I am often asked the question should I get a second puppy Pomeranian or should I get a second Pomeranian?
I am going to explain about litter syndrome and the risks of sibling puppies fighting when raising similar aged Pomeranian Puppies
Numerous breeders, trainers, dog behaviorists and shelters actively discourage adopting siblings or even two dogs of the same age. There has been anecdotal evidence that behavior problems may occur during the main periods of development.
Because the two puppies have such a deep bond that it hinders their individual ability to grasp and absorb the fundamentals of canine and human communication methods.
Because dogs have a fear default reaction to unfamiliar or unusual stimuli, it can confuse their world and their coping skills will be impaired as they grow.
Behaviour is influenced by many variables and not all siblings that are raised together will exhibit the same signs.
Littermate Syndrome is the risky downside to raising sibling Pomeranian puppies. Littermate Syndrome isn’t a given; it’s merely a risk to consider.
Common Signs of Littermate Syndrome Include:
- Fearful around strangers, other dogs and other unusual stimuli (neophobia).
- Overwhelming feelings of anxiety if they’re even separated for a short time.
- Trouble learning the simplest of obedience skills.
In certain cases, the two puppies will fight all the time. It’s an inevitable disaster in the making because these littermates won’t become social with other people or dogs, let alone the people owning them.
Most owners think their interactions between themselves is sufficient.
However, once they’re five or six months old and they meet another dog in a new environment, they’ll completely freak out.
Raising littermates (or two puppies of the same age) means you must train two puppies.
This is especially hard as they only have their focus on each other. Their combined energy is off the charts.
Tension is created during compliance and training and they try to push the owner out of that “relationship.” They always have a big distraction…each other.
Problems With Similar Aged Pom Puppies
When siblings live together, they’ll become completely emotionally dependent on each other and any small period of separation causes them extreme distress.
The problems is called hyper-attachment, which leads to poor communication and social development skills.
People usually assume that if you have two puppies that are the same age, they’ll play together and that gives them great socialising skills.
However, that’s wrong. They know each’s habits and are comfortable with each other. However, they have no idea how other dogs, adolescents and puppies behave.
One puppy may be a little bully and his mate tolerates it. A different dog may not like that and could cause problems for the bully.
It’s generally best to split up littermates, particularly if early symptoms appear. Then they’ll each have a good chance at developing as an individual instead of half of a pair. This can be a tough decision for the owner to make.
Pomeranian Puppies Who Are Together Forever
If an owner commits to raising a pair of puppies, he needs to split them up for a big part of each day so they can also learn what it’s like to be alone.
This is a critical part of any puppy plan. It includes feeding time, walks and training each one as an individual. There should be two crates, one at each end of the house.
Trips to the vet and social outings are also best done with one puppy. Doing all these things helps each puppy not be too fully dependent on the other. These split tasks will be very time-consuming and tiring and might defeat the purpose of adopting siblings to begin with.
Making puppies sleep in crates next to each other can be tough enough or downright traumatic.
Each puppy must learn how to be on his own and be happy; a goal that’s extremely tough with siblings. Once it has been achieved, each puppy can run around the house freely and play with each other.
If you can’t manage to teach them to be alone early on, it will be disastrous when one dies.
Dog behavioural experts recommend having three dogs in the house so if one does die, the other two console each other. However, their temperament, age and timing are critical elements here.
Sibling Pomeranian Puppies Exceptions
While most articles support the fact that raising siblings is difficult, including possible ongoing fighting and aggressive behaviour between littermates of the same sex, other articles will talk about pairs that live well together.
The common concept is that littermates will thrive better if an older dog is already present. He may act as a stabilising influence.
There are many factors that can affect how dogs behave and these include: genes, owner engagement and experiences early in life.
How much the owner gets involved is crucial and problems will exist if the owner treats the siblings as one dog who has eight legs.
Conflicts between the puppies occur if they’re the same sex, similar age and similar in size. This prevents them forming a hierarchy
Increased Awareness of Sibling Pomeranian Puppies Issues
Breeders and shelters are becoming more aware of the risks of raising siblings and many won’t place siblings with one owner.
While some siblings may be great socialisers and have terrific genes and this helps ease the tensions between littermates, the professionals in the canine community state that it’s usually not worth that risk.
They encourage owners to only adopt one puppy that meets their needs and then they can focus on his socialising and training to strengthen the bond between the dog and the owner.
Once the puppy has grown up, you can get another dog because you won’t have the additional headaches that littermates present and the new puppy will learn from the older dog.
Copyright Pomeranian.Org. All Rights Reserved.
References and Further Reading:
[1] Denise Leo “The Pomeranian Handbook”.
Pomeranian Puppies?" class="wp-image-1015581"/>