Brenda Updike's Page

Hi, Brenda!  What precious pups! Doodle Kisses is definitely the right place for advice. I am new to the world of goldendoodles and litter mates, but have learned so much wonderful info here on DK, and it has really helped us.  I use the search bar at the top and find the answer to almost every question we have!

It is great that you will be at home with your new fur babies and can give them lots of time. I am guessing they are about 8 weeks old.  Our pups do eat in the same room, at the same time for the most part, but they can't see each other-- they are on separate sides of the kitchen island.  I actually sit between them and keep them apart.  They are not allowed to eat out of the other pup's bowl at any time.  We rub them, hand feed them and interact with them as they are eating in an effort to avoid guarding.  Sometimes Coal will not eat his food with his sister in the room so we take her somewhere else when she finishes and then he eats.

They are in separate crates in the same room, and have slept all night since the second night home.  We actually started them in a large crate with a divider, so they could feel each other, but not really interact.  We moved them to separate crates, side by side, at around 10 weeks. We have been gradually moving the crates apart, as our goal is for them to be able to sleep without the other nearby.  

For the first few weeks, we let them have an hour or two of unsupervised time together in an exercise pen in our basement/outside.  We brought ours home too early, at just under 6 weeks, and we felt they needed to be together to help with bite inhibition and socialization. At about 10 weeks, we began to keep them completely during the day, both when we are home and when we are away. We have two basements, so we set up a pen in each with a crate, lots of safe toys, and a rug for them to lay on. This is where they are when we are at work. When we are at home, they are either in their crates, with a human attached to a leash, or on the front porch (with a gate) with toys, but not together.  We also have an exercise pen in our garage and we pull it out on nice days so one pup can nap in the sun. 

Now they are 17 weeks, and we have begun to let them play together only with our permission, and it is usually only for a few minutes.  Then, we sit in the family room floor and let them chew their antlers or other toys at the same time for about 10-15 minutes at a time. They have learned to lie down and leave each other alone.  We have also started some training in the same room where one of us interacts with one pup, while another gives the other some commands. We only practice the ones at which they have become fairly consistent when the other pup is around.  We practice with both outside as well, so that they don't jerk our arms out of socket when they see each other.  

Training is vitally important with two, as it creates a really strong bond with the humans and lets the pups know that the humans are in charge... which are two of the biggest challenges with littermates, because they can become overly bonded to each other and think one of them is the alpha.  I keep my pockets full of kibble and have used it to teach most of the commands they know, such as sit, come, down, stay and fetch.  For the tougher skills such as loose leash walking, I begin with higher value treats and then back down to kibble intermittently.  

We take them to meet lots of people, and are trying to meet lots of dogs so they will not form a tight pack that will not allow for other dogs in the future or nice walks at a park, etc. We take them to the vet at the same time, and they ride in the car together, but each has a human handler and they do not interact with each other. Some of the times we have them together is simply to save tim