It is not. What each dog owner had in common was they weren’t working regularly with a dog trainer. It is common enough that many experts advise against adopting two pups from the same litter. A 6 week puppy course isn’t enough for some dogs. Often, the extreme bonding can lead to training and socialization issues that may cause unhappy adopters to return one pup. These littermates are dependent on each other and suffer severe separation anxiety. Littermate syndrome. One of the most common signs of littermate syndrome is fearfulness around people or other dogs – this may also occur when the two puppies are separated from each other. The phrase has become so common in the "dogosphere" that many people -- even not a few vets, trainers, and breeders -- take it as a scientific term. Signs And Symptoms Of Littermate Syndrome. Littermate syndrome commonly occurs between Dachshund siblings raised together. There are thousands of websites that discuss so-called "Puppy Littermate Syndrome". First, what is littermate syndrome? The signs of littermate syndrome vary from one case to another with some cases being more or less severe. Although many pups will have issues with training, you can usually spot the common signs of littermate syndrome pretty easily. It is very common for DHDR to receive owner surrender requests for one of two littermates when they reach about one year of age and problems start to become too difficult to overcome. Litter-mate "Syndrome" Litter-mate Syndrome . 3. I remember a pair of Golden Retriever puppies. Following a recent query from a concerned, prospsective, owner, I thought I would take this opportunity to dispel yet another commonly held belief, one which only serves to prevent good people from taking lovely dogs into their families. It can lead to a slew of behavioral issues such as extreme separation anxiety, fearfulness, and lack of discipline. Littermate syndrome is a social 'disorder' characterized by intensive bonding of two littermates to the extent of excluding most animals and people out of their own social circle. The whole concept is based on "junk science". Littermate syndrome is when two puppies from the same litter are raised in the same home and develop a bond with each other. The most common definition is that it is when two puppies from the same litter are raised together and develop a bond with each other that prevents the puppies from bonding with the owner. While this syndrome is not conclusive for all littermates, it is common enough for many animal behaviourists and dog experts advise against it. Other issues cited are escalating aggression between the puppies or panic when they are separated. I could Google this to see if I can find studies, but I don’t put a lot of stock in the scientific evidence we can find online. 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