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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!

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!

Ren: Temporary Service Pup In-Training

August 22, 2017

Ren: Temporary Service Pup In-Training

So you’re finding out about this little gem right before I have to turn him back over to the service dog organization.

We were on a long break from raising service dogs.

The older dogs, two of which are now gone, sadly, just didn’t enjoy having a new pup every single year. When we turned sweet Levi in, I promised those three that we’d not be raising any more puppies during their lifetime. [We did sort of amend that agreement when we took Schooner back after he was released as an adult from the service dog organization.]

Fast-forward a few years and I got an email from a service dog organization who needed a six-week favor: would we, could we take a 6-month old Labrador for just six weeks while that puppy’s raiser recovered from knee replacement surgery. My husband and I talked it over, looked at Lily and Tango (and Schoons, who I suspected would be overjoyed at the new addition) and agreed to take this adolescent Labrador.

I picked him up five weeks ago, friends.

Yes, five. I’m sorry to have kept this for so long, I had been meaning to write about it, but things just got out of hand. [Separate blog post needed for all that drama.] Our sweet Lily had died just the week before, so that meant Tango was the only senior who had to tolerate this new hooligan.

Here’s what I love so much about Labradors: they are happy wherever they are.

black Lab, Labrador, service dog in training, Smart Dog, positive, clicker — Nap time is tough when Ren has secrets to tell.

This guy, Ren, hopped out of his raiser’s car and then hopped into mine like it happened every single day. He slept on the 90-minute ride home, thumped his tail when I’d reach back to pet him, and jumped out of the car when we got to the house looking like he was ready for whatever came his way.

I introduced Ren to Schooner first through the fence. Tail wags from everyone, so I let Ren into the fenced backyard where a sniff-fest immediately commenced. As soon as they decided they were indeed both dogs, one of them play-bowed and they were off! Racing around the yard, getting a feel for each other’s athletic abilities, and play styles. Five weeks later, this still happens every day. Tango saw the melee and barked until I let him out to investigate this newcomer.

Ren had to learn how to live with a senior dog.

Tango has severe osteoarthritis and does not want to (and cannot) play with anyone at any time. Within a week, Ren learned that he couldn’t bump or shove his way through or around the old guy and they’ve lived harmoniously together since.

Schooner is elated with his new plaything.

For a giant dog, Schooner is both gentle and oh-so-tolerant. More tolerant than he should be, probably. Ren will see Schooner sleeping on the couch and make an air dive onto Schooner. Schoons just wakes up playing. Every now and then, Schooner will tell Ren off, usually if Ren has drawn blood. It’s not uncommon to see Ren hanging from Schooner’s big jowls while Schoons walks through the house.

The first couple of weeks Ren was here, Schooner was so marked up and gouged that it looked like he’d tangled with a mountain lion. The worst spots were Schooner’s “armpits” — they’re just the perfect height for a young dog to bite into — and Schooner’s neck/jowls. Schooner’s scabs have healed, for the most part — I guess his skin toughened up over the last month or so — and there’s only the occasional bloody scratch to be found.

It’s been really nice having a youngster back in the house. The energy, enthusiasm, athleticism, and boundless joy has been just what we needed. We had Ren for just a short time, but we are going to miss this guy when he goes back. He’s filled the void left behind when Nemo died. Dana again has a dog in his lap. He has a dog to greet him at the fence and carry his workout shirt into the house. He has an Adirondack chair, backyard-sitting companion.

I’m a little grateful that we don’t have him any longer than six weeks. It’s crazy how quickly we became attached to this guy. We’re gonna miss him.

The Results are In! Schooner’s Veterinary Visit…

July 29, 2016

Schooner’s Veterinary Visit

Not long after we brought Schooner back home (he was gone at service dog training camp for 15 months), I took him on a field trip to our veterinarian. At that visit, I realized that Schoons was a little scared at the vet. He didn’t want to wag his tail, he stayed away from anyone who even just wanted to pet him, and was generally uncomfortable at that first visit. That was a year ago. In the last article, I detailed our “dry run,” where Schooner accompanied Nemo to a veterinary visit. Schoons got to hang out, eat some food, and get some lovin’ — and he did great!

The Real Deal

While I was happy that Schooner did great in the vet exam, I was still a little worried about what would happen when the veterinarian and the technicians focused on him, instead of on Nemo. Our appointment was just a few days after that dry run, so I was hopeful that Schooner would do alright. This veterinary visit was going to include a comprehensive exam, a vaccination, blood draw (for heartworm test), and a look at a tricky spot on Schooner’s paw. That’s a fairly tall order for any dog, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little apprehensive as we walked in.

A Stable Pony

dog training, clicker, dog obedience, scared dog, dog scared at vet, dog bit vet, positive training, positive reinforcement, Smart Dog, Laurie Luck, Mt. Airy — Nemo is a “stable pony” for Schooner

Because Schooner did so well when he accompanied Nemo a few days earlier, I thought “Why not take Nemo again?” In the horse world, the primary task of a lead pony is to help a racehorse with its training, both in practice and on the day of a race. So Nemo was our stable pony for the veterinary visit. Nemo’s generally always a happy camper, even more so if there are people who will love on him and give him treats. My hope was that Schoons would go in thinking “Oh, nice. We just did this very same thing and it wasn’t so bad.” Nemo led the way into the exam room, asking anyone who would listen to feed him treats, and [yahoo!] Schooner followed suit: “Hey, I want a treat, too, please!”

