Our Dog Tale of Litter Mate Syndrome

Some of the dedicated readers who follow my blog may be wondering why I haven’t written much about the dogs lately. After all, HIBBARD HOUSE is subtitled full of Basil, Books and Big Dogs. After many tales of Maggie and Dale, two old Labradors, we got two new dogs, then I wrote more book reviews and had the year of nonstop wedding sewing, which was enormous fun. What follows is why I didn’t write about the puppies, who were siblings, or litter-mates, and what happened.

We had some emotional struggles after Maggie passed Memorial week 2019, with Dale unable to rise four days later. (You may read Maggie’s story and Dale’s story elsewhere on the blog.) We waited until that November to look for another dog and started online with the same rescue group. They were having a meet & greet one weekend, so I went. Mr. H. had a meeting but he would join me later.

At the meet & greet, I looked at lots of dogs, some scared, others bored, all with a handler. One small white one was trying to hide from the crowd around her, another very small yellow dog was posing for pictures in an elf costume. “Bambi,” the sweet old girl I fell in love with on the rescue organization’s website, wouldn’t even look at me, so I went back to check out all the other dogs again.

The dog in the elf costume had quite the crowd around her and was happily licking hands. A few spots down, the fluffy white one who had been hiding quickly licked my hand and started making friends when I came by the second time. The Handler said “she likes you”. The little white dog played played with me when she had hidden from everyone else. I didn’t care for the name they’ve given her, but this one was my dog! We’d rename her Sally. After asking for the small white dog, we were asked to take another dog Buffy, who was the dog in the elf costume, because they were sisters and they had been adopted and returned, and they’d always been together. We were told their mom was a yellow lab‐we thought this was rather strange as the two dogs didn’t look alike, especially as they had not been shown together at the meet and greet. We were told that dogs from the same litter could look vastly different because there could be more than one father in a litter. We had planned to have two dogs eventually and after being assured that there were no problems with these two litter mates, we agreed to adopt them together. The rescue organization maintained that they were returned because the dad of the original family didn’t like the dog that I wanted and wanted to return just her. The Rescue Agency wanted them adopted together because they had always had each other.

So, we got two probably one year old dogs and for a few months, we had the normal puppy problems: a few accidents, lots of chewing (times two). They were fun to walk: everyone wanted to meet the two cute puppies and marvel that they were part Labradors and sisters: they looked like neither. Both dogs seem to like me better than my husband, but we figured it would all work out eventually. We soon realized Buffy (the elf) was the dominant Mischief maker, but Sally was good at joining in, so it was two times the trouble!

It was very difficult to discipline them-they seem to bond with each other but not with us. Pillows, throw rugs, blankets and soft toys were destroyed, until we discovered sour apple spray, an excellent product which helped inside the house. Outside, Buffy would escape the yard, hunt small animals, destroy landscapes and bark at children in the neighborhood. Sally was worried, anxious, and would hide, never coming when called, making leaving for work in the morning stressful.

Then COVID happened-for a while it seemed like things were getting better. Mr H set up his computer in the sunroom. I blogged and zoomed in the dining room. Mr H gave me a new sewing machine for Christmas-I was making masks like crazy!

Since we were home a lot, we tried to separate the two pups for training more, as advised. Sally seem to enjoy coming to the sewing room with me-she would sit quietly and nap, accepting pats or scratches, eventually even allowing a belly rub. The few times I took Buffy, she would escape to other rooms and shred things: stuffed animals, yarn, sewing supplies, pillows and rugs. Buffy started to snarl and snatched treats, resulting in quite a few sore fingers, although she never actually bit us. Neither dog would connect with Mr. H.–they would just run away. The gate was repaired with no visible means of escape, but Buffy was still getting out occasionally and she refused to come when called. Meanwhile, Sally was starting to connect with me more–she had decided that cuddling in my lap during the Jeopardy show was comforting and she would sit under my feet at the table. Occasionally she would let Mr H scratch her ears or give her a treat, but only while she hid under the table. Playng between the two dogs became much rougher, with Buffy biting tails and grabbing collars–she destroyed four of Sally’s. Sally started fighting back. With Sally 12 lb bigger, the rougher playing meant someone would get hurt. The odd thing was when we were with our daughter’s bigger older dogs Sally and Buffy’s Behavior improved but only while the older dogs were around.

Buffy continued escaping. She was finally witnessed escaping the fence on one side, climbing the ivy to the neighbor’s yard, which had a low decorative gate on the other side. On the other side of our yard, I was amazed to catch her climbing some small trees that leaned against the other fence–she was like a 30 lb dog walking a tightrope! She obviously did not want to be with us, but she always came back. I wonder now if she was searching for her previous owners, the ones who wanted her but not Sally.

Mr H and I had a long relationship with this rescue organization and we didn’t take dog adoption lightly. We were still in partial COVID lockdown. But we were at our wit’s end… Mr H started googleing dog siblings and found “littermate syndrome”. This syndrome is a reason why most trainers do not recommend and most shelters don’t allow the adoption of littermates or even of two dogs close in age. If we had known of this we would have never adopted both dogs. The syndrome includes:

1. one dog dominant/ another dog bullied

2. dogs connecting with each other, but don’t connect with humans

3. failure to learn commands or desired behavior because they’re so focused on each other

4. fearful of unfamiliar stimuli and people

5. separating the dogs for training is difficult as the non-training dog will panic, cry, scream or do something destructive

6. as they near maturity, the puppies may begin fighting with each other, often quite severely

source: K9 Behavioral services.com/ littermate- s syndrome, they bark.com/content/ don’t – take – two- littermates

Mr H came to me and said “We sure have a lot of these problems”. I read the list and said, “No, we have every single one.”

Then a joyous thing happened: the granddaughter came early. We packed ourselves, the pups, ready to help with the big dogs and the cooking, so we could celebrate the new grandbaby. Buffy’s behavior on that visit was the last straw for me. Sarah (the mama) and I both found Buffy tracking the baby, staring at the baby like she was a squirrel. I called the Rescue Agency as soon as we returned home. The agency was upset, claimed to know of littermate syndrome, but had thought it wasn’t a problem for these sisters. I reminded them we’d had Dale the difficult-to-adopt, old blind lab. The agency leader stopped fussing and found Buffy a new home in 4 days, with a single lady in a townhouse (no climbable fence), who planned long walks and dog park play times.

I almost felt sad when they came to take Buffy to her new home. Buffy knew something was up-she was a very smart dog. I left Sally inside and waited with Buffy out front. I knew we were doing the right thing. Sally moped for a few days when she realized she was alone, but she started getting better quickly. Sally is still shy and hesitant, definitely my dog, not our dog. She still loves to cuddle and she likes treats way too much.

She seemed lonely and inactive so it was time for Mr H to have his dog. We sure needed an alpha dog, as Sally needed a leader to direct her play time. We waited almost 5 months and then we got Clarence from the local animal shelter. Sally has a new buddy. It’s a good thing.