I have just had to re-register as I dont have my old email address :-(

Anyway, last time I posted on here my girl had a litter of 8 pups who have all now gone to new homes.

We allways intended to keep a bitch pup for showing, which we have, but we also had a small dog who is about 1/2 size of the rest but eating fine & doing everything else OK.

He was spoken for but has had 2 episodes of 'going off his back legs' - where he will walk funny. He does not seem to be in pain with this.

The vet cant find any problems but recommends hip scoring when hes a little older. Both parents hips were OK.

We think we will keep him now so as not to pass problems on, I know it is not recommended to keep 2 pups from the same litter, but can anyone give me tips on making it go as smooth as poss.

Thankyou

Jo

Hi Jo - you'll need to spend a lot of time with them individually as well as together, which is terribly time-consuming but it certainly helps prevent them bonding with each other more than you. It can work out fine; it all depends how much effort the owner puts in. Good luck!
:)

Try not to let the pups be together in all their spare time, to reduce the bond they build.  Take the girl you want to show to ringcraft for her individual training, leaving the boy behind (if possible!) and maybe take him out once aweek to a puppy class, ringcraft (on another night) or just out to the park as evening as now lighter to keep them seperate in their training.

Also good for you for keeping the "sick" one so not to possibly give many vet bills to another owner.

i agree ice queen, we kept two from the same litter and our first few times at ringcraft were a nightmare as they would cry and bark to be near each other,we soon solved that problem by taking one on a monday and the other on a tuesday,they soon got used to being without each other,we also kept them seperate at bed time too.
louzola

Hiya

We have found ourselves in a similar situation, we had decided to keep one girl as she showed the most promise for showing (Ellie), but we have kept another wee girl (Bronwyn) as she has had a couple of trips to the vet already. I don't think it is fair to sell her on knowing that she may well have health problems as she gets older, she is eating fine and slowly catching up with my other girl. We have two cages and the puppies are put in a cage each at bedtime, with a board between them so they cannot see each other. I spend time with them individually through the day giving them each playtime and lead training and such like, plus when I go back to work and all vaccinations are complete each puppy will come with me on it's own on alternate days. My OH spends time with them in the evening. I am really lucky as I have 3 ringcrafts in my area all on different nights, so puppies will be taken seperately or perhaps with my older girl who is very quiet and well behaved. I'm house training at the moment and they seem to be picking it up quite quickly, they head for the back door if they need to go out even though sometimes they don't make it :D It is very stressful especially when they are having their playtime together and they are rampaging around the living room. My older dogs seem quite happy to sit up on the sofa and keep out of the way. In saying that my older girl who will be 4 this year has episodes of crazy behaviour where she winds the puppies up :D :D Mum sits back and allows the aunties to disipline and play with them while she has a well earned rest.

Like everyone else I would say the worst problem is they do hate being seperated.  Even now Molly is never confident without Thomas although it isnt a two way thing :)  Although I love them both if I am honest my head ruled my heart with Molly and I should have only have kept the one.

hi,i dont want to worry you but have you heard of hemavertabrae( think ive spelt it correctly) i know they can give way on their back legs with this and its a problem with the spine,look it up on the net,good luck
louzola

Hi there

We kept two from our last litter - we wanted a Groenendael dog pup to show and just had to keep our 'surprise' grey Terv girl pup as well. It has been hard work - particularly with house training and I make sure that they are walked and trained separately otherwise I feel they would only bond with each other and take not the slightest notice of me :rolleyes:.

I am going to be working my Terv girl so her training nights fall on different days ( although I may show her occasionally). They are now 15 months and things are pretty much well settled but believe me one pup at a time is much easier !.

Yvonne