Puppy Archives - Smart Dog University

Should You Get Littermates?

March 15, 2019

Should you get littermates?

I don’t usually get this question. Normally, I hear “Help, we got littermates!” That comes after the littermates are already home and the people are feeling understandably overwhelmed.

Most dog trainers, if asked, would say “No way, don’t do it! Never get littermates.”

Meanwhile, most dog owners say “We got littermates because…”:

they were the last two left and I couldn’t bear to separate them
we have two kids, so we got two puppies
I just couldn’t leave with one after I saw how cute they were
we eventually want two dogs — if I’m going to raise one puppy, I might as well get them both at the same time
we want them to keep each other company when we’re gone during the day
it was an impulse decision, we didn’t really plan on getting two
I liked one, <insert family member here> liked the other, so we got both

I have discouraged littermates in the past because I know how much work it is to raise, socialize, and train one puppy! Adding a second puppy seemed out-of-this-world bonkers to me.

However. I am right now, at this very minute, raising littermates. Where’s my eye roll emoji?

How did I get here?

I raise puppies for a service dog organization. I love being a puppy raiser. Over the past year, five puppies have come into our house. Three have already come and gone (one to a client who wanted a trained pet dog, the other two are service dogs in their advanced training) and I now have Whit and Dougan. (More of the back story in an upcoming post.)

I’ll be writing more about our progress — the highs and the lows (there are lots of both!).

But for now, here are some things to think about if you are still thinking about getting littermates (or any two puppies under six months old at the same time).

Puppies need to learn how to live independently from one another.

It’s so easy to let the puppies sleep together, eat together, play together, walk together, and learn together. However, that’s a reeeeeallly big problem for the puppies.

Imagine that you had twin children. You might dress them similarly at first, but before long, you would encourage their independence and you’d help each child discover her own preferences, develop her own opinions, and find her own friends. It’s important for human development — the kids will need to go places independently, they will have different interests.

Yet people almost never think about this for puppies. This is where the term “bonded pair” becomes a problem. Go to any dog rescue organization and look at all the “bonded pairs” or “must be adopted together” dogs. This is usually because these two dogs were raised together from puppyhood and never learned how to act without the other dog being there with them.

It’s cute — it’s so very cute — when two puppies nap together. And play. And follow one another.

Littermates sleeping together. — They are REALLY cute together.

That cuteness turns into an unhealthy dependence on one another.

If you’ve heard of the term “co-dependent,” you know that it generally refers to an unhealthy relationship dynamic. Co-dependency can mean, in a broad sense, someone who cannot function on their own and whose thinking and behavior is instead organized around another person.

That doesn’t sound so healthy. And we seem to be able to recognize and make an effort to prevent this in humans. But when it comes to puppies, it’s almost as if people want their pups to grow up dependent on the other puppy. That’s unfortunate because it’s not a good idea for the puppies or the family they live with.

As I raise these puppies, they are learning how to:

sleep in separate crates
go to their crates in separate rooms
go to the bathroom on a leash without the other puppy around
play with me by themselves (instead of only playing with one another or playing together with me)
focus on people instead of one another
train in a separate room with me
rest and relax alone (with and without me, but definitely without the other puppy)
ride in the car without their brother
eat without their littermate
staying at home (crated) while the other puppy goes out for training (with me)

Why is this so important for littermates?

You may never intend that your pups be separated, so what’s the big deal, right?

I feel certain that all those bonded pair dogs on the adoption sites also started out that way — they were going to live their whole lives in that home and with that family.

But life happens. What if:

one of the dogs gets hurt and needs to spend a week (or more) in an emergency veterinary hospital
one dog is injured and is on crate rest for 16 weeks
tragedy befalls the family and the dogs need to be rehomed (significant human injury, sickness, loss of income, natural disaster, etc.)
one of the dogs gets along well with the new baby, but the other one doesn’t
one of the dogs loves to hike and the other one can’t or doesn’t enjoy it
one dog dies at an early age and the other dog is left to live out a normal doggie lifespan

When puppies grow up together and special attention isn’t paid to training them to lead independent lives, their lives can be limited and unnecessarily stressful.

