I have seen mentioned on here several people saying you should not get 2 puppies from the same litter. Is therea reason for this. I ask for 2 reasons, one i was requested by someone who wanted to purchase 2 from my litter (boys). and i am also keeping 2 puos from the litter (boy & girl). Does this cause problems?????

I have done this & I actually asked virtually the same question on here many moons ago .......

http://www.champdogsforum.co.uk/cgi-bin/board/topic_show.pl?tid=12746#82770

My two pups are 11 months old now and it has been great fun but hard work ! :)

I would say that taking two pups from the same litter is DEFINITELY NOT for the inexperienced owner !

However, for the experienced owner who is sure that they have the incredible amount of time and energy required (especially in the first few months) to look after two littermates, I certainly would not rule this out.

I have heard that keeping two bitches can be problematical though, we have a dog & a bitch & know of two dogs who were littermates being raised together without problem.

I have enjoyed every minute so far of owning littermates and for the right owners in the right circumstances it can be great but I would stress that it is definitely not for the inexperienced and should not be undertaken lightly as two pups are an incredible amount of work !!!

If anyone doubts that it can work out, checkout the photographs on my website in my profile. ;)

HTH

I love the pictures! How quick have they grown?

Hi Brinny, my recent litter consisted of two puppies only. Both bitches, and I am keeping both. They are now 14 weeks old and I'm certainly finding them alot different to having pups one at a time. They are very antagonistic toward eachother squabbling all day long. Mostly puppy fights, but occasionally this deteriorates into skin and hair flying, albeit only momentarily. It's hard work providing one to one time, and going for little toddles has become a circus, because you can't always take them out singly. It really does mean that you have to have lots and lots of time.
I haven't had problems with house training particularly, but I do use crates and they have been cage clean from 8 weeks old(bless em), when I separated them for sleeping, and quiet time.
Dawn R.

After much deliberation and against others advice, I sold brother and sister 18 months ago. It has worked wonderfully well. Both new owners went to all the basic dog training courses. the dogs are much loved, well exercised and stimulated. The lady of the house worked part time but was enjoying the dogs so much she has given up work to spend more time with them. As above, I agree it is not for the inexperienced owner and is a great deal of hard work in the early stages and careful thought has to be given regarding breed, sex and individual circumstances.
Hope this helps:)

Well, we have always advised people NOT to buy two puppies from the same litter (because we were told this ourselves) but in our litter of Aussies, we did keep two - so this is personal experience!

Although I don't regret it, we have found it very hard going - you have to realise that you have to devote more than twice the time for training, both house training, and lead/showing/handling/socialisation. Feeding causes difficulty, insofar as, in order to ensure that both are eating well, you have to establish separate feeding areas = and preferably, two people handing out the food at the same time!

It is also helpful if there are two of you for the pups to bond with - ie one each - otherwise, they are inclined to bond more strongly with each other.

Having said all this, it is fun, and interesting to see how different the temperaments are - although we have kept a dog and a bitch. They do play together (sometimes nicely, sometimes not :)) and now, at ten months, they are becoming happy, and hopefully, well-adjusted dogs! Us - we're just plain exhausted!!

Margot

Well I have kept two from my litter of ETTs male/female now 6mths and also keeping two Std Schnauzers both female from my new litter I find it easyer to keep two has they seem to keep each other company when growing up.
Did have a problem many years ago when I kept two Smooth collies females when I took one out with out the other the other one left behind would howl till I got home has they was so used to each other company.
Have friends who run on up too 5 pups in a litter to see which ones turn out best for showing but they have the room and time to do so.
The only reson I would not let two males go in Std Schnauzer has they tend to be very dom and if you are not around they can become a problem.
Also if a novis owner wonts a male and female from the same litter I try to put them off has when the bitch comes into season some may not be able to cope with a male wanting the mate !!!!
Im lucky my males get on and when the bitches come into season the males are happy with each other and so far no fights but I am with them most of the time I think its because I know my dogs and how they are!!!

Much depends upon the breed and the amount of effort the person who is having two is prepared to put in.

I have had bitches 12 days and 10 months apart in age and had problems both times. I have rarely heard of people in my breed (Dobermanns) successfully raising two pups of same or similar age without problems and having them both living peacefully together throughout their lives. As a result I would never sell two pups from the same litter to the same person or family - the only exception to this rule was when one brother lived in England and the other in Holland

Christine

Out of my first litter i sold 2 bitches to same man, they are now 6 years old and never had any probs with them, out of my last litter i sold dog and bitch to the same man and still no probs, (rotts)

I have 2 ESS from the same litter and they are adorable, they get on really well and are great playmates for each other, where one goes the other is not far behind.

I've seen the effects that selling litter brothers can cause, I wdn't recommend it, but there again things don't always go wrong. No-one wd. be able to buy litter mates from me though.