Unless you are an experienced owner and are home 90% of the time to deal with them, don't even think about getting two. With a smaller inconspicuous breed it wouldn't be as hard but with two Labs you are looking at a recipe for disaster. They are very demanding puppies (destructive, bitey, in your face, high energy) and can be a real challenge to 'tame'. They don't lose their puppy ways for a good couple of years and have you pulling your hair out at times.

If you want two dogs, get one first and when you feel ready (normally after the puppy phase has long gone), get another. After dealing with one the odds are you will want to wait anyway.

I think a lot depends on the breed you are getting. My two are five months apart and it's been fine. No harder than keeping two adult dogs, as they are really laid back dogs. I wouldn't fancy it with a high energy breed though, but I know people who have two or more high energy pups at once without problems.

I personally would never want two pups at the same time, especially the same sex from the same litter.

My hubby bred a litter of working collie pups 18 months ago and we initially kept four - three dogs and a bitch, to run them on and see how they got on. The bitch hasn't been a problem at all, but the three dogs got to a certain age (adolescence) and then fought at any given opportunity. There seemed to be two in particular who had a go at one another and so we rehomed one to a friend, who has a farm and takes part in sheepdog trials. He is doing brilliantly well now, and even though he still likes a scrap, he doesn't get the same opportunity to fight. My hubby likes to take all his workers out together with him every day and so really can't do with two fighting all the time. Unfortunately after Tip had been rehomed, the other two dogs started fighting between each other. In the end, it was decided that we would keep the best worker of the two and the other pup went to the trialler, who absolutely loves all the pups from this litter.

It has worked out well keeping the litter brother and sister, and they get on fine, but we will never keep the same sex, same age, from the same litter again. I think the chances of fights and battling for top dog position between the siblings is just too high.

As others have said it may well depend on the breed, but in my breed it's a definite no-no - to the extent that it was actually included in the Breed Club Code of Ethics that members should not sell two pups from one litter to the same home.

Yes, they will be company for each other, but it is not just twice as much pleasure, it is more than twice as much trouble and hard work. House training, lead training, general good manners, giving each decent one-to-one attention. Maybe possible if you have a willing family prepared to put in the same amount of time and effort, but even then I'd think carefully. Even so they will either be best mates, and more compfrtable with each other than with other dogs - or people - or at adolescence they will hate each other and one will have to be re-homed.