Stay tuned, I’ll be talking a lot more about what I’m doing to help Whit and Dougan learn how to enjoy life with and without one another. Because for these guys, independent lives are almost a certainty — they will live together only while they are here with me for their training. In less than a year, they will go on to lead independent and very different lives. But even if they weren’t slated for service work, it’s my duty to ensure that they are their own dogs, that they enjoy their own lives, not the life they lead together with one another.

Meet the New Service Puppies in Training

January 27, 2019

Time to dust off the blog! We have news!

Puppies! We have puppies! Service puppies in training!

yellow Lab puppy, yellow Lab, Whit, service dog in training — Whit

Good lord, they are exhausting, but jeez louise could they be any cuter?

Whit and Dougan are our latest service puppies in training. I picked them up a little over two weeks ago and they have taken over the house.

Lab puppies, black Lab, yellow Lab, service dog in training — Yin & Yang
Dougan & Whit

We had taken a break from raising service dogs because our senior dogs thought puppies were awful little things. And now we’re back with a vengeance!

I’ll let you in on a secret: these guys are Puppy #4 and Puppy #5 since January of last year.

Yep, I’ve been holding back. Keeping silent. Mums the word.

Not for any good reason. Not for any reason really. Just haven’t had the gumption to blog in quite awhile.

But now I’m back. WITH LITTERMATES! Where’s the eye-rolling emoji?!

You’ll get all the details over the next few weeks, but until then, enjoy these delicious, fat-bellied, puppy breath smelling, roly poly little babies of sweet delight!

Teaching a Puppy to Listen in Public

May 30, 2018

Teaching a puppy to listen in public takes time.

It also takes training, patience, and reinforcement.

Rogan is slated to be a service dog when he grows up.

If you’ve ever seen a service dog working with his parter, you may have remarked “He’s so calm!” Or “”Nothing fazes him.” That’s because from puppyhood, that dog has been carefully exposed to public situations, has learned basic “good manners” behaviors, and has had frequent opportunities to practice in public with a trainer before being paired with someone with a disability.

Rogan went with me to do some shopping today.

I had two stops on my agenda: Dick’s Sporting Goods for some running shorts and Wegmans for groceries. I intentionally chose those two stops today because neither was imperative. If things went south in a hurry, I could abandon ship and head back home without any serious consequences. As opposed to, say, bringing Rogan with me to the dentist where it’s a little harder to just get up and leave.

Getting a young dog used to automatic sliding doors, mannequins, public address systems, fitting rooms, carts, strollers, bright lights, shiny floors — the list goes on — is relatively easy if it’s done early enough in the dog’s life and if it’s done at a pace that let’s the dog adjust and settle into each situation. When I take Rogan in public, I always have small, delicious treats (cat treats work great) and Rogan is always my top priority.

For instance, as we went entered Dick’s Sporting Goods today, I was hopeful I could get some shopping done, but I was ready to leave if Rogan couldn’t handle the excitement and the stimulation that a new store (to him) might bring. Rogan was a rock star — his eyes were alert, his tail was waggy, and he was eager to investigate. As he checked-in with me, I’d allow him to sniff the strange looking mannequin (Rogan wagged so hard, I think he was expecting some pets!). This allows the young dog to go at his own pace, to investigate new things, and to be reinforced when he checks back in with his trainer.

Four new pairs of running shorts are now in my dresser, as Rogan found shopping in the athletic store to be somewhat of a breeze.

Our next stop was Wegmans where I needed to get some basics at the grocery store.

