I am about to get my puppies, Willow and Kai, this weekend. So excited!
Thank you for all of the people who warned me of littermate syndrome. Although we had made some plans to avoid this, I took your advice to heart and we are taking things as far as possible to prevent this. My husband and I both work from home, so we will split the dogs up during the day and have them in separate areas of the house with us while we are working. We will take them on separate walks (my husband marches around the neighborhood while he makes business calls on his headset, so this will be on top of the regular walks) and train them separately. We also have them signed up for separate puppy kindergarten classes. Their crates are both downstairs, but in different areas.
That's how we are doing it. From what I have read, we should be in great shape - littermate syndrome seems to occur when people get two dogs to "keep each other company" and leave them together all the time. Usually, they do this because they won't be able to spend enough time with one dog and feel guilty, so they inadvertently create this mess by getting two.
Anyone out there who has successfully raised littermates, is there any other advice for us? We are ready to roll up our sleeves and do this right.
Thanks in advance,
Julie
PS We also have human twins (6-year-old girls), so double work doesn't scare us. They have been working hard on "training" their stuffed animals, according to Sophia Yin's method. They each strap on a bait bag and practice the quick treat handoff. I think those stuffed dogs are almost under control and they surely don't get a treat unless they are sitting down.