Hi all We have just brought home two little labrador x kelpie puppies, both girls, they are 8 weeks old this Sunday. They are lovely natured puppies and are picking up things we are teaching them quite quickly (toilet training is going well and they can already sit on command). One puppy (Raimee) is quite docile, and is quite vocal. Micah is more energetic and excitable, and not as vocal. They play together and sleep together and normally get along quite well however we are a little concerned that Micah may be playing a little bit too rough with Raimee; Micah will bite Raimee's ear and pull quite hard, or grab her puppy fat on her neck or grab her tummy, and Raimee will squeal loudly (not the cute little puppy noises but a high-pitched yelp). Raimee has never bitten in retaliation or run away with tail between her legs or anything, and occassionally she will initiate the play with Micah which is reasonably rough. I know puppies are very good at rough-and-tumble and noisy play is normal, but we just want to make sure it's not the wrong side of boisterous (or nip it in the bud if it is), or is this just Raimee being overly vocal? Thanks!!
It sounds as if you've got your hands full! Teach them the 'enough' command to stop over-exuberant playing. It's probably useful to have help at first, so that you can each grab a puppy while saying 'enough' very firmly and stop the rough play. From your description, Micah sounds more dominent, but puppies (and older dogs too) can get carried away with playing and quickly get too boisterous, so it's useful to have a command which is a quick, calming intervention. Good luck! Can we see some photos?
Hi and welcome to the forum. I also have litter mates (Labs) and they do play rough together, but you have to be able to separate them when it gets too out of hand. Mine often sound like they're killing each other, but if you keep an eye on the body language, you should get an idea of whether it's OK or not. In true play, they take it in turns to be the one on top and the one who "loses" - if you see that it's always one that's getting the better of the other, then they're being too much of a bully and need to be separated. Teaching an "enough" cue, which means "all play stops now" is a very important thing to do. It's also very important that your puppies get plenty of time apart. If you've not already done so, I suggest reading up on Litter Mate Syndrome. This is a horrible thing where quite often, litter mates will start to turn on each other over time and the boisterous play turns into ferocious fighting, to the point that you have to get rid of one of them. I don't want to worry you, because it can be managed, but it needs a lot of time apart. I walk mine separately once a day and my husband often takes one or other of them when he goes out, leaving me with the other. In an ideal world, they would also sleep apart, but we don't have the room for that. I believe we have got through the most worrisome time, and mine are now 13 months old and have never shown any signs of true aggression to one another. However, anecdotally, it seems there are potentially more problems with same-sex pairs. Friends of ours have another of the same litter, and I know with absolute certainty that if we had had her and our Willow, we would have had serious problems; Annie is a real bully towards Willow and we have to separate them quite frequently when it gets out of hand. I don't tell you this to scare you, but so you can inform yourself and come up with a plan to manage it. It is possible, as I can attest to, but it's far, far harder work than just having one puppy! Good luck!