Grocery stores can be a nightmare for a trainer and absolute heaven for a dog in training. So much food is so easily accessible. The bread aisle is almost always the worst place — so many delicious smells right at nose level for a dog. It’s hard to compete with 100 loaves of freshly baked bread! Another challenging area is the bulk food aisle. Rogan scored a gummy bear on the floor — he saw it before I did. It’s hard to compete with free food on the floor! He’ll get better at leaving stuff alone (as soon as I get better at noticing it!) as we progress with training in public.

Some of the hardest tasks for a social dog like Rogan, however, is sticking with me instead of walking up to all the people who say “Oh! What a cute dog!” as they pass us.

I’m proactive, but sometimes the struggle for Rogan is real! Most people ask about what Rogan is doing, what he’s training for, and they ask if they can pet him. If he’s under a reasonable degree of control, I usually allow the person to greet Rogan. It gives us a perfect training scenario — Rogan needs to learn how to greet people nicely and then how to disengage and come back to me when asked. Plus, at his stage of development, it’s always good for him to have positive experiences with strangers in public.

yellow Labrador, clicker training, service dog — Relaxing after a big day of shopping.

Much of what I do is preventing problems before they start.

I spend most of my time watching Rogan and very little time socializing with the people in the store. It’s important to be able to predict what Rogan is likely to do when we go past a family with six kids who are taking the whole aisle. How Rogan will behave when passing the luncheon meat counter? These are all questions in my mind as we’re in public. For the most part, our outings right now involve me getting Rogan’s attention before it starts to wander, keeping him occupied throughout stimulating territory (maneuvering through the aforementioned six kids + a cart
in the aisle), and reinforcing him for all of his good choices.

All the training pays off, though! And quickly!

If I do this for a month or so with Rogan, I will have developed a habit for Rogan: checking in frequently with me. Which means I’m not fighting for his attention. That’ll just be what he does “naturally.” From there, we can progress into more complex and distracting situations more quickly because the basics are installed and working smoothly.

Rogan’s still a puppy and his training is still in the early stages. We’ve got a lot more left to accomplish. Check back frequently — we’ll have more adventures to share!

Puppy Training: Walter’s Ready for His Family

May 15, 2018

Puppy training can be fun. Puppy training can also be exasperating!

When you think about it, there’s an awful lot to teach a puppy. And if you’re going to do it right, you need to pack a lot into 8 short weeks.

Why 8 weeks?

Assuming you get your pup when he’s 8 weeks, you have only another 8 weeks to socialize your pup while the socialization window is still open.

Socialization window?

Puppies are able to learn and explore and build positive (and negative) associations very rapidly for the first 16 weeks of their lives. Because they’re with their breeder for the first 8 weeks, that leaves us with those final 8 weeks. And if you’re not sure what your pup needs to see, heart, learn, do, and experience, it can be overwhelming. Well, really, even if you do know, it can still be overwhelming because that’s an awful lot of stuff to put on your to-do list!

Walter’s people knew they didn’t have the time or the know-how to raise the puppy they really wanted: a happy-go-lucky guy who would have some basic manners, be house trained, and could go with them to all the fun places and do all the fun things.

That’s where I came in — my specialty is puppies!

I’ve raised puppies since 2001. The pups I raised were from a service dog organization and it was critical that I socialize them efficiently and thoroughly. And that I installed basic good manners behavior in those pups early (and often). When a friend suggested that I raise a pet puppy (a pup that was going to grow up to be a good, well-rounded family dog [not a service dog]), I was intrigued. I hadn’t ever considered it before. But why not? I had done it 16 times before!

So in came Walter.

His people chose him from the breeder and I picked him up at 8 weeks of age.

I had my work cut out for me. Walter was a scared little guy who didn’t have a whole lot of experience or socialization from his breeder. It took him a week or two to get him comfortable in his own skin, but thankfully he was a curious puppy and loved food, so I could use food to help him enjoy people and places and things.

He was frightened of what I consider “everyday noises” like a plastic Solo cup being dropped, the cellophane envelopes that rattle when opened, and the noise of an empty can being tossed into the recycle bin. He was a bit timid around new people and wasn’t the stereotypical outgoing Labrador. We took it slow and easy, making sure to read his body language to gauge his ability and willingness to learn new things.

