Choosing Sheltie litter-mates or not?

When I would run on puppies for consideration I would often send one to a friend's house so that they would not become inseparable. They usually went at about 12 weeks so they were already being housetrained. I didn't mind sticking my hand under them to find out which one had had an accident - when you find the wet spot on the floor it's really the only way to know. Eventually, if you keep them together, one will become submissive to the other - it's just the way of things and when you want them to "show" that is not a great thing.
I refused to sell more than one puppy to a household at one time. It takes a lot of effort to raise one puppy well, let alone two, and chances are that one would not do as well as the other solely because puppy personalities are quite different within a litter and human expectations of how fast each learns can get in the way of effective teaching. For example, puppy A goes out to training class and gets it immediately. Puppy B is not as quick to respond and owner gets more and more frustrated. Think you wouldn't get that way? It happens more often than you could imagine especially with things like housetraining, chewing, nipping or just being social.
My advice is get one baby, raise it well and then in a year or so if you still want another, then that's the time to do it.
 
Hi again everyone! I can't thank you all enough for your posts, they are so informative and its great to get perspectives from genuine Sheltie lovers. I have decided that it would be the best idea to get one like ye have advised! Hopefully down the line I will be able to get him a little sister so I'll keep that in the back of my mind! I've decided to get a tri-colour boy if I can as my Collie was sable and white and I guess I don't want them to look alike. My Collie was one of a kind!

So for now all I can do is wait for one to come from a good breeder. Good Shelties can be hard to find in Ireland and I want him to have all the papers and to be able to see the parents. I'm super super excited an can't wait to start training him too. Now to start thinking of names.... :biggrin2:

Happy Patricks day to you all! Trust me when I say it is better to celebrate it away from the Emerald Isle, our parades are too too small hahaha! Maybe some year I'll get to celebrate it in NYC! :)
 
But I've done a lot of reading on why getting litter-mates is a terrible terrible idea. I just wanted to hear your experiences and would I be better off raising one sheltie for a year and getting another when he's fully grown? Or perhaps buy a puppy and an older Sheltie at the same time?? So confused :/


When I was growing up my foster parents had a pure bred beagle(f), and a pure bred whippet terrier(m). They had puppies, we kept one(M). We never had any problems except for when they got older the son would test his oats so to speak with the father, but, that could have been just because none of the dogs were ever neutered.
 
We got Layla at 8.5 weeks. In April, we brought home her cousin, Bits, at 12 weeks. We loved having two puppies! They were distinct individuals, but loved having the "puppy support system" of each other. When they were four, we added Layla's brother Beckon -- and the girls (Annie Laurie, our rescue, included) housebroke him and taught him how to be a good family member. Beckon is very attached to his sister, but when she and I travel, he does fine.

Bottom line -- it's a dynamic that includes them, you and any other family members!
 
Keeping a parent and offspring is completely different than siblings. We did it all the time with no issues. Personally I think that mom was glad to see the little monsters leave and go off to the shows so she could be a couch potato without interuptions.
 
This seems to be a common mistake made by inexperienced dog owners. If only I had a dollar for every person who turns up at my dog club wanting us to solve the problems that are created by owning litter mates...

Having a dog you are responsible for is a lot different to growing up with a dog. You are much better getting one dog first and learning how to raise a dog before adding another and all the inherent problems with this. In particular, get through the adolescent months first. You'll find most experienced owners will only do one at a time for good reason. From all the people I know who did a similar thing (dogs close in age), it always seems that one of the dogs has 'behaviour' type issues.

And yes it is highly likely they will bark more - shelties have a barking tendency anyway and add the egging on associated with two dogs of the same age.
 
Having a dog you are responsible for is a lot different to growing up with a dog.
Couldn't agree with you more
 
My two, Edan and CJ, are littermates however I didn't get them both as puppies. Honestly, I don't think I could have handled two puppies at the same time.

We brought Edan home at 7 months and CJ when they were both 3.5 years old. It's been great having the two of them in the house and it was probably the least stressful adding of a dog to the house that I've had because they knew one another. (Edan would "vacation" at the breeder's home when we were out of town.)

I have learned a lot from this thread about having littermates from puppies. Thanks everyone for sharing this information.
 
When we brought Ginny home she was 9 weeks old and Sadie, our existing Sheltie was 2 years old. It was very evident that Ginny would much rather bond with Sadie than with us at first.

This changed when I started putting Sadie in the other room while I did basic training with Ginny and when I started taking Ginny to basic, then advanced obedience classes. These classes really helped her to bond with us and I never had to worry again.

From my experience and given what others have said, I think its important to complete all training with one pup before getting a second pup.
 
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