Littermate sisters

[sharon Levesque]

My husband and I are now the proud owners of 2 female goldendoodles but we had no knowledge of "littermate syndrome" when we bought them and now we are wondering if we should have. Trying to find others who have littermates.

[Lindsey, Lee, Whopper and Simba]

Now that you have them, just enjoy them!  Others on this site do have littermates and absolutely love having it that way.  I'm sure they'll speak up.  My only recommendation would be to make sure you train them both individually to establish a stong bond between you and each of them and that you quickly establish yourself as the leader of your pack. 

[Lucy & AnnaBelle's Mom]

There was a fairly lengthly discussion on this topic just last week.  There were people on both sides.  Not sure what happened to the discussion as I can't seem to find it.  Possibly I missed something and it was deleted!

 

We personally have litter mate sisters that are just under 3 years old.  I personally feel that it has more to do with environment, training and love than anything else.  Any puppy or puppies brought into an environment where they are ignored or left alone all day and are never given obedience training can have issues.  I'm not going to sit here and say my girls are perfectly flawless, but I doubt that any of my remaining problem areas are because they are litter mates.  It probably has more to do with them being spoiled and my letting them get away with things they shouldn't because they are so cute.  lol.  I think if you give your girls the proper love and training you will be just fine! 

[Adina P]

Joy Williams has littermate sisters and Lauren (from WA state---there are several "Lauren"s on here) have littermate sisters.  A couple other members have littermates too.  Join the Multiple Doodles group and flip through some of their past discussions and when our search is working again you can search for "littermates" to come up with past discussions in the forum on this topic.

 

But now that you HAVE them, if you are able to devote some quality time with each dog daily...particularly time that involves focused obedience training you can overcome a lot of the 'littermate syndrome'. 

[Nina, Phil, Harlow & Lacey]

We have had littermate brothers for 10 years.  It is a bit more difficult in the beginning; it is very similar to have human twin babies.  We found it easier to potty train them together.  If one went the other was sure to go.  We did keep them in separate crates at night until they were trust worthy in the potty department.  We took them together to the same obedience class, but they always had the same person on the other end of the leash.  Once the command was learned the family would rotate practicing the command with each dog.  Littermates will establish pack order between themselves, just make sure you and your family are above them in the pack.

[sharon Levesque]

Thanks for all the great input-- it is much appreciated. I am now hopeful that our girls will do well. I also believe that as long as they are loved and taught well it makes a huge difference.

[Jan Cole]

We have litteramtes, too...sisters from the same litter. I have been trying to connect with others who have sister goldendoodles, but have been unsuccessful until now. How old are your doodles? Ours are 13 weeks. Also had no knowledge of littermate syndrome when we purchased them from a breeder.  One of ours, Bailey, seems less dominate but humps her sister at times during play. We are crate training, and this past weekend got another crate so they could sleep alone. What issues, if any, are you having?

[sharon Levesque]

We were very concerned when we first found out about littermate syndrome but really have had no problems. Definitely following some suggestions that we found like crating separately, walking them separately etc. They need to develop their own personality and we also spend equal time with them. Our girls will be 4 months on Jan 28.They will get carried away with their play at times and when it starts sounding mean we intervene. But so far so good.