Hi I put a deposit down on siberian husky cross cocker spaniel puppy and my partner fell in love with one of her litter mates and really wants him aswell but we have been warned against it by a friend has anyone got any experience with having brother and sister all help and advice will be greatly appreciated

Google littermate syndrome, as well I know we have a post or 2 on here about it. It can be tricky but if trained right and given alone time with out each other it can work out.


that is quite the mix.... was it an accident breeding? cocker spaniels have a lot of health issues from bad breeding, not sure how well that mix will work out, any CS i have ever met has been crazy.

Two of my last huskies were littermates, a brother and sister. I honestly, never experienced anything negative about having litter mates, and i think in some ways, there are actually some positives. At the moment, I have two huskies who are a year apart in age, and there is not a big difference between having them, and having littermates, except maybe that the littermates didn't need to be watched as closely in playing and stuff because the size difference/potential to accidently hurt the other wasn't there, but the advantage to having one older than the other, allowed some *training* to be done by the older, in addition to me. Much like adding another pup to a household where another dog already exists, you will probably want to train both together and seperately, give each it's alone time with you, but really, I can honestly say there isn't one negative I can think of in having littermates.

I do not have any history but have heard a lot about litter mate syndrome. I would look that up like Jenn said. I have heard some bad incidences.

The biggest thing you have to do if/when you get litter mates is to make sure you spend quality ONE ON ONE time with each puppy. Problems arise when they spend all of their time together and they develop separation anxiety if they are away from each other. It's twice as much work but with the proper time given to each puppy it can be managed. You want to be able to forge a bond with each puppy and not have them bond so strongly that it creates issues. Also training one on one also helps to determine if they are on the same learning level.

It's not recommended to get litter mates, however, if you're willing to dedicate the time to each puppy as an individual, it can be fine.

Honestly I dont recommend it especially if you're new to the breed. Many adolescent sibes are rehomed in their teenage years. If you can handle one, great, then get another. But you don't want to be stuck with two and then have double the frustration, and double the work when it comes to training them. More time, more training, more persistence is needed with two. And for a lot of people, one is enough work as it is.

Our first venture with huskies was with littermates. There were definitely challenges in being able to spend enough one on one time with each of them. They also have a very close bond, but are very capable of socializing with other dogs and humans. On the flip side, I think it also helped by giving them playmates when we were unable to do so.

I think it's going to come down to how much time you have to dedicate to them and what you feel you can handle.