[RobR]

Good Evening All,

I am new to this forum and would like to express my appreciation for permitting me to be a part of it. Thank-you!

I have a question with regards to puppy development. We had a GSD for 11 years and first brought her home when she was 8 weeks old. She bonded closely with us as we did with her. Our upmost concern was that she would bond with our daughter who was 8 yrs. old. We are now searching for another GSD and believe we have found our new treasure, however, this particular litter consisted of only 2 puppies; 1 male and 1 female. My wife would not like to see them separated and now desires to bring both puppies into our family. We have 2 children aged 6 and 8 and we again want our new GSD puppy to bond closely with them as did our first GSD with our oldest daughter.

My concern is that by acquiring both puppies, they possibly might not bond as closely to our children as they will have each other to comfort and not depend on our children (and us) entirely for companionship as a single puppy would??? Does anyone have input or further information as to the advantages or disadvantages to bonding with family members when bringing home 2 sibling puppies?? Thank-you for your assistance and I look forward to your reply(ies). RobR

 

[Cassidy's Mom]

Originally Posted By: RobRMy concern is that by acquiring both puppies, they possibly might not bond as closely to our children as they will have each other to comfort and not depend on our children (and us) entirely for companionship as a single puppy would??? Does anyone have input or further information as to the advantages or disadvantages to bonding with family members when bringing home 2 sibling puppies?? Thank-you for your assistance and I look forward to your reply(ies). RobR

That's a very real concern. We have several board members with siblings who have made it work, but also several members who brought home two puppies at the same time and ended up rehoming one of them. So yes, it can be done, but it takes a real commitment and some effort on your part. Having two young children can complicate the process because you may have less time to devote to raising, housebreaking, and training two puppies at the same time.

Generally, if you plan on having more than one dog at a time, the recommendation is to get one, train him/her until they are practically perfect, and THEN think about adding to the family. That can be a year down the road, or it can be 5 years down the road, or somewhere in between. But a GSD puppy is a LOT of work, and I don't know if you're really prepared to deal with two at once. Not everyone is. Mine are half siblings, 11-1/2 months apart in age, and while Dena was a very easy puppy, and already had 4 obedience classes by the time we brought home Keefer, it was still quite a challenge. And we don't have kids, so we were able to devote the time and attention to raising and training them properly.

 

[Catu]

Indeed your concerns are fundamented. It's a common poblem when raising two pups that they can become more "doggie".

This article explain why much better than my bad English:
http://www.leerburg.com/2dogs.htm

And remember, 11 years ago you raised 1 dog and 1child at the time, now you have 2 kids and want to raise 2 puppies. The trublemaking it's not a summation, it's exponential

 

[RobR]

Thank-you Cassidys Mom and LicanAntai for your advice, assistance and the informative website link! Greatly appreciated!!! Have a terrific day/evening! RobR

 

[DHau]

I fostered 3 5-month old puppies who were siblings for two weeks. After seeing how much they have bonded to each other, I would never get two puppies at the same time. They wouldn't pay any attention to me when I gave them commands.