Aggression towards litter mate

[gingerandgunnersmom]

These pups are beginning to make me feel like an inexperienced puppy owner Maybe its because we've never owned two puppies at once. Ginger our female has suddenly become possessive and aggressive. Mostly towards her brother Gunner. They're both 18wks. they have always been together. we adopted them together so i don't understand her sudden attitude change.

Gunner likes to play and rough house alot. at first they both seemed to instigate it. but lately ginger seems less tolerant of it. especially if shes just lounging on the couch and gunner lunges on her and starts mouthing her. today ginger got into the trash and ate a muffin wrapper. my boyfriend tried to take the wrapper from her and she growled at him and really sounded afraid. i chalked it up to her being backed into a corner (she was - my boyfriend was blocking the only escape route). but since then, shes been super possessive of all toys. shes been hiding under the table. she tries to stock pile "her" things under there. and when gunner goes for a toy, she really goes after him. and not in a friendly way. ive read about trading toy for treat, but shes not aggressive toward us when we take her toys.

I dont know if maybe shes tired of her brothers antics. but i dont know how to stop one puppy from rough housing with his litter mate, his sister. and i want to STOP her possessiveness over toys. we are seriously thinking about training school

[kian]

I'm sorry I haven't responded, I just don't have much time anymore. Females will always be the dominate over the male, it sounds like that is what's happening. Dominance towards the other puppy is normal, but NEVER to a human.

Teach her to trade for those items with a treat. Also teach her to drop it the same way when something is highly valued like the cupcake wrapper. As for the toys, some dogs are hoarders with those. My Allie can be that way still, if Ice has a chew and I turn my back, she will grab it and lay on it while she chews her. He always tells on her, she is good at letting me get it back.

OB training is wonderful, I highly suggest it. Right now alot of it is female and puppy.

[Nileska]

Kian has pretty well covered it...I do not find this kind of behavior unusual at all..My pups allways beat up on each other in the wheiping box...One of the funniest sights I remember was Fast Freddy stalking his brother then mounting a charge with his mouth open,fully intending to bite his brother on arrival...however,just as got within range he stopped abruptly...he had forgoten what it was he was going to do....he just looked puzzled and walked away...His brother never even noticed..They were all of 4 weeks old...Left to their own devices they will sort things out.

Your pups are just doing what is normal for their age and as long as it doesn't entail a trip to the Vet all is well.

[gingerandgunnersmom]

thank you both for your posts. they were much appreciated. i made the mistake of googling litter mates and found a lot of unfriendly advice. apparently most people are vehemently opposed to raising litter mates and a lot of people were saying to "re-home" one. well that's just not an option. i know many people who have raised siblings and have seen it work. i also read about hounds being very vocal in their playing and i think thats what is bothering me. gunner grunts and growls alot and it seems to just be a breed thing. thank you again guys for your help!

[BraveTyphlosion]

Teddy doesn't have an aggression towards a litter mate but he does play particularily rough with the one puppy at the park. I'm worried about it because he is a Doberman, they're not cute harmless critters.

It's frustrating I've worked with Teddy to be very dog friendly and he is fantastic except with this ONE puppy. She is a female Bernese Mountain Dog and is quite assertive with other dogs, especially big adults. She is a little bit younger and lighter than Teddy. Teddy loves to play with her because she wants to play too but eventually things get rough the puppy will squeal and then her owners start yelling at Teddy and telling me he is going to rip her ears off. Of course I have to go in there and pull Teddy off even though I know this will have no effect on him.

I was taught in puppy class to let puppies figure it out themselves and that even if it sounds scary to let the puppy who is being "bullied" learn to stand up for themselves. So of course my gut tells me to wait for the little girl to tell Teddy she has had enough but at the same time I don't want be an irresponsible owner and be frowned upon and avoided by the doggy community because my dog is a bully. I also would feel awful if he did rip her ears because I didn't do anything.

What should I do?

[Nileska]

Gabi,I would put Teddy on a downstay when things start to get out of hand....The Berner girl will eventually be about twice Teddys size and Berners are no wusses...I would expect that she will get tired of being dominated and "have him for lunch"so to speak.

As far as raising litter mates together,I have done it lots of times,Even as adults Fred shared a pen with his brother Tolstoy and their sister Dusty (spayed) for their entire life..Both of the boys had show careers and became finished Champions.The longer a litter stays together the better their social skills.

[Oliver & Henry's Mum]

Richard, I do enjoy your stories! You have so much wisdom to share. ♥

[Nileska]

Thanks Deb....I have found that the boys and the girls DO sometimes have arguments and the boys allways loose

[BraveTyphlosion]

Turns out he grew out of it or learned something from other dogs. He plays much more nicely now even though he can easily over power her right now. He listens to me better too so when I tell him off or to come he is pretty quick to stop whatever he is doing. It's funny seeing him grow up and change his behavior.

So pretty much I'm just saying there are no worries anymore.

[Rambo and Fancy]

thank you both for your posts. they were much appreciated. i made the mistake of googling litter mates and found a lot of unfriendly advice. apparently most people are vehemently opposed to raising litter mates and a lot of people were saying to "re-home" one. well that's just not an option. i know many people who have raised siblings and have seen it work. i also read about hounds being very vocal in their playing and i think thats what is bothering me. gunner grunts and growls alot and it seems to just be a breed thing. thank you again guys for your help!

We must have googled the same thing. It really scared me for a while. My Chinese cresteds will be 4 months on the 5th. They both jump all over each other, so far they both stop each other if it gets too rough.

I'm with you, I'm keeping them both Sounds like ours are almost the same age. My girl (Fancy the hairless) is wild and crazy and the boy (Rambo the powderpuff) is mellow.