Lifestyles

I am considering getting brother-sister littermates that are 9 weeks old. Are there advantages or disadvantages to getting two puppies at the same time? How does crate training change with two puppies instead of one?

I've never done crate training, but even old owners can learn.

Dear Potential Double Trouble: The only advantage that I can think of with raising littermates is that they spend their time wrestling and chewing on each other. Otherwise, a puppy would be expecting you or your family members to entertain him or her. Outside of this advantage, there are some considerable disadvantages to consider.

One disadvantage is that littermates raised together tend to bond with each other more than with any human in the family. I've often observed that one puppy grows up kind of aloof, living in the shadow of his or her more dominant littermate.

When separated from each other, littermates that are raised together often display extreme signs of separation anxiety. It sometimes is particularly traumatic when the dogs grow into old age and one inevitably passes away before the other. The one left behind often is extremely stressed.

If you do decide to raise littermates, you can alleviate some of these issues by making a point to give each puppy lots of individual life experience. As often as possible, have one of your family members take one puppy off on an excursion while you take the other pup somewhere else. Individual socialization is imperative. This is time-consuming and does require that you have someone else available who is interested in the pups.

If you do a group dog-obedience class, enroll each puppy into individual groups. As much individual experience as possible is recommended.

Another drawback is the fact that raising a puppy is a lot of work. Two puppies are double trouble. As challenging as it is to house-train a puppy, two are twice as hard. Instead of having to watch one puppy closely, you will need to watch two.

Crate training is the same process as it would be with one puppy. However, I recommend that you get an individual crate for each pup.

Of course, it goes without saying that veterinarian bills, boarding costs and food expenses are double. These are some of the downsides to raising littermates. That said, I never underestimate the ability of an individual determined to succeed.

My recommendation is to get one puppy. Train him or her, and then, when your dog is about 1 year old, add another puppy to the pack. Along with many other puppy-raising issues, we talk about the ramifications of raising littermates together in my book "Puppy Preschool."

Dear Dog Talk: This is in response to the recent article about dogs and ghost sensing. I think that, like some people, some dogs are more able to sense ghosts than others.

After hearing several noises in the night of someone coming up the stairs, plus, having things misplaced around the house, my female German shorthaired pointer got up one night while we were watching TV. She walked to the bottom of the stairs, looked up and growled. She then walked toward the dining room, looking up as if she were following along side someone. The entire time her hack was up, and she acted wary.

My previous two German shorthaired pointers were not as adept at picking up the ghosts. However, my current one has growled and followed things around the room, sometimes walking, sometimes just watching and emitting a low growl.

Maybe you should have your Labrador retriever, Sophie, check out that old house in Florida first before you buy it.

Dear More Ghost Stories: Thanks for sharing your story. I guess I'll have to run a "Lab test" on any house I consider buying.

• Most Read
• Most E-mailed
• Latest News