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Do Puppies Recognise/know Their Siblings?


YvonneM
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Just wondering .... Banjo came home to us at 8 weeks and is now 20 weeks. His brother went to a lovely couple about an hours drive away and we have had several phone chats about the progress of our respective babies. Anyway this weekend we happen to have to travel close by to them and have arranged to visit and wondered if Banjo and his brother Murphy would "know" that they are related or would they just be another dog to each other.

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Tank met his brother again at 17 weeks.

I'm pretty sure they remembered each other but it might have been wishful thinking!

Tank has 'friends' in our neighbourhood that I'm sure he remembers... But he sees them once a week or so.

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Banjo doesn't have many "friends" because he is still quite nervous around other dogs - not sure why because he has not had any bad experiences and we did puppy preschool with other doggies - I guess I am hoping that he might have more of a "connection" with his brother!

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Banjo doesn't have many "friends" because he is still quite nervous around other dogs

http://k9pro.com.au/services/puppy-development-schedule/

Could be in something Steve Courtney calls "puppy fear period". Pretty normal for puppy his age.

Best overcome with lots of safe supervised visits with other friendly dogs and puppies.

Litter mates can be good and bad - considering they start life as competitors for resources, and that can get a bit brutal depending on how available the resources are (mum's milk). Litter mates often fight a lot over everything.

My dog as a puppy had a very strong affinity for other farm dogs, she was especially keen on ones that looked like her, but I expect she knew they weren't related by the way they smelled.

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Boston was with his two brothers (and mum and dad and uncles and grandfather) until he was 3 months old, and when we went back to visit when he was about 8 months old he ran up to his brothers and was all wiggly and then was like "hey, wanna nap?" and they all piled on top of each other like they did when they were born and went to sleep :rofl:

But both my pugs will seek out other pugs in the park and play exclusively with them, even if there are heaps of other dogs around. And most pugs are the same. Sometimes they let another squishy face play too, but it's usually if there is one pug, the others will find them.

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Aww, pile of sleepy Pugs, too cute.

Quinn and one of her sisters saw each other regularly at the dog park, probably once a fortnight on average at least, from about 5 or 6 months old until we moved when they were 18 months (to the other side of town so not too far, hopefully we will still see each other). Anyhoo, Quinn reacted differently to Cleo than she she did to other Aussies, it was funny because it was like as soon as her little sis was around Quinn would turn into the big grown up sister who would neeeeeever act silly, and look at poor Cleo in disgust when she tried to start games :laugh: Mind you, whenever Cleo wasn't there Quinn did and still does, run around being just as annoying and silly :D

The last few months, as they got older, they starte playing together much more, and working together a bit more against other dogs they were playing with, Quinn must have finally decided Cleo was grown up enough to be her friend *eye roll*

Oh, just to be clear, they are litter sisters and the whole litter was born in a couple of hours I believe, so it's not like Quinn really was older!

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Skeeter definitely remember his littermates, for sure. They won't see each other for months, but they see each other and it's as though they never parted. He plays differently with his littermates than he does with other Samoyed. Its really sweet watching him and his brother, Wolf, and sister, Dany, get together and play.

Saying that, Skeeter will choose his JS sister over his real siblings though.

Emmy was a singleton, so she is more human focus than dog focus but she will get excited when she sees other Japanese Spitz. Only breed that she will play with.

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I haven't gone through that puppy fear phase/s at all with young Miah *touch wood*. Nothing seems to phase her at all . Shes just over 7 months old now. I was expecting it having read about it on dol !

Joey remembered his Mum 'Renae' when she came to live with us, which was a few years later. They also seem to recognize and are comfortable around their siblings/family at the cavalier club fun days :)

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I have often noticed dogs are more comfortable with other dogs who have traits that they know how to read easily. Pugs for example speak dog with an accent of forward facing eyes, folded ears, and tightly curled tail. They are often misunderstood by dogs who have the prick ear, eyes on side of head and bushy tail accent.

I know a kelpie cross who was raised with Pugs, thinks he is a pug and will always plays happily with them whenever she gets the chance. Pugs new to her are often wary at first and delighted as they find she understands them perfectly.

I'm not sure, though, if an older dog would actually remember a sibling that they were separated from a 8 weeks old. That's not to say that they won't get on splendidly though, especially if they have the same "accent".laugh.gif

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It's interesting to read all of the comments. I am hoping that Banjo will be comfortable with his brother when he meets him again on the weekend - they will be the same size (more or less) and will "sound" similar! When we go walking and I see other people walking their dogs I will ask (if their dog seems calm) if it would be okay for Banjo to "meet" their dog - I would like him to be more comfortable around other dogs.

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bear in mind some dogs just don't like other dog's company. There is nothing wrong with this and there is no problem to fix. All you need to do is ensure their environment is managed (which would be much easier if everyone obeyed the law!). Here is a great article that popped up in my facebook feed this morning:

http://www.robinkbennett.com/2013/07/21/my-dog-got-kicked-out-of-daycare-today/

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I don't think siblings recognize each other. I got Caesar when he's 9 weeks old and brought him back to his breeder for a tidy up at about 4.5 months old. He met up with his sister and totally did not click or connect. His sister, being at home ground, keeps pushing and jumping on Caesar and Caesar's like, "screw this, I'm outta here".

Caesar does enjoy the company of other dogs in the dog park though.

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In other species, there have been studies that looked at the bond between siblings... it involved cross-fostering at birth and then reintroduction. There were effects of both relatedness and familiarity on aggressive encounters. Introductions on one dog's territory would complicate matters. I have had siblings in puppy games class and all they want to do is play together....there is also the aspect of similar playing styles. It makes for great distraction training anyway :D

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Ok, here's an update - didn't really go as I had hoped! Banjo is a relatively calm pup but his brother is the "wild child" as quoted by his puppy parents! He was over the top excited to see Banjo which just left Banjo a quivering frightened mess! He curled himself in a ball as small as he could go and refused to look at anyone - he even tried to climb into my handbag! Brother puppy was bounding and excited and just wanted to play - I can see why Banjo would have found this overwhelming. It took a good hour before Banjo would even sit on the couch and tolerate brother puppy sniffing/licking him. Having said all that - about 15 mins before we had to leave, Banjo decided it wasn't all bad. came out of his shell and wanted to play - it was lovely to see them both playing together and I am so glad that I took my ipad and was able to record some of it. We hope to be able to get together again in the next couple of weeks - and hopefully we haven't traumatised the poor little mite!! Banjo travelled beautifully in the car - in a travel crate - for about 3 hours all up that day.

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