I have male EZ and female LeeLoo 8month GSD. they are comming along with food engagement well. They eat, sleep and are trained separetly. I pen them together inside during the day for 3 or so hours at a time. EZ is always in LeeLoos buisnes which is to be expected. When I play with them together EZ will engage Leeloo will try to play with him not me. When she comes over to cuddle the pain in the neck is right there, and on and on it goes really no supprises. My concerns are that one they will not develope a strong bond with there humans and two LeeLoo will not be able to mature into the confident asertive dog she otherwise would if not under her brothers shadow. So, my ? How far should I take the concept of separation and until what age. Is there a point of diminished returns. I could keep them completely separate if need be. I have been known to go overboard with a thing or two and the Boss is not convinced about the need for separating them. She I mean the Boss did say she will listen to what you guys have to say. In the end we both want these two wonderful GSD to be all they can be. thanks for listening again and I look foreward to hearing from you and I'm working on getting an exceptable pic of them on the board.

At this point, in my experience/opinion, the only time they should be "together" is when they are being walked/run. Even then I would make the time to take seperate walks with each of them.

I raised two similar age pups (8 weeks apart) after receiving a request from our local humane society to take on a foster who was 12 weeks. I was receiving my Leonberger 3 weeks later. So I had an 8 week old and 16 week old at the same time - HARDEST WORK EVER!! (That "foster" never left...she became my husbands dog)

I will never do it again willingly unless I don't have to work full time.

The attention, training, individual exercise and exposure that each dog needs varies, but either way, you have to provide it x2.

So since you seem to have made the committment to raise these two together the best way you can, I would start to enforce MORE seperation. You can have them out together so long as one is tied to you and the other to the "boss"....LOL

Maybe once or twice a week, they can walk/run together then seperate again when you get home. You can also start tethering one, while doing some simple OB with the other, then switching.

I would also start doing more (assuming you do some already) marker training, gradual exposure to new things and tug work with the female, to bring her confidence amd trust in you up, so she looks to you rather than the litter mate.

Hope this helps!

thankyou for the input. yes we are commited for better or worse, i mean to the dogs that is LOL. i have a town job 2 min from home, with a very flexible schedule which is very nice for this situation. did you mean tether one close within sight while OB. Also how have your puppies been doing?

I pack mine up and the only seperation is the one I pick to come to work with me each day, it's the natural thing for them to do. They line up for choice selection each day, so damn funny. I'll bet there's a few littermates in this group, this guy has leadership of the dogs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0QyQJ1maH3s

Yah thats what the boss says, don't sweat the small stuff they'll turn out just fine. Thanks for takin the time to post a reply. And i expect there's probaly a bunch of litter mates in that crowd.

Thanks, Again

 Quote: tim richards

I have male EZ and female LeeLoo 8month GSD. they are comming along with food engagement well. They eat, sleep and are trained separetly. I pen them together inside during the day for 3 or so hours at a time. EZ is always in LeeLoos buisnes which is to be expected. When I play with them together EZ will engage Leeloo will try to play with him not me. When she comes over to cuddle the pain in the neck is right there, and on and on it goes really no supprises. My concerns are that one they will not develope a strong bond with there humans and two LeeLoo will not be able to mature into the confident asertive dog she otherwise would if not under her brothers shadow. So, my ? How far should I take the concept of separation and until what age. Is there a point of diminished returns. I could keep them completely separate if need be. I have been known to go overboard with a thing or two and the Boss is not convinced about the need for separating them. She I mean the Boss did say she will listen to what you guys have to say. In the end we both want these two wonderful GSD to be all they can be. thanks for listening again and I look foreward to hearing from you and I'm working on getting an exceptable pic of them on the board.

Don't know if you'll see this but I have two pups, brother and sister and I am taking Leerburg's training to heart with this because it makes a difference. It really does.

When I first found them, at 3-4 months of age, it was difficult to separate them since they had been wandering the streets together, relied on each other, etc.

But, you have to build that bond and it is much easier to train them if you do is separate.

I initially had them crated during the day, (I'm of the option that I can come home and take them out when I need to so I would come home every three hours to take them out), and when I got home, I would take one out, do their business, walk them around, start training.

Bring that one back in, bring the other out, repeat.

The only time they were together is if I was there to supervise.

As time went on, our bond was really building. Each dog had their own thing they liked to do and I wanted them to focus on me, not the other dog. I wanted them to know that not only did their food, water, shelter and whatnot come from me but so did their "fun". I wanted them to look to me for all their needs, NOT their littermate.

Now, let me tell you that I did screw up a bit as it got to the point that they were doing everything I asked, brilliantly. When I did recall, they came. When I had them sit, stay, wait, turn "left" turn "right", "back" etc, they listened. When we walked on leash, the leash was slack. Everything was perfect.

So I thought it was time to let them out together. I did that too early. Even though individually they did splendidly, together it was WAY too much distraction.

The distraction should start off minimal and be built up and having the other litter mate was like the ultimate distraction so pretty much everything I trained flew out the window and I had dogs that didn't listen to me, were behaving badly and the boy was actually leaving bite marks on the girl when they rough housed outside in the "off leash" area. No, it wasn't major damage but they did get in to a few, all out brawls and that's when I realized, no, stop listening to every one else out there who thinks they know what they are doing with training, stick to what Leerburg says.

They are now taken out individually again and we will again work up to walking them together but off leash together? That isn't going to happen for some time. They are just approaching a year old so all I can say is, don't be in a hurry to have them do everything together. Even if you think they have it down, the distractions outside must be started small and worked up to major distraction...in this case, the other dog. It may happen the same way with you that the other dog is the epitome of distraction so don't make my mistake...build up to it, don't rush it, just keep consistent and eventually, you should be able to give them more together time.

I'm still around. long weekends are great, comming back can be a hassle. I really appreciate everyones input on this issue. we are going to talk this issue over and decide on routine. Good luck with your pups and I am looking foreward to hearing how things are comming along in the future.

Unfortunately I have nothing constructive to add that hasn't already been said, but WOW! That video was amazing.