After about four weeks, I was seeing a really nice transformation happening.

He was much more waggy, actually pulling me to go see new people! He didn’t try to hide when I took him to the veterinarian, and he was much more tolerant of noises and new experiences.

Fast forward to today and now I have to hold Walter back!

He’s a social butterfly with both people and dogs, but is also quick to read other dog’s body language and back off if needed. He’s willing to trust me in new situations and looks for guidance from me if he’s uncertain.

That’s the foundation that all puppies need if they’re going to continue a lifetime of learning — that foundation of quality and timely socialization, trust and cooperation with people.

Now that Walter has some confidence, has had some positive experiences with novel items, and understands that he is part of the team, the sky is the limit for him!

His people will be able to continue the learning that I’ve started, teaching him all the things that he needs to know to live comfortably with them as he transitions to his new life.

People always ask if it’s hard for me to let a dog go that I’ve had a hand in raising.

I do! Every. Single. Time. There are always tears. But the good news is get to watch Walter when his family goes away for vacations and travel! So he’s not really leaving, after all. He’ll be back for mini-vacations and will get lots of lovin’ from us.

He’s grown into a lovely young adolescent Labrador. Who will need more training if he’s going to continue to grow into the dog this family has dreamed of. He’s a teenager and will need guidance and reassurance as he continues on his path of learning.

He’s gotten a good start, though, so any challenges that he faces will be handled more efficiently and effectively using the positive and cooperative training that he’s learned.

Introducing Service Puppy in-Training, Rogan

April 3, 2018

Introducing Service Puppy in-Training, Rogan

Welcome, Rogan!

We’re back in the world of raising service puppies again! I promised our seniors (Nemo, Lily, and Tango — service dog dropouts themselves) that as they entered their “golden years,” they could retire from helping us raise service puppies. Levi was the last service dog we raised. We picked him up in January 2014 — four years ago since a service puppy in-training was in our house!

yellow Labrador, yellow Lab, service dog in training — Day 1

Sadly, we lost all four of our dogs over about a year and we found ourselves with an empty house. We brought on sweet Walter, a pup I’m raising for a client. And then, given the news of our (almost) empty house, a service dog organization asked us if we could raise a pup for them again. Adventurous is how you might describe us, and we said “Of course!”

There were eight puppies in Rogan’s litter. I wasn’t sure whether our pup would be a yellow or a black. I was ambivalent — I just lost the love of my life yellow Labrador, Tango. I was torn between really wanting another yellow in the house and being terrified that a yellow would come live with us. Obviously, Rogan is a yellow. It took a few days for me to adjust to another yellow in the house. He’s very different (of course) than Tango was which makes his presence in our house a lot easier for me and my heart.

yellow Lab, yellow Labrador, service puppy in training, service dog in training — Nap time

Needless to say, Walter is thrilled to have a young playmate. And we love having two dogs in the house together. While I don’t love the idea of litter mates, Walter and Rogan are seven weeks apart which means less risk of co-dependence and the other problems that come along with litter mates. We are, of course, also working hard to ensure that these puppies learn how to be independent and enjoy frequent people-time, as well. They are great playmates and entertainment for one another. These two tire one another out in a way that we never could.

yellow Labrador, yellow Lab, service puppy in training, service dog in training — A little “me” time.

Rogan’s training

Rogan’s training has already begun. Puppies are capable of learning so much that we start right away at eight weeks. These pups actually started their learning prior to going to their puppy raiser homes. They all learned to sit for whatever they wanted from any human. How, you ask, do you teach a litter of eight puppies to sit?! Simple: wait for it to happen, then reinforce it when it happens. What does this look like in real life? When it’s feeding time (or visiting time), the puppies get a morsel of food as soon as their rump hits the floor. They learn fast: all that stands between them and a piece of food (or some human affection and attention) is to put their rump on the floor! And it’s a whole lot easier to sit than it is to jump!

