Celebrating the crazy of pet parenthood
Celebrating the crazy of pet parenthood

Sisterly Love – Should You Separate Littermates?

aL&SE
Sparkle & Olivia, July 2014

We were recently asked why the Olivia & Sparkle were separated for adoption if they came into rescue as a bonded pair. It’s a great question, and one that potential adopters and rescue volunteers struggle with often! As a general rule, if the pups are young, it’s almost always in their best interest to separate them. In fact, there’s even a term for the risk of keeping them together, it’s called littermate syndrome. If pups are older (2+), and they are strongly bonded, a case could be made to keep them together: IF they have been well socialized & trained, and IF a home can be found that is willing to adopt two adult dogs (not usually a luxury found in rescue).

Briefly, here are the reasons why it’s typically better to separate littermates for placement:

  • If kept together, they will likely bond with each other instead of their human family members
  • Training and development is hard enough with one pup, two is significantly more difficult.
  • True, they will play together… but they will also get into trouble together. With two it is more likely that one will decide to chew on the rug, and with two mouths – it will take much less time to destroy it.
  • Separation allows them the time and space to develop their own personalities and confidence.

Here’s how it played out for Olivia & Sparkle. They were approximately a year old when they found themselves in rescue. They were terrified in the shelter environment (and they gave me that ‘woe is me’ look) so both of them came home with me to foster. They were bonded, but it was quickly obvious that Sparkle was the dominant and Liv just went along for the ride. When Sparkle barked, Liv barked. Where Sparkle went, Liv went. And if Sparkle didn’t want Liv to follow, or didn’t like what Liv was doing, she’d let her know with a verbal correction. So while Liv was bonded to her sister, and vice versa, it wasn’t always the healthiest of relationships. Housetraining was also virtually impossible, as was training. That “two is significantly more difficult” can’t be overstated!

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Olivia, July 2014

I had an inkling that I might want Liv to stay with us forever, but before I made that decision I had to see how she was going to do without her sister around. Sparkle’s “sparkling” independent personality was clashing with Murphy (the shih-tzu), who was used to being the fun police of the family (a role he still enjoys). So when the girls had their spay appointments, I transitioned Sparkle to a new foster home and waited optimistically to see how Liv settled in with my crew. The change was almost instantaneous. Without her sister to follow, she began engaging on her own with the other animals in the home. She tried with all her might to get Murphy to play with her, and was ultimately successful. And she engaged more with ME on a daily basis. As a petparent, you want all of the animals to get along, but you also want to have bonds with your animals. That is afterall, WHY you have furry kids.

The separation made it clear that while they were bonded as littermates, they were going to grow better apart. Especially Olivia, who needed to develop her own courage and confidence. It was my greatest hope that when Sparkle was adopted, that her new family would be willing to do playdates periodically… SO HAPPY when that turned out to be the case!

Have you had any experience with littermates, together or solo? We’d love to hear!

 

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