Getting two puppies at about the same time?

[Annette47]

Sometimes it's nice when breeders don't make you give them money until the puppies are born. You are on the list but until they know they can meet your needs, you don't have to give them money. I never asked for a deposit until I knew I had the puppy for the family. And they gave it to me when they visited the first time.

But on the flip side, I put down money for a pup (a rare breed) before the mom was even bred to hold my place in line. The breeder didn't cash the check, but he's holding it.

Yeah, I haven’t asked anyone for deposits for Chloe’s pups ... but then again all of the people we have who are interested are people I have known for years so I didn’t feel the need. Plus, I don’t want someone to feel obligated to take a puppy even if their plans/interests changed just because they put a deposit. I want the pups to go to people who want them wholeheartedly at the time they take them home.

[FourLabsAndATri-Pawd]

55 years old here, retired, live in the country and have been raising puppies for the past two years…not of the exact same age but with only 4 months between two of them and about 14 months between the middle one and the oldest…then throw in a 9 year old Lab and a 10 year old (maybe 11) Tri-pawd…a few chickens and three cats...

It is hard.

It is my full time job right now.

But it is worth every second of it.

And each day gets easier as they mature, are more fully trained and understand the house rules and their order in the family (pack).

Everything does take a bit more work but they flip side is that the puppies tend to wear each other out - a tired lab is a good lab philosophy. But, it does take strategy and at the same time flexibility.

There are little things that you can do…i.e. don't crate train in the same crate or even in the same room to avoid that "dependence" upon each other for company. You can ever alternate nap times - which I did for about three weeks with our girls just after Dreama came home.

The first weeks you will find you are in "survival mode" and you will be exhausted, but then suddenly its as if the wind changes and things become a little easier every single day!

I say, go for it.

[Tanya]

55 years old here, retired, live in the country and have been raising puppies for the past two years…not of the exact same age but with only 4 months between two of them and about 14 months between the middle one and the oldest…then throw in a 9 year old Lab and a 10 year old (maybe 11) Tri-pawd…a few chickens and three cats...

It is hard.

It is my full time job right now.

But it is worth every second of it.

And each day gets easier as they mature, are more fully trained and understand the house rules and their order in the family (pack).

Everything does take a bit more work but they flip side is that the puppies tend to wear each other out - a tired lab is a good lab philosophy. But, it does take strategy and at the same time flexibility.

There are little things that you can do…i.e. don't crate train in the same crate or even in the same room to avoid that "dependence" upon each other for company. You can ever alternate nap times - which I did for about three weeks with our girls just after Dreama came home.

The first weeks you will find you are in "survival mode" and you will be exhausted, but then suddenly its as if the wind changes and things become a little easier every single day!

I say, go for it.

this sounds absolutely wonderful. but i think the key word are "this is your full time and you are retired". It's doable for sure, but takes commitment and time

[windycanyon]

After what I went thru this winter, I am VERY glad I'm not one to collect deposits before birth. Roxy was huge. Ends up she was carrying 11, but the last 4 were DOA due to them being born 5 days early. The next day another died, leaving me w/ 6. Then at 7 days old, Roxy died from anaphylactic shock due to a probable black widow or scorpion bite that evening. It then became a matter of around the clock bottle feeding and praying those 6 were going to live and be healthy (no cataracts,etc which we'd not find out until ~7 wks). Talk about a priority changer! I had puppy people calling and emailing (knowing fully what happened to Roxy as they read it on my diary) all worried about whether their kids were going to get a puppy from my litter!!!! Grrrr. I was enraged on one hand, but so very grateful I had not taken a dime from them as they showed their true selfish colors. In the end, all of the pups went to people who I already knew (3 have dogs from me already), some of whom were 20+ names down my wait list. Ruby is staying and hopefully fill some of the void of Roxy's loss, and Russell (my top male pick), will be leaving for a competition/potential breeding home next weekend. Just think if I had committed all the puppies to people up front!

One other thing that is becoming a trend (so I was told by a few inquirers) is some breeders are now requiring a fee ($50 or so) to even be put on a Wait List! Besides being tacky (imo), if taking any money from anyone, you are implying a contractual relationship. That's scary... esp after experiencing what I did w/ some of the people who I had interviewed and thought were VERY good homes. Worried about their kids getting a puppy moreso about what I was going thru?? Do people think we are just "farming" and oh well, you lost a breeder... but you have more, so it'll all be fine type mentality.

Sorry for the sideways rant, but breeders should be more interested in putting the puppy in a home where it'd be the center of attention vs holding someone to a deposit. Breeders should be thinking about the welfare of their puppies-- what is best for that puppy.

[Bert&Ernie]

Bert & Ernie were litter mates. We did fine having two puppies. It took effort but so does one puppy.

The hardest part has been losing both of them within 10 months and, in our case, shared health issues (both had allergies, ACL problems, & ultimately kidney issues).

[blacklabs]

I personally would never do it, puppies are hardwork and need so much one on one time and I actually think it is unfair on the pups to take on two at the same time or even a few months apart. At the dog parks I have been taking my youngest (5 year old) Lab boy to since he was around 6 months of age I have encountered and chat to a number of owners who have raised sibling pups both Labs and other breeds and all of them didn't realise what they were taking on and how hard it was to raise two pups at the same time and have said they would never do it again. The reason most of them got two pups was for company for each other and in all cases the pups were very bonded to each other and suffered separation anxiety if the other pup wasn't around. Just on Thursday, at the dog park I encountered a woman with sibling GSP's who are now close to 3 years of age that I have met before and we often chat and she was bemoaning more issues that have recently developed between her two sibling pups, both males and she once again said she couldn't believe how stupid she was to take on two sibling pups, even though she and her husband loved them both deeply, they realised that by raising them together had probably created most of the issues these two youngsters have and she does everything she can to dissuade other people from taking on sibling pups.

Even if you survive all the challenges of raising sibling pups, as others have mentioned, there are the aging issues of dealing with two seniors at the same time and the likelihood of them passing close together and for those of us who have lost Labs/dogs know only too well how devastating it is to lose one, I couldn't even contemplate the grief of losing two siblings close together.

[JenC]

One other thing that is becoming a trend (so I was told by a few inquirers) is some breeders are now requiring a fee ($50 or so) to even be put on a Wait List!

I had to do this 10 years ago with well-known old-time breeder in NV known for her reds. I paid her $25 and never followed through on trying to get a puppy from her....

[Labradorks]

I would consider getting two puppies at a time if, 1. I did not plan on competing with them at all, 2. I was 100% retired, and 3. I had a bunch of property that I roamed around on all day so that the only thing the pups did inside was sleep.

[moosebytes]

Kind of an update on all of this. Today, the breeder who had hoped to have a b/y litter by next Monday is pretty sure that her girl is NOT pregnant. So...there's that.
The 2nd breeder we have a deposit with has informed us that she actually has two yellow males available for "take home" on around June 8th. This pretty much came out of nowhere! So...she sent along a pic of the 5 yellows with the 2 males included. We are scheduled to go to her kennel on the 31st and pick which one we'd like.
Here is a picture of the litter. These guys are about 5 weeks old. The 2 males are the guy on the far left, and the guy resting his head on another. Hmmmm....this jpeg isn't showing up in this message box so maybe it won't post. Here we go...SEND!

[moosebytes]

OOps! Only 4 in the litter and the pic DID show up!