It’s important for any dog, but particularly a service dog, to learn that behavior has consequences. One of Rogan’s first training lessons was an “attention” session. I used part of his breakfast to teach Rogan that looking at me earned him a small part of his breakfast. I sat on the floor, clicker in hand, and simply waited for Rogan to look in my direction. The instant he did, I clicked and reached to give him a piece of his breakfast. The click tells him exactly what he’s doing to earn the goodie. I do a little bit of this everyday and it’s amazing how quickly Rogan voluntarily looks at me — not just in a training session, but whenever he’s not sure what to do.

There will be many lessons coming up for Rogan. Stay tuned, I’ll post updates and adventures here!

Introducing Walter, the Labrador Puppy

February 9, 2018

Walter, the Labrador puppy is a lot of things.

But no, he’s not mine.

And no, he’s not a service dog pup.

Walter is the first pup I’m raising for a client.

He’s also a balm to help soothe the pain of losing all our dogs.

He’s funny. He’s just what we needed.

I’m not ready to love a dog of my own.

But I can most definitely raise a puppy for someone else.

When I agreed to raise this puppy for the client, Tango and Schooner were still here and were part of the raising plan I had created for him. They were going to be my training assistants to help teach Walter the Way of the Dog. Clearly, that plan hit the skids a couple weeks ago. We’ve never had just one dog. It feels so very odd.

I wanted to get tributes written for both Tango and Schooner before I introduced Walter, as that felt like the right order things should happen.

I’ve sat at my computer every day this week trying to put something down for both those dogs and I’ve not yet been successful.

So, here’s Walter’s official introduction.

Expect to see more of him. I’ll be documenting his training here on the blog and letting you in on the insanity of having a puppy in the house again. Without the help of more experienced dogs.

Isn’t he stupid cute?

Menu

Puppy

Should you get littermates?

Most dog trainers, if asked, would say “No way, don’t do it! Never get littermates.”

However. I am right now, at this very minute, raising littermates. Where’s my eye roll emoji?

But for now, here are some things to think about if you are still thinking about getting littermates (or any two puppies under six months old at the same time).

That cuteness turns into an unhealthy dependence on one another.

As I raise these puppies, they are learning how to:

Why is this so important for littermates?

But life happens. What if:

When puppies grow up together and special attention isn’t paid to training them to lead independent lives, their lives can be limited and unnecessarily stressful.

Time to dust off the blog! We have news!

Teaching a puppy to listen in public takes time.

Rogan is slated to be a service dog when he grows up.

Rogan went with me to do some shopping today.

Our next stop was Wegmans where I needed to get some basics at the grocery store.

Some of the hardest tasks for a social dog like Rogan, however, is sticking with me instead of walking up to all the people who say “Oh! What a cute dog!” as they pass us.

Much of what I do is preventing problems before they start.

All the training pays off, though! And quickly!

Puppy training can be fun. Puppy training can also be exasperating!

Why 8 weeks?

Socialization window?

That’s where I came in — my specialty is puppies!

His people chose him from the breeder and I picked him up at 8 weeks of age.

After about four weeks, I was seeing a really nice transformation happening.

Fast forward to today and now I have to hold Walter back!

That’s the foundation that all puppies need if they’re going to continue a lifetime of learning — that foundation of quality and timely socialization, trust and cooperation with people.

People always ask if it’s hard for me to let a dog go that I’ve had a hand in raising.

Introducing Service Puppy in-Training, Rogan

Welcome, Rogan!

Rogan’s training

Walter, the Labrador puppy is a lot of things.

Walter is the first pup I’m raising for a client.

He’s also a balm to help soothe the pain of losing all our dogs.

I’m not ready to love a dog of my own.

I wanted to get tributes written for both Tango and Schooner before I introduced Walter, as that felt like the right order things should happen.

So, here’s Walter’s official introduction.

Subscribe to Email Updates

What People Are Saying