No reputable breeder is going to place two puppies from the same litter or near the same age in a home.
Any breeder that is willing to do so is someone you should run far and fast from.
Littermate syndrome is real, and I have seen it rear its ugly head many times in the dog training class I assist with. Sadly the only resolution is to rehome one of the puppies.
Here is an article from Ed Frawley of Leerburg.com about raising puppies of the same age. Below that I will link another article about littermate syndrome.
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Raising two puppies of the same age
Why It’s a Bad Idea
I am constantly asked if I think it’s a good idea to buy two puppies and raise them together, or people ask what I think about getting their older dog a puppy to keep the older dog company.
My answer is simple – "NO!!! It’s a BAD IDEA!!!"
In fact, I will not sell 2 of my puppies to people that want to raise them together. This is a road to disaster. There are a number of reasons for this:
1. It’s hard enough to raise one pup and give it the socialization that it needs, much less two. Pups end up only getting 1/2 of the amount of time they need to be properly socialized.
2. Dogs are pack animals. This is a much stronger drive than the average pet owner understands. People think that their little puppy comes from an animal that has been socialized for thousands of years, so how could this have any negative effect on them.
3- When puppies are raised togther they become what we call DOGGY. This means they look at the other dog as their buddy and not the human that owns it. Dogs that are raised to run together NEVER develop the kind of human bond that they would have had if they had been raised in a one dog family.
4- These dogs are more difficult to train. Because they don’t have the strong human bond, they don’t have the desire to please. In fact they often become stubborn.
All dogs have a very strong pack instinct. The more dogs in a pack the stronger the instinct becomes. Raising 2 dogs together means an elevated pack drive, raising 3 dogs means an even higher pack drive.
Pack drive issues mean RANK ISSUES within the pack. Establishing RANK can often mean dog fights. Don’t kid yourself that your 5 pound little lap dog will not fight with its 5 pound littermate. This can become a big deal. This means dog fights when the dogs reach maturity (18 to 30 months of age). Read the article I wrote titled DEALING WITH A DOMINANT DOG.
If you wonder what the worse case scenario could be, read my article about a pack of 3 Rotts that killed an 11-year-old boy. The owner is now serving 12 years in prison for murder and I am proud of the fact that my testimony helper put her there.
So elevated pack drive means that one or more of the dogs is going to become the alpha dog. This means dominance problems with the other dogs, family members and guests. It results in dogs becoming more territorial and more aggressive.
People can have more than one dog if they do it right. I currently have 10 or 12 dogs and we are raising 3 puppies. But they are all kenneled separately and we do not allow them to play together. The only time I ever recommend 2 or 3 dogs being together is when there is the PACK LEADER there that the dogs respect to control their behavior.
You may want to read the article I wrote titled THE GROUND WORK TO BECOMING A PACK LEADER.
If you plan on raising two dogs (whether it’s two pups or a pup and an adult) it is important they are never left together unattended. When I monitor them and see one trying to get snotty with one of the other dogs, I control the situation. I NEVER ALLOW dogs to settle things themselves by fighting. Many novice pet owners to often do this. That’s counter productive to being a pack leader. Pack members expect the pack leader to control things. Pack members respect a pack leader who protects them from bullies.
So if you are going to do what Cindy and I are doing (raising 3 pups at the same time) you had better go out and get three dog crates and expect to spend a great deal of individual time with your puppies. Most intelligent normal people don’t do what we do. Think long and hard before you try it
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Here is the other article
http://www.doglistener.co.uk/choosing/siblings.shtml
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