8 week old Dachshund Littermates
Hello, My wife and I recently adopted 2 Dachshund littermates. They are 8 weeks old. They are brother and sister and both very adorable. The male is laid back but the female is very hyper and active. i started reading up on training 2 littermates and most of the info i read wouldnt recommend it and some even said it was the worst thing ever to do. We are determined to keep them both and figure they will grow out of their mischevious ways. We are crate training both of them in their own crates, potty training them (sometimes at the same time or by themselves) [img] , and praising and rewarding them after every positive thing they do and it shows they are learning. We both work so we feed before we leave, drive home for lunch and feed them (wife) and i drive home during my lunch to take them outside. we also have someone take them outside for potty or play with them in the afternoon. we then get home early evening, feed and play with them before they go off to sleep around 930 or 10pm. so they are getting to go to potty every 3-4 hours and are not taking longer to wake up in the middle of the night to go outside. They can now hold it 4-5 hours before we wake them up or they wake us up. just wanted to reach out here for any advice in regards to raising to littermate (male/female) dachshunds since this is the first time we own our own dogs. What can we expect as they grow and what can we do to make sure both littermates grow up to be trained and happy. Thanks! [img] [img] [img] [img]
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Training Siblings or Two Puppies at Once Training two puppies at the same time is a huge time investment for you. One trainer I know says it is eight times as much work to train two dogs as it is to train one, but even if it isn’t quite that much work, it is at least three times as much work and time to train two dogs! You cannot train them “together†or they will neither one ever learn what you want or pay any attention to you. They must be trained separately. Block off a laundry room or bathroom with a doggie gate. Separate the two puppies by putting one in there and giving the other one your attention. Use this time to play with that puppy and do some training with it – teach it come or see me, leave it, sit, down, and heel in 10 minute segments at least twice a day. At another time, put that puppy in the gated room and work with and play with the other puppy. Each puppy needs to have one-on-one time with you at least twice a day for a total of 15−20 minutes each time. Each puppy will need to be taken out separately to pee and poop in his or her own spots also. Each will also need its own walk (at least one, preferably two) each day of about 20 minutes. (See instructions for “see me†and for teaching dogs to heel without pulling below.) After a couple of weeks, start letting them both be in the room you are in for supervised play for 10−15 minutes at a time if they have pottied correctly. They need to play together and jump at each other and bite at each other. That is how dogs play with each other. They will both tell the other one when the biting is too hard by biting hard back, so don’t worry if you hear a yelp now and then. They are socializing and establishing which one is going to be the pack leader. It is very important that you are training both and making both obey you during this time so you establish yourself as the pack leader over both of them. (This goes for all adults and any children over age 8 in the household as well – everyone who is human must establish himself or herself as “over†the dogs using the same training and commands.) However, if one is attacking the other, you have a major problem on your hands. If this is happening, you can keep their leashes on them and use a leash to pull one away from the other. Always pull the attacker away, not the victim so that the attacker does not attack you. Be very firm with the attacker and give him a time out in the gated off room while you examine and play with or cuddle the other dog. After a couple of weeks of their doing well on separate walks outdoors, you can try walking the two of them together each day for 10−15 minutes (yes, as well as the 2 separate walks for each of them).