littermates syndrome hype??? CORRECTION

Question
WOOPS..CORRECTION...PUPPIES ARE NOW 9 WEEKS OLD NOT MONTHS.

Hi, Our boys, 8 & 6 years old, recently acquired two littermate golden retriever puppies when they were 6 weeks old.  One is male, Scamp, and the other is female, Shiloh, and they are now 9 months old. They cleared their first vet visit and everything seems to be going great.  They seem ahead of schedule with potty training in a confined penned area.  We thought getting littermates would help them not have separation anxiety when left alone, which is not often, as they are indoor and we both work from home and homeschool.  The dogs exhibited no anxiety when they came
and as they seemed to be content to sleep together.  Shiloh is a feisty agile female, and Scamp is more clumsy and laid back but starting to become bigger than Shiloh.  I can't tell who is going to be top dog, yet.  They play fight and sometimes it escalates to someone getting angry growling and someone yelping cause they got hurt.  I saw this as natural puppy behavior learning how to fight via play.  However, when I went online to see how much of this I should allow, wondering if it would ever become a problem when they got older, I ran into a lot of scarry "littermate syndrome" stories.  Now I'm wondering about the wisdom of our purchase, and how serious or prevalent this is? It would already cause significant heartache to the boys if one of them had to give up their long awaited puppy, so I prefer to help work things out...if even there is a problem.  When will I know if there is?  Some of the things we have going for us, is that they are indoor, they get a lot of attention from us and the boys, they each have a boy assigned to caring for them, and they seem to really like eachother.  We are also willing to take them to training school...although we need to know what age is appropriate for teaching them the basics.  We have started to try to separate them some, but notice that they do have anxiety about being separate unless they are receiving one on one human attention, which we are willing to do.  However, nights seem to be more bearable if we just let them sleep together, because separating them to sleep seems to make them so anxious that they bark and bark and pee in their crates, not to mention keep us up.  Animals like to cuddle, so it seems counter intuitive to separate them for sleep even though that was the suggested anti litermate syndrome instructions.  It seems that by separating them at night and causing the anxiety, I'm ushering in the dreaded problem.  If it ain't broken...don't fix it.  In otherwords, I don't want to create a problem we don't have.  Okay...hope I've given you plenty of information.  Basically, I need to know how serious and common this problem is, what the chances are for us having this problem, and what guidelines should we follow.  Also, when is the age that we can start taking them to behavior training classes?  And if you recommend us taking them separately? Thanks for your help in helping this pack become a uplifting thriving experience for all.- Dorothy

Answer
Hi Dorothy

thanks for such detailed info.  Firstly: don't worry!  People are always quick to scare-monger and give titles to behaviours ending in 'syndrome' to make them sound like an incurable disease!  

Having two littermates isn't ideal but is perfectly manageable and can work out fine (it does for thousands of people) providing you handle things well.  You have sought advice very early on which is great.  Firstly the reasons it can cause problems:

1.Littermates are very similar, both genetically and in experiences and often in physical ability.  Therefore the naturally occurring hierarchy can be slightly less obvious and there can be problems in them trying to organise themselves.  With two different breeds or ages it is usually more clear.  However this problem is much more likely in same sex pairs.  Incidentally it sounds as if Shiloh will have higher status but that will become clear soon.

2. They bond very closely with each other and not enough with their human family.  Makes sense; why bother to try to understand this strange human species when you've got your littermate there to play with and get comfort from all the time??

3. They never learn to be apart.  When puppies are removed from the litter they go through the transition of leaving mum and siblings and joining a new family.  This is quite stressful for them but they get over it quickly.  Your two have only experienced this together so really only had half the experience, with the other half (being apart from each other) still to come.

4.  Socialsiation problems can occur as owners fail to get them out and about meeting other dogs as 'they have each other'.  Each other is not enough dog experience to generalise and learn how to interact with other members of their species

There are other minor issues which can crop up but those are the main ones.  It is great that you have a separate young carer for each pup, but they obviously always need adults to supervise them as they are so young (the children that is) which I'm sure you do.

The first thing to do is to teach them to be separated from each other.  This enables them to function separately as individuals and to gain confidence from themselves and their human family.  This must be done gradually as they are showing signs of distress at being separated.  It is fine that they need one to one attention when separated at the moment, this need will reduce as their confidence increases.  Aim to get each puppy spending 2 x as much time playing/cuddling/hanging out with a human as it does with its littermate.  So, if they spend 2 hours total alone together, they must have 4 hours total with a person that day.  Obviously this is throughout the day, not one solid block of time.  Start at a level they can cope with, maybe separate sides of a stairgate so they can still see each other if necessary and progress from that point.  If they become distressed move back a level - they cannot learn if they are anxious.  You are right not to separate them at night at the moment - it is too soon.

With regards training classes, start as soon as they will have you!  Many classes ask that the vaccinations are completed.  Here in the UK we have many puppy socialisation/training classes - do you have them too?  If you can it would be ideal to book the puppies onto separate courses so they go to class with their young carer and you or your husband but not each other.  The other adult, child and dog can stay home and play together.  This is a really big step in the puppies learning to face the world alone at times so take it gently and give them time.  You need to start ASAP as the older they get the more reliant they get on each other.

With regards the play fighting it is hard for me to say when to intervene without seeing them.  They will be rough and hurt each other on occasion - this is normal.  Provided they sort it out quickly and you keep a close watch that one is not bullying or frightening the other then they should be fine to sort it out together.

good luck and let me know if you need further help.

Regards,

Lucy