Raising Two Or More Puppies

Teri — Thu, 09 Aug 2007 00:34:44 +0000

When looking for a new puppy and attempting to decide which pick of the litter is best for you, there may be a time when you can’t choose just one. However, you may want to consider the pros and cons of raising two puppies that are the same age.

Choosing two puppies may be more trouble than it’s worth:

When you raise two puppies that are the same age and from the same litter, there will be a natural hierarchy which develops and one of the dogs will grow up to be more dominant and bossy than the other. This means that the more submissive puppy may grow up without the proper social skills needed to be self-confident.

The dominant dog may grow increasingly aggressive towards the other dog when it comes to being the leader in all situations. This leadership role, while a natural part of nature, can unfortunately diminish your other dog’s ability to cope with certain situations and possibly develop stress related mental conditions. And in addition, both dogs will suffer from separation anxiety when they are apart from one another.

Be prepared for some dog fighting:

As they grow older, the two dogs will eventually establish their roles with one another and you will rarely have to worry about your adult dogs fighting. On the other hand, in the beginning, when these puppies are young, both of them will have a natural tendency to physically fight with one another when it comes to competition. Such competitive situations would include getting more attention than the other, feeding times, and of course dominance over toys.

This situation will call for firm behavioral training and conditioning. If left unchecked, your puppies can hurt one another and the one dog who becomes the non-leader (submissive) may develop deep anxiety issues when he becomes an adult. All of these concerns become amplified if your dogs are of the same sex.

Having two puppies may hinder their training and behavior progress:

This is an important aspect of bringing two or more puppies into the house that many dog owners do not take into consideration. Your two puppies will be so preoccupied with one another that they may not be drawn to needing your attention as much as you would like, or need for training purposes.

While this may not seem like such a bad thing, consider what happens when you are trying to train your puppies with the basic commands and rules of the house. The job will be much harder and stressful on you because their attention is understandably occupied by each other’s company, and not your commands.

Readers who viewed this page, also viewed:

Puppies Enhance Lives

Bookmark This:

Buying An Older Puppy

Teri — Thu, 12 Jul 2007 03:42:41 +0000

Most of the time people purchase new puppies and bring them home around the age of six to eight weeks. This is the perfect time period in which they are best to be weaned from their mother and conditioned to live with you and the rest of the family. It makes bonding much easier because you have immediately replaced the puppy’s mother with yourself.

On the other hand, there are many times when older puppies become available for sale. These dogs may be older than 10 weeks, 12 weeks, or even up to six months and still considered to be puppies. Like making any decision out of the norm, there are pros and cons to bringing home and older puppy.

What considerations should you keep in mind when deciding on an older puppy?

One of the biggest benefits of getting an older puppy right off the bat is that their behavior is a lot more calm than a younger pup and the dog has usually been socialized to a small degree when it comes to the day-to-day chaos of living in a house with other people. Their first home has already conditioned them for you.

Watch out for older puppies that may have been neglected. It is important not to be too naive when you are discussing the option of buying an older puppy from someone. Not everybody sells their dogs for positive reasons. Some owners are trying to get rid of them simply because they couldn’t take care of the puppy’s needs and due to this reason they probably neglected the dog for a long period of time.

The results of this unfortunate living situation could have produced anxiety and stress related disorders to the dog. Because you cannot get all of this information with your first meeting of your potential new puppy, it is important to bring all the members of your family with you to look at the dog. Make sure they all get a chance meet the dog. Look closely at how he interacts with the other members of your family. Does he seem nervous? Do you sense any aggression? Is his approach with confidence or shyness? These are possible signs that the animal has developed some sort of mental condition as a result of the lack of human contact.

And of course, you’ll want to ask the owner a few basic questions before making a buying decision. Ask if the dog has had any type of training. Find out firsthand if the puppy displays any behavioral bad habits such as aggression, chewing, or excessive barking. Also, make sure that this is the first and only home the dog has been in. If he has lived elsewhere before the current owner then find out why he was sold. These are just a few of the basic questions you should know to ask. Add more questions to your list for better due diligence.