Sibling Rivalry

[Amy Murphy]

I breed Doodles and was recently asked if a family could get 2 puppies from me.  They decided against it eventually.  But then I heard that littermates were not the best to send to new families.  Does anyone have littermates, what gender(s), and how has it been working out? Would you recommend it or not? Thanks!

[CCMOM("Diney")]

Yes, we have two boy goldendoodles from the same litter. They came to our house from a shelter in OH at 13 months old. Curly is the alpha and Camo is the baby. They play together well but most recently, they play very rough. a lot of biting and chasing. When we send them to daycare, they need to separate them because Curly is overly protective of his baby brother Camo. If there are dogs playing with Camo just a bit too rough, Curly would fight other dogs. (But at home, Curly sometimes just plays as rough as other dogs at daycare!)

Camo would tell on Curly if he wasn't behaving. for example. they are not supposed to go upstairs to our bedroom but Curly would sneak up there sometimes. Camo would bark to alert us.

They both have very different personalities but fun to have them both around. one advice is for owners not to show any favoritism ever. We need to treat them both equal otherwise, it will create a somewhat hostile environment for one of them.

[Jan Cole]

I have recently added two F1 Goldendoodle sisters to my home. Same littter, from a breeder in KY. They were born Oct 3rd. I have owned two doodles in the past, so I don't know if I qualify as a 'new' family, but so far so good...they are perfect! Active, normal play, but I am a little concerned about training. Grace is a little bigger than Bailey, and is more dominant. What Grace does, Bailey follows...I will know more as their personalities emerge. I had one doodle puppy before, and I think for entertainment and play purposes, two are easier than one. They totally entertain and play on their own. I am very happy that we choose two sisters. I think they are happy too!

[Amy Murphy]

It sounds like it might not be a problem to sell siblings to one family.  I had heard it wasn't a good idea from another breeder, I doubt I'll get too many people wanting littermates, but if I do, I'll probably tell them to go ahead with it.  Thanks everyone for your input!