Change Up the Order

Normally, the technician gets the vitals of the dog: pulse, temperature, respiration rate, checks teeth, etc. I asked our technician if she could first visit with Schooner for a minute, just feeding him treats (and Nemo, too, of course) and hang out with us casually. That worked great, Schooner’s tail was wagging as much as Nemo’s. When it was time for her to use her stethoscope, she showed it to him and let him sniff it — also a big help. Because the temperature taking is a little, um, invasive, I asked if we could wait and do that one at the end (hahaha). Not a problem, we could go in any order, she said.

What Matters Most?

The blood draw was the most important piece of that veterinary visit, so I requested that we get that done first. I didn’t want to do all the other stuff to him which might put him in an agitated state, and then try to get the blood draw. The heartworm test was the highest priority, so we jumped to that one first. If that went well, we could then continue on, but if it stressed him out too much, I could easily leave then and would still have gotten a lot accomplished.

One Step at a Time

Another technician came in to assist with the blood draw and we took a minute to let Schooner sniff and investigate (and eat treats!) before proceeding. They allowed Schooner to be in any position he preferred, saying they could work around his comfort. [This is huge for a wary, timid, or fearful dog!] I was feeding treats to Schoons the entire time. They were efficient and the whole blood draw was over seemingly before it even started. [Another bonus!]

The blood draw went so well — it didn’t seem to throw Schooner much at all. Onward with the rest of the veterinary visit! The veterinarian came in, sat on the floor, and fed both dogs treats while he let Schooner approach and investigate. As he was looking at me and somewhat ignoring Schooner, he started to pet him and just get his hands on Schoons in a casual, non-veterinary exam kind of way. Having Nemo there didn’t make things easier for the veterinarian or the technicians (or me), but it did make it easier for Schooner because we could talk to and feed Nemo and let Schooner sidle up at his own pace. Every step of the way, I could see that Schooner seemed a little less concerned when he saw Nemo pushing his way into the scene.

vet visit, scared dog, dog training, dog obedience, positive, clicker, Smart Dog, Laurie, Frederick, Luck, dog trainer — Investigating is important.

Our veterinarian was able to conduct a full exam on Schooner, including looking into his ears, eyes, mouth, and take a look at that pesky foot. It was a small sore spot on his foot, but because it’d been there for several months, our veterinarian wanted to take a closer look and see what was going on. While still sitting on the floor (and Schoons standing), he got a scraping and put it under the microscope. Bacteria, yuk. Schooner’s on a topical antibiotic for awhile to help eliminate it now.

The very last step was a vaccination. That’s where Schooner said, “Uh, I’m done now, right?” When he saw the technician come in again, I saw his first real avoidance behavior. This was a quick vaccination, easy to give, so I was able to feed Schooner while it went right in with hardly a flinch from the big dog.

Easy In, Easy Out

Because I had almost 250 pounds of dog at the end of the leashes, I asked if I could check out from right there in the exam room, instead of holding two dogs in the lobby dodging other people and pets. Both Schoons and Nemo are friendly to other dogs and people, it was one less thing to distract me. I did all the paperwork and transactions from the comfort of the exam room and then we breezed right on out when we were done. Couldn’t have been smoother!

With the great veterinarian and staff, that was the best veterinary visit I could hope for. I joked with Dr. Cook: “Who’d have thought? Training to the rescue!” We had a good laugh and appreciated the value of training to keep veterinary visits stress- and fear-free.

Talk with your veterinarian — see if some of the options I used with Schooner might also be available at your dog’s veterinary hospital:

practice visits (first alone, then with a technician)
accompanied by another dog
re-order the usual process to best fit the dog
eliminate non-essential things (like getting the dog’s temperature, for instance)
take a little extra time to feed treats and “make nice”
veterinarian and technicians on the floor with the dog
set priorities to get the most important thing done up front, even if it might be last in the typical order
paying from the exam room

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Service Dog

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!

Introducing Service Puppy in-Training, Rogan

Welcome, Rogan!

Rogan’s training

<img decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-4967 alignright" src="https://smartdoguniversity.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/DanaRen-300x300.jpg" alt="black Labrador, black Lab, service dog in training, clicker, Smart Dog" width="300" height="300">Ren: Temporary Service Pup In-Training

We were on a long break from raising service dogs.

I picked him up five weeks ago, friends.

Here’s what I love so much about Labradors: they are happy wherever they are.

Ren had to learn how to live with a senior dog.

Schooner is elated with his new plaything.

The Real Deal

A Stable Pony

Change Up the Order

What Matters Most?

One Step at a Time

Easy In, Easy Out

Talk back! What has worked for you and your dog at the vet? Share your ideas in the comments!

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Ren: Temporary Service Pup In-Training