Grooming by Gina

04/05/2025

Understanding Littermate