I hope this is the proper forum to post.

About 2 1/2 months ago, Kai, our Golden Retriever became
part of our family pack.
He knows his rank.

We have decided to bring in another Golden, from the
same breeder, different litter.
Fantastic breeder, feel very confident in having these
2 dogs together.

I have worked with Kai, and he knows quite a bit of his
'basic training'.
He will zitsun, platz, follgen, (sp) off, yuck, etc, on command.

When we bring home Link, he will be 12 weeks.
Kai is 4 1/2 months.


1. They will be crated, in separate ends of our TV room.
Is this a good idea, or should they be in separate rooms crated? I dont want them to bond too much to one another, until Link learns his rank.

2. Also, while I am basic training Link, this should be done without Kai in presence? Just Link and myself?



Thank you in advance!

1. My littermates were crated next to eachother. no problem. The only reason I now keep them in separate rooms is so they don't bark at each other all day, starting at 630am.

2. Correct, just you and the pup.

I would keep pups separated from older dogs till 10-12 months old. Its not about "learning rank," its about bonding with the dog. I don't do much with puppies beyond "sit," learning their name and "come." I just let them be puppies and enjoy life.

Thank You.


That is my main concern - I dont want them to bond
to one another in a way Ive been reading on the internet.

Littermate Syndrome.

Ever heard of that?

Do I feed them in separate areas?
Potty them at different times?
Play with them separately, out of the crate at different times?
Then have time where I play with both of them together?

Sorry for so many questions - I just want to make
sure I have knowledge from the best people in raising
dogs - and that's here - the Leerburg board!

Feed in crate, do everything else separately. They can watch, although the crated puppy barking his head off because you're playing with another pup can get annoying. It's the domineering and interaction/puppy play/puppy fighting that I choose to avoid. Plus, when it comes to working line dogs, usually they don't understand when to stop, and will just keep going until someone drops dead

can you please explain "bond together" thanks

delete double post

Edited by Connie Sutherland (07/28/2008 01:02 PM)
Edit reason: duplicate

 Quote: michael hubert

can you please explain "bond together" thanks

Isn't it kinda self-explanatory?

I guess if I had to take all of the "fun" out of owning and loving dogs, I could boil the "bond" down to, the dog having a dependance on one or more than one specific person(s) for emotional reassurance, affection, interaction, etc. A mutual trust between all parties, a reliance upon one another for a mutual goal- protection, safety and happiness of the pack.

the reason i ask ,alyssa, because she wrote that it might be a bad thing. My, at the time, 4 year old GSD, which took about 2 weeks to accept my new GSD, ever since they have had an unbelievable "bond", in fact Daegon now 3 has learned a lot from watching and learning from Maximus now 7, Maximus has actualy taught daegon alot, when daegon was a puppy he was always crated when left alone but it was amazing to see the so called bond they have now, when I demo Daegon he has all the confidence and is so willing to please, i think he has learned alot from his older brother and they have a great bond.

It's a preference. Some people don't like their dogs to get "doggy", and don't want the dogs to bond to one another.

For the most part, I am a part of that crowd. My GSD is a family dog, but she is also a working dog. I don't want her bonding with other dogs, because I want her bond to be with her people. I want her to enjoy playing with me more than anything in the world. Letting her bond with another dog might jeopardize that.

Now, with that said, I raised two Boxers together, with absolutely NO problems. The female was brought home when the male was just at two years old. There was never an instance of a problem between the two of them- and it didn't affect their bond one iota. However, they were solely family pets, and had no other purpose (SAR, Sport, PPD, etc).

I would not do things the same with my current GSD.
We do plan on getting a second GSD down the road, probably after Danke turns two (because she will not be spayed before that time, and my husband wants a male, whom we would probably keep intact for the duration of it's life).

Even then, the two dogs will probably be crated away from each other for quite awhile, and slowly allowed supervised time around each other. They will never be left alone together, for the length of their lives. I just don't feel like dealing with the inherant issues that arise with working dogs being around each other.

sorry both my dogs are working dogs and family dogs both pay attention to me as well as my 4 and 6 year old children and it has never effect their work .,so when someone says that i dont mean any disrespect, but dogs love to be with people as well as other dogs. both my dogs know the difference between work and play. im not saying you are wrong, i just never heard that before.