Friday, March 25, 2011

Litter Mates

I got an email from a perhaps well intentioned man today that warned me NOT to buy the littermates I had posted on my blog- or any littermates for that matter.  My gut reaction was simple.  To ignore his warning.

Because, after all, I've had my own experience with littermates.  Of course it wasn't easy.  There was at least twice as much craziness as having just one puppy.  But there was at least twice as much love too.  I think my girls lived to be 15 partly because their deep friendship and love for one another kept them healthy.

When I found them so many years ago, there was no Google.  If someone had given me a similar warning then, I wouldn't have Googled it.  But it's 2011.  And by now, it's instinctive.  So I went against my gut, and went to my computer instead of ignoring the advice.

I Googled "raising littermates".  And just like when I've researched medical conditions and other things I know better than to research, I got scared.  Over and over I read how trying to raise two puppies at once is a great big mistake.  If raised together, the puppies will never bond with the humans in their family.  And the dogs will turn aggressive.  Blah, blah, blah.

But then I took a deep breath.

We've done this before.  My girls didn't have an aggressive bone in their sweet little bodies.  And we all certainly bonded, as I have never bonded with pets ever before in my life.

I'm going into this with my eyes wide open.  I'll do everything I know how to do to make both of my new puppies grow up to be the best dogs they can be.  Fermin and I will make sure they know we're the pack leaders.  They'll get their one on one time, but also their time together.  There's plenty of love, time and patience to go around.

So please, no more unsolicited advice telling me I'm making a big mistake.  We've got this one-- I mean these two!!
 

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Aw so sweet, i'm so happy or you . you should definitely have 2 dogs, they need each other , and why not get them at the same time.
Love the new blog. I'll be popping in regularly. There is always well meaning advise from people.
I was so desperate for my 2nd dog that I bought him from a ..gasp... pet store. I simply adore him. we've had our moments with housebreaking and other stuff, but my other dog was from a breeder and we've had our moments there too.
However I love my doggies so much ( blue is 13 and jasper is 7) I've had to tell my kids to stop feeding the little one, which I know is hard with those eyes, but he's getting fat and little dogs live for a long time and I intend to keep him till he's 100.
So fat = bad heart.I think they' re listening to me.

Kerri said...

yes! i do think you should try to support your dog in growing to be 100 years old for sure!

and thank u for backing me up about getting the two--

Laurie said...

Oh dear god...what darlings! I've been pretty heavily immersed in all things dog over the past 13 years, and I don't think I've ever heard about problems with adopting sibs. Everyone has an opinion, I guess...LOL! Do you have names picked out yet? Aussies are such splended, sweet, sensitive, and SMART dogs, high energy, too. Could there possibly be agility in your future? ;-) CONGRATULATIONS, Kerri!!!!! I'm looking forward to LOTS of pictures. :-)