Questions from First Time Owner of Two Boxer Puppies

memjewels · #1 09-20-2009, 03:52 PM

Hi, today is the second day home with the new kids - Bella and Baxter, they are littermates and are going on nine weeks. Couple of questions and comments that I have:

1. I went out today and got a second crate to separate them both during the night and during the day when they are crated. Is this too early in their life to do this? I will see tonight but I'm guessing it will not go over well

2. When I take them out of the crate I immediately carry them outside to their elimination spot. Should I take each individuallly or both together?

3. I'm already trying to get each on a leash with no too much success. Again the question, walk each separately or together?

Never new how much of a challenge it was going to be with two but I'm hopeful it will work out.

Any advice any of you experts can give me as a first time boxer owner of two?

Thanks so much.

Lola's mum · #2 09-20-2009, 04:13 PM

Firstly congratulations on your new pups

In answer to your questions it's never too early to start crate training although I would let them walk outside to go to the toilet instead of carrying them and I'd take them together.
It would be easier to leash train them if you do it seperately, much easier to train one dog at a time. I'd take them out individually at least once a day then maybe other walks let them go together.
I'm sure others will reply and help you more.

Caney Creek · #3 09-20-2009, 06:48 PM

Congrats on the new babies

Keeping them in separate crates is a good idea, definitely. When raising two puppies at the same time (especially littermates), it is best to treat them as individuals -- that goes for sleeping arrangements, feeding (ie. not having them eat out of the same bowl), and training. It will near impossible to train two puppies side by side because there will ALWAYS be a distraction (the other puppy

). Leash training, obedience training, etc. should be done separately.

It might also be best to take them out separately in the morning, at least for a couple months until they've really gotten the hang of the "potty" routine. When you take one outside to go, as soon as the puppy starts to eliminate you say the command ("go potty", "do your business", or whatever) as they are "going" and once they're done give LOTS of praise in the happiest voice you can muster. Again this is probably going to work best if you take one pup at a time to avoid confusion.

When Caney was a young puppy, she had to be carried outside from her crate in the mornings in order to avoid accidents along the way. After a couple weeks of doing that, she finally got to a point that she could be trusted to walk on her own, but only as long as one of us ran from her crate all the way through the house and out the back door, with little Caney following.

Without the exciting chase she was more likely to stop to relieve herself somewhere in the house.

Here are some fairly recent threads about raising and training two puppies at the same time:
Two puppies in one crate-good or bad?
Raising littermates - any experiences??

Swampo · #4 09-21-2009, 01:07 PM

We have two 6 1/2 month old littermates. I would tell anyone who has littermate pups or is considering it, to be sure that you have TWO very dedicated owners. It is most definitely a two person job. I would recommend seperate crates for sure! We kept ours in one crate for the first couple of weeks after we brought them home and then we separated them when they were more acclimated to us and our home. They took the seperation much better than I had anticipated. They almost immediatley seemed to enjoy having their own space(kinda like a kid getting their own room!). They do enjoy "raiding" each others crates at times and stealing from each other. It's quite amusing! As far as taking them out...We generally take ours out together to separate areas of the yard..but that's two people each having a pup. The walking I would do individually...especially if it's just you doing the walking. Try as much as you possibly can to let them form their own identity so you don't end up with a "two-headed" boxer! ;-) and so that you can bond with each pup instead of them only bonding with each other. My partner and I are fortunate enough to each be able to bring our dogs to work with us (seperate workplaces). Five days out of the week they are apart about 12 hrs a day. They are allowed lots of playtime together in the evenings and weekends though. I would also advise training them seperately. It's hard enough trying to keep one boxer pups attention and focus...it's nearly impossible with two chewing on each other and jumping on one anothers heads! It is A LOT of WORK having littermates, but I will tell you it can be very rewarding also and I wouldn't take anything for my little knuckleheads!

Lola's mum · #5 09-21-2009, 04:17 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Swampo

and so that you can bond with each pup instead of them only bonding with each other.

Absolutely, the trick is to get them to bond with you individually more so than with each other. I'd say that's quite important as they are littermates so the same age.

Mader · #6 09-22-2009, 06:00 AM

Are you alone? Do you have another family member that could take on one or the other? These pups need identity. We raised litter mates and my husband took one, I took the other and that seemed to help. You really need to start training them one on one, and the crating is an excellent idea.

EAO76 · #7 09-22-2009, 12:15 PM

I’ve also raised littermates (and honestly I wont do it again…I laughed at the “two headed boxer” comment because it’s so true. We lovingly call ours the “two headed monster” & “thing one & thing two”). When they were younger (up until two years old) always walked them separately, crated separately, and took them to separate training classes. If you do a search on this board of “littermate syndrome” you will get some good info.

memjewels · #8 09-22-2009, 05:19 PM

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. Four days in now and things are a bit better each day. I've found that I do have to take each out separately to do their business or else they see it as fun and games with each other. My partner is back in town today so that will help a lot with the responsibilities and allow for some individual play time.

I do have another follow up question though. At night time should I make it a point to take the puppies out even though they may not be awake. For example, last night I took them out around 10 pm and then I didn't hear anything out of them till around five, a lot of barking and yelping. Turns our Bella had an accident in her crate (#2) and wasn't too happy about it. I'm thinking it was my fault for not getting up, say around 1 or 2 and take her out even though she was asleep. Thoughts from anyone?

Regards

BxrMommieNAZ · #9 09-24-2009, 12:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by memjewels

Thanks everyone for the words of encouragement. Four days in now and things are a bit better each day. I've found that I do have to take each out separately to do their business or else they see it as fun and games with each other. My partner is back in town today so that will help a lot with the responsibilities and allow for some individual play time.

I do have another follow up question though. At night time should I make it a point to take the puppies out even though they may not be awake. For example, last night I took them out around 10 pm and then I didn't hear anything out of them till around five, a lot of barking and yelping. Turns our Bella had an accident in her crate (#2) and wasn't too happy about it. I'm thinking it was my fault for not getting up, say around 1 or 2 and take her out even though she was asleep. Thoughts from anyone?

Regards

Yes you need to get up and take them out in the middle of the night. You will grow to hate your alarm clock (LoL) but it doesn't last very long. You do not want them to get to the point of soiling their crate (HARD habit to break) nor do you want to let them out when they are whining as they will learn whining=getting out but if they have to potty it's not really fair at the same time. So yes, I wouldn't expect them to hold it anymore than 3 MAYBE 4 hours at this age at night.

jgasparas · #10 09-25-2009, 08:18 PM

Halo did pretty well in the crate. We got her at about 8 weeks old. She had 2-4 pee accidents in the crate at night but no poop accidents ever. We always fed her early enough she had time to poop before she went to bed. I was glad that her potty training went much smoother than my parents boxer girl did. I know it had to be well into the 8-10 month period before she quit having accidents in the house. With some good supervision though for Halo and things closely monitored she hasn't had an accident in the house since she was probably 4-4.5 months old. She'll be 6 months old tomorrow. I just wish we could get her to quit eating our st augustine that we sodded and digging! She's fantastic in the house even when left unattended for brief periods of time with us checking non her if we're outside doing something.