond between owner and dog(s).

This opinion is purely my own, and I do have very limited knowledge and experience. So please don't take offence if it disagrees with anyone else's opinion.

GW