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Soon to be owner of 2 puppies.. i have some questions if you guys wouldn't mind.
I could have sworn they had to be 8 weeks old before taking them away from their mother.. is this true?
Also is it possible to use 1 crate to train 2 puppies? An extra large one of course
thanks :D
Hello, Wog. I would say 8 weeks is the minimum time. 9-12 weeks is ideal. The longer the puppies have with their litter, the better off they'll be. I don't know a whole lot about crate training, sorry.
8 weeks is the best age to be separated from their mother and siblings. If they stay too much longer, they might overbond and become fearful or anitsocial with humans.
I would strongly advise against adopting littermates. For one thing, having 2 puppies of the same age at the same time is a LOT of work. Also, there are overbonding issues. They would need to spend a lot of time apart and spend alone time with you so you can establish a relationship with each one. An ideal thing would be to take them both through Puppy Kindergarten (seperate classes) for socialization to other dogs and people, while strengthening your bond.
If you do end up getting them, I would definately crate train them in two seperate crates. It will help them get potty trained better and also, you don't want them to fight or anything in the crate. Siblings tend to have a lot of rivalry being the same size and age. Hopefully if you do get littermates, they will at least be opposite sexes.
Well said so far...
To add to what aly has said, having two seperate crates also provides their own personal place to just go to when they need a break.
The only thing i would have to say about the crate training is, if either decides that they just cant wait and pees in the crate...you wont know who did it...and if one starts a bad trend, you might have 2 that are harder to train, instead of 1...Swissies (the breed i have) can be hard to potty train, as i am learning...but all breeds are different...so what kind of breed??...i suppose size would matter too, as far as how big they will get in this crate...
The pro side to both being in the crate, is they would keep each other company. But i am no expert, just my two cents worth to offer!! :)
As far as them being taken away from the mother before 8 weeks...it isnt advisable. They need that time with their mother. My puppy went to puppy kindergarten and a puppy in his class was having some real behavioral problems and the trainers believed that some of it stemmed from being taken from the mother at 6 weeks...b/c she wasnt there to correct the dog, when it over stepped its boundries...