Having more than one puppy is a lot of fun. Watching two or more play together and collapse in exhaustion together is pure entertainment. Raising more than one puppy at a time presents many challenges. Unless you already have two or more puppies, you may want to reconsider.
Step 1
Establish separate beds for each pup. While the image of your puppies piled together on a rug or in a basket is adorable, your pups each need their own spots. Better yet, get a crate for each dog. Crate-training makes raising puppies much easier and, in the case of multiple puppies, is the perfect solution.
Step 2
Spend time alone with each puppy, every day. Spend some of this time working on actual obedience training, such as teaching each puppy how to sit, to stay, to walk on a leash, and some of it simply playing one-on-one.
Step 3
Work with them jointly when you have time and patience. Choose activities that lend themselves to working as a group, such as the recall: Call the puppies from across the room and be ready with praise and pats when they make it to you. Competition will encourage the puppies to respond quickly, and your praise will reinforce that they have the right idea.
Step 4
Socialize your puppies beyond allowing them to play with each other. Regardless of how well your puppies play with each other, they still need to go on walks to get used to strange dogs and people.
References
Warnings
- Two dogs of the same sex may get along wonderfully as puppies and fight horribly as adults. Dogs of the opposite sex, spayed and neutered, have the best odds of getting along as adults.