Sibling Rivalry

by Deana
(Cheshire)

Hi! I have two 19-week old male brothers who have just started to fight what can I do to stop this?

Reply from Pauline (Web Owner)

Oh Deana, it sound like you've really got your hands full, doesn't it?

Raising two puppies in the same household, (and from the same litter) usually always results in trouble, as I think you're beginning to discover for yourself!

Let's see what we can do to help.

Next time your puppies are fighting, try to see if one is 'bullying' the other; is there a more dominant puppy and does the other one always seem to come off worse?

The reason I ask is, where there are two puppies being raised together, there's always the potential for the more dominant puppy to 'bully' the other.

If you're raising two puppies, I recommend you stick to the following:

• Buy two crates and keep them separated for at least 10 months - there are many reasons for this and I explain more in another article - see link below;


• Make sure you feed your puppies separately to help ensure they grow up without any food aggression problems;


• It's really important that you socialize each puppy separately. Socializing each puppy separately is important. If you try to socialize them together, it's likely that they will try to play together (or fight) and won't pay any attention to you;


• Train your puppies separately to avoid them learning bad habits from each other. Any puppy obedience training you give them will 'stick' better if they're separated for the same reasons as above;


• Play with each puppy on his own;


• Walk and exercise each puppy separately and then make time to walk them together.

In fact, it's advisable to do everything separately with your puppies for the first year!

There are lots of good reasons for this and you can learn more about them and about raising two puppies generally by reading this article.

If you follow the advice, persevere, you will raise two very well-mannered, happy spaniels.

Good luck!