As mentioned in our“ Picking a Puppy” article, littermate syndrome is a serious behavioral condition. The condition develops when two young dogs end up bonding too tightly with each other. It may sound ideal when dogs are such close friends, but major issues can arise down the road. The problem is that their relationship with each other can stop them from creating proper bonds with humans and hinder their social development. As the name suggests, littermate syndrome generally exists in two puppies from the same litter, however it can also be present when two puppies of a similar age are raised together. Although littermate syndrome doesn’ t develop every time two puppies are raised together, it is common enough that we warn against getting two puppies at the same time.
Behavioral Issues Associated with Littermate Syndrome
From a young age, the two puppies have formed a very strong bond, learning and feeding off of each others emotions. This can lead to behavioral issues in one or both of the dogs as they develop, including:
• Fear of people and other dogs
• Extreme separation anxiety
• Crate issues
• Issues when encountering new situations when alone
• Leash reactivity
• Higher incidence of fighting as compared to non-siblings being raised together
Stray Thoughts Spring 2018
Ask the Trainer
Littermate Syndrome
At that point you aren’ t simply asking a dog not to be bad, you are trying to socialize them long after their“ socialization window” has closed. It’ s hard work!
Avoiding Littermate Syndrome is Best!
The easiest way to prevent littermate syndrome is to only take one puppy at a time. It is always tempting to take two because they are just so darn cute together. But no matter how cute they are the safer route will always be to just take one. If you want a second dog,
These issues aren’ t often experienced right away, but as both dogs mature, they tend to intensify greatly. Littermate syndrome often causes aggression in breeds that are not prone to aggressive behaviors. For example, we rarely see aggression in Labradors, but when two Labrador littermates are raised together we see much higher levels of aggression and / or fear.
Managing littermate syndrome is a lot of work. An owner should know that preventing littermate syndrome doesn’ t just double their workload, but rather triples it. They’ ll have to train with each dog individually, and then together. Remember that littermate syndrome is not a dog simply acting out. Littermate syndrome causes dogs to not go through their normal developmental process and takes a huge amount of work to overcome once it is present.
I would suggest waiting six months and then getting another puppy. This way the first dog will have already been socialized properly.
Working through Littermate Syndrome
If you already have two puppies and you are intent on keeping them together then you will need a great action plan. The main goals you’ ll want to achieve is confidence in the dogs when they are separated from each other and good behavior when together. Believe it or not, the most important work occurs when the dogs are separated. To some people this sounds backwards because they want the dogs to be good around each other, but proper socialization is the most important part.
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