10/10/2026
These are 2 of our resident dogs, Beans and Falcon. A fun little fact about these two, they're littermates bred on property by Kali!
They live on property together but we haven't let them hang out since they were around 4 months old.
Littermate Sydrome is a real problem, and it's absolutely avoidable!
What is Littermate Sydrome? Let's talk about it!
Puppies that used to play nicely together can develop tension as they reach social maturity.
Competition over people, toys, food, treats, ect.
Bullying, or trying to control the other dog.
Escalating fights that become harder to stop and increasingly more dangerous.
Same-sex aggression can be very common.
On the opposite end, you can end up with dogs who have an excessive attachment to each other. That makes training, or any activity where both dogs can't be included incredibly difficult. They don't have any engagement with their owners, unable to settle on their own. They can become quite frantic and risk hurting themselves in the midst of a freak out!
However, littermate syndrome is avoidable. The first and most obvious, do not get littermates, or dogs of similar age at the same time.
Or, carefully manage both puppies!
Falcon and Beans did not get time out together, and were kept in separate areas of the home. They occasionally tandem walked together, or trained on the field at the same time. But they were otherwise kept separate.
Today, at over a year old, we let them be reintroduced and have a little frolic! And while they still won't be together without supervision, it was really cute to see the siblings chase each other around and play!
At the end of the day, we all want our dogs to coexist nicely together. But it's so important your dog is able to exist on their own, with their handler.
