Littermates

I have 2 male 10 week old litter mates. (I know I know) when they first came to me they would play fairly nicely, after seperating them for the 2 weeks when they play together they start getting a bit aggressive, barking and growling. I'm guessing this is because the dominance dynamic has changed between them. My question is do I continue seperating them and not let them play or do I let them re establish dominance between themselves and reinforce that myself to avoid fights? I'm worried if I let them be together most of the time littermate syndrome might rear its ugly head any advice or experience would be appreciated.
Thanks'! Amy

Hi and welcome to the forum  It is generally advised that litter mates of the same sex male or female are not kept together as they can fight for dominance although you can control there puppy playing by taking both pups for a break every so often to calm down if play is getting a bit heated, also a lot of the behavior you described is typical puppy play and staffs are quite a vocal breed  and it can sound aggressive but 10 weeks is far to young for this. Look for play bows between them which is inviting the other for play etc. Also when you go out ensure they are separated as a fight can easily irrupt over the smallest of things. There are people on the forum that are more experienced with this kind of thing so hopefully they can advise better than me.

I doubt very much if you are looking at 'dominance' in a puppy. However, what they will be doing is learning how far they can go, how to use their strength, and generally how to interact with each other. The growling/teeth/etc is normal and I wouldn't be worried about it unless they start hurting each other or unless one starts to get worried by it.

However, I personally would not keep litter mates and, although I know you're attached to both of them, I would seriously consider rehoming one of them now before the attachment grows even stronger. You are potentially setting yourself up for situations I'd wish on no one. Get another puppy, an unrelated one, but do reconsider keeping two same sex litter mates

Having had two (unrelated rescue) staffs who fought seriously, which ended up with one having to be pts and me going to hospital, I would urge you just not to even risk it. You can't know how awful it is until you've been there. There was a lady in the bed next to me came in after her sibling staffs had started fighting, and she said like you she'd done the 'I know I know' when people had warned her and she'd wished she'd listened. I just had some bite wounds, her arm was permanently badly damaged.

Of course they may be fine together, but I'm getting much more risk averse in my old age and genuinely believe this is a situation you should at least consider changing now rather than risk regretting it big time later.

Hello. Could I ask why you took in litter mates initially? Fell in love with two and couldn't choose, or wanted them to have a friend?

If you have a scan through the puppy section of the forum, it is full with stressed puppy owners! 99% of them are single pups, so imagine that x 2! Littermates isn't something I would recommend as a general, but especially never two of the same gender. Staffies are a full time breed - you would need to treat both of these puppies as complete individuals, they will have their own personalities, and possibly different training styles, plus the need for seperate socialization/walks away from the home.

My advice would be to seperate them permanently, if the breeder is anyway decent return one the them to find a permanent loving home for - if they're no good find that home yourself/ask for help from a rescue. As Liz has mentioned, aswell as the complications of puppyhood - the stakes are high if this goes wrong when they're adults. Why risk it.

I have two litter mates too who are both females and are now 17 weeks old. I have also had litter mates before and had no problem with them. Puppies will play fight, all puppies do it and it is totally normal. I have always treated my dogs as individuals as no two are the same, just the same as human beings. I have one at the moment who loves playing tug games whereas the other one would much rather play fetch. They sleep together, walk together and are left together when I go to work and are quite happy. I also did the same with my other dogs and never had any problems with them. I have to do training separately otherwise they both try going for the same treat and they end up not learning anything but other than that my two are always together. Don't get me wrong, problems can arise when you have litter mates together but I believe that if you treat them both as individuals and make sure they are socialised with plenty of other people and dogs then there shouldn't be any problems.

Male staffs play hard and sound harder. At this stage i would just let them get on with it and take control if you think it is going too far. Can i ask why you separated them for 2 weeks? Was it because of the play fighting? If this is causing you stress at this early stage, then i'm afraid i have to mirror what Liz says and consider having one go back to the breeder assuming they are willing to take it.