I feel so cruel

[SnuggleBum]

Hi all, my hubby and I bought 2 Cavalier King Charles Spaniels a few days ago but they were from the same litter and had a love/hate relationship. They slept together happily but fought with each other every waking moment. It would start off as play fighting but got to the point they were injuring each other so we decided one of them had to go. We gave one back to the breeder last night and the one we kept now barks constantly when left in his crate which he didnt do before. Will this stop? What can we do to make him happier? I feel bad for taking his brother away from him now even though we thought we were doing the right thing!

[divegirl]

Hi SB, what an unhappy situation! How old were they? as this sounds a little strange, litter mates will enivitably fight, but this usually calm down given time, maybe it was because they were both boys it was a dominance thing, although I wouldn't expect it to get too nasty at a young age! Did the breeder not offer any advice?
The lone puppy will calm down eventually, you are now experiencing what usually happens when you buy one pup on it's own[although not always, I have been breeding Yorkshire terriers for 4 yearsnow and the owners mostly tell me this has not been a problem]. I would advise that you take away all bedding and wash it, removing all scent of his brother, this is the reverse of what I usually recommend, but if it is stressing him out, it would be better to replace this with something with your scent.....you are his family now. Try to ignore his barking, as if you make a fuss of him when he pines you will be encouraging this behaviour, make lots of fuss when he is quiet instead. That said, let him know he is loved, don't put him in the crate unless you really have to.
Hope this helps, and don't feel too bad, I would also suggest that you find out if your vet offers puppy classes to keep your boy socialised, this will also re-assure your that there isn't anyting wrong with your remaining pups temperament......that sorted....i'd be straight of the local rescue center to find him a companion....lol....but that's just me!!!

Lisa x

[SnuggleBum]

Hi Lisa, thank you for your reply. My hubby and I have discussed getting another dog to keep him company but I think we will make a fuss of him on his own for a couple of months first. Our pup is 9 weeks old now so we are just getting his vaccinations sorted before we can take him to puppy classes. He only goes in the crate at night for a few hours but otherwise spends his time playing in the livingroom. He is more than happy when he's around us but when he has to go in his crate he just cries and cries. The breeder didnt say much about it other than they would have probably just grown out of it. Maybe they would have but we got so much advise from various sources about it and were advised not to keep 2 from the same litter if we could help it so thats what we did. i will take your advice and wash all the bedding and see if it helps a liitle bit, other than that we will just shower him with love and attention and hope he gets used to life without his brother xx

[Snappy]

Didnt anybody warn you this would happen? The breeder is irresponsible for selling you two littermates!

[lankeela]

Agree with Snappy, particularly two males. You are only experiencing what would have happened if you had bought one puppy and taken him away from his littermates. It takes a little while to get used to being 'top dog' and not having to fight for his share of the food, and having playmates around all the time.

Sadly many breeders let two go together, as it means they get two lots of money from one unsuspecting buyer, and it halves the amount of advertising they have to do.

[SnuggleBum]

Hi, just to let you know, our pup had a much better night last night. He didnt cry at all when we put him to bed and only cried to go to the toilet once through the night. He's eating his food again now too and is very excited about playing with us and having cuddles. I'm so pleased!!

[cameo]

just to let you know that a couple of years ago we bought 2 schnauzer/terrier cross puppies from the same litter and both boys.

we have not had any problems with them. they both seem to know which one of them is boss in any given situation.

one of them always eats first, goes outside first and the other one lets him.

the other one always takes the toys, pushes his brother away when i'm petting him, his brother doesn't mind.

after reading the previous posts i guess maybe i was just lucky!!

they are both great dogs with their own personality and i'm so glad we got them!!