Can you train 2 puppies at once? Only if you do this...

[lynnchandler]

This was so positive and helpful! So many of the videos and websites just bash on the whole idea of raising two puppies. For those of us who are taking on the challenge, we just want encouragement and tips so we can be successful! New for me was the “dog on dog play” explanation and the imagery that we are magical to our dogs with what we can do with them that goes beyond what they can do with each other. Thank you so much!

[albradfordxx]

I have two 8 month old littermate lab puppies. They are both boys. I always tell people that they should never get two puppies at the same time unless someone is home for most of the day during the first 6 months of having the puppies, and i would recommend have the puppies separate for most of the day until they kind of get their own bearings. My boys would constantly "maul" each other at every hour of the day, and night. When one would not want to play, the other one would attack and vice versa. Also, separating them until they are a little more aware of how a routine works, prevents them from getting separation anxiety from each other if you have to take one somewhere. I got them when they were 8 weeks old and they were separated until they were about 5 months old. That means, they slept in separate crates in separate rooms, ate separately, i played with them separately, i walked they separately, trained them separately etc etc. This helps them become their own self and not be dependent on the other sibling for guidance. Now they are together all the time but I can take one to the vet if needed and the other one doesn't freak out alone aka littermate syndrome. i love my little boys to death but i'm telling you, two puppies is twice as hard. Plus, always make sure you have enough toys. I buy them new toys at least one a week/every other week. The only thing my pups have chewed is a wall (my older lab did the same thing I'm thinking it's a genetic thing hehe). Puppies need a lot of time and attention.

[rachel]

I have two maltipoo litter mate puppies. They are 15 weeks old. I have had them since 8 weeks and I'm exhausted.
I have finally got them sleeping in their own kennels outside of my room, four nights of full sleep🤞🎉
I value your videos. Thank you ❣️

[laurengab]

Oh! This video is so encouraging. I'm not sure i could do this without information nuggest videos like this. I find I am at the end of my rope daily with 5 month old littermates. All they want to do is play, play, play and one likes to dominate. When one is out of crate they howl and make the most absurd noises. I hope this passes. It's enough to drive a human nuts. Love these videos!

[crunchyalmondbutter]

Thank you! We do this with THREE pups and it DOES work! It is nice to hear this from you!

[TrinnyandSkye]

Great video, Zak. I love how you remind people that bonding and a great dog doesn't happen over night. And yes, two dogs are twice the work (at least) We are magic to our dogs! Just like parents are magical to their child.

[Shaz-gqpv]

I have a six month old border collie and a almost seven month old yorkie cross. It wasn't intended the yorkie cross was a failed foster from bad situation after I just got my collie. It's been exhausting with toilet training, seperate crating and seperate training with my girls but I'm now starting to hit some advantages. They know their basic obedience and I'm finding now introducing them into each other's training sessions is a great way to add in controlled distractions. I'll have one dog working while the other is lying on their place or playing with a toy or even been scatter fed with treats. They both have a great bond with me but also each other and it's a joy sometimes to just take time of training and watch them play together. I've also had a lot less problems with seperation anxiety having two. Two pups is two times the work training and commitment but it does have positive sides but to get to the positive parts you need to be willing to put the work in.

[ryana]

My dog got pregnant while staying at my brothers house & I helped her deliver 5 puppies in my closet. My brother kept one, I kept one, & my mom was supposed to keep one. We found great homes for the other two. My mom ended up not being able to keep Sammie & I couldn't give him up since he was a very tiny runt who surely would have died if I didn't push off the other stronger pups off the mother and help support his weak neck so he could get some milk from the mom. I often layed with him & helped blow my warm breathe on his little body to keep him warm when the other pups shunned him. Now he is a big ole' monster & freakin' awesome dog. So now I have 2 sibling pups. A boy & girl German shepherds. Anyway I worked with them since 5 weeks old every single day since I have the luxury of working from home & decided to devote every moment I could to make them the best dogs in the world! now they're 9 months old & don't get me wrong they are awesome dogs. They can come, sit, stay for 5 minutes at a time, heel pretty well, they sit & wait whenever I stop walking when in heel although I work with them everyday on it they still get stubborn & make use the deep voice to let them know I'm serious lol You know which one I mean haha. Anyway, even when off leash everyday at our local soccer field they listen 90% of the time, except sometimes when they see people they sprint over to them and jump on them extremely hyper & one time a family started screaming because they ran up to the little girl. They don't jump on kids because they are low enough for them to lick they're faces(they love kids, thank god) but its a small dogs world now & most people are scared of big dogs even though mine are very friendly just get a little too excited to meet people. I guess what I'm saying is I worked with sibling puppies 2-3 hours everyday worth of training, swimming, running at park, & a 45 minute structured walk at night. I train them seperately and together & make them do seperate commands at the same time based on their names. Like telling Sammie to come & Zara to stay at same time. And they still sometimes get lost in their own worlds with each other & they play fight and wrestle with each other constantly but never aggressive, I try & pay attention to make sure there is no jealousy or anything & I'm very careful to give them both equal treats, love, attention, etc. But holy shit is it a lot of work. I've worked 100's of hours with them & their only nine months old & there is still alot of work to be done to have amazing, well behaved loving dogs. Unless your retired, or a willing to devote at least 2 hours everyday to exercise, walk, & training them. I would definitely not recommend getting two sibling puppies at once. Although it makes me feel good to know they have each other. & even though I think we have a strong bond, not as strong as I would have expected. But they definitely love each other to death & I think they prefer each others company to mine. Thats why one of the best things you have do is use real meat while training. You'll quickly see the different in their attention in real meat vs manufactured treats.

[jessicaleelovesyou]

Love the positive, personal dog training revolution. my mini aussie is so playful. she loves other dogs but really prefers male dogs. she just lays and plays in a very flirtatious manner.

[laurenml]

Thanks for the positive reinforcement! I’m getting two pups in May and all everyone keeps telling me how difficult it’s going to be. But I’ve owned dogs my entire life and I understand the work involved and I will be training them one on one and soaking up as much information from videos like yours as I possibly can I’m actually excited more than I’m worried about my new additions thanks for the great video!

[Lenax]

Im doing something carzy. I had a litter of Boxers and I'm keeping 3. 2 boys and 1 female..she is deaf. In addition I have the mama indoors and a 1yr old female pitbull. We have a lot of work ahead of us! But it'll be worth it❤

[kcf]

I am so happy i found these videos, we adopted 2 rescue dogs and these are the problems we have been having too, i don't mind training them separately, and now i just let them wrestle and play fight with each other as much as they want until its time to settle down or train. they are getting so much better now, And Zak always makes you feel that anything is achievable. We had a puppy training class recently, and the trainer was just saying how we shouldn't have got 2 dogs and we have just made things hard work for ourselves, etc, not a positive comment at all! so watching these videos gives me new motivation to get it done! thank you x x

[chelseaskelly]

I got two English Bulldogs at the same time (a boy and a girl) they learned together and apart. When ever they got a treat we made both sit. If one didn't listen the other would look at it till it did. To learn lay down and shake we crated one so we could work with the other. When they turned a year we found out the girl was sick ( hip problems) and the breeder gave us another puppy, the two older ones helped train the puppy. You can train two dogs at once if you do it correctly I'm 17 and have had no problems with three.

[niftyhusky]

I’m totally overwhelmed. I got a second puppy earlier than planned to curb the biting on my first puppy. Then let them hang out together so I could get work done and now it’s super hard to get their attention unless I have a treat in hand. This was helpful

[sarahanderson]

My dog loves to play with other dogs that don't mind his loud play style. He's still learning how to communicate properly his intentions to other dogs while playing, but he does enjoy it immensely.

[googiecool]

My younger dog is only interested in playing with other dogs, she doesn't know how to play in any other way. I guess I need to keep trying. It's awesome how for some dogs it's almost in their nature to fetch thing, like my golden and labrador mix, she absolutelly loves tennis balls. I needed this video, Zack! Thanks! You're cristal clear

[lonestarkennels]

I raised 2 sister littermates pit bulls around a chihuahua and 2 cats they're a year old now still have them all

[hanadiakbar]

I'm getting 2 pups at once so thank you

[eskimodebs]

Absolutely spot on. I got my sibling Pups at the young age of 5 weeks. I started to notice at 8 weeks they were relying on each other too much. I am Day 3 into seperate time outs and sleeping, playing etc and i have seen an almost instant change n them both. Of course i give them time together to play fight but they are now much more wanting to be with us people. If i leave them unsupervised together for one minute they are pooping and weeing in the house, alone they go on training mats no accidents. I am guessing that is them fighting to be boss Dog so leaving their scent everywhere. I am still however considering rehousing one as i really believe two pups was a bad idea. If i'd had a choice no way would i have taken 2 but they were just landed on me and as they were sick i wanted to save them. I have saved them but together they my end up bad Dogs. I will wait another 2 weeks and carry on with this training and see. Fingers crossed.

[cc_animals]

I have a year old husky and getting 2 labs at 8 week old then in winter getting a 8 week old dalmatian. Thanks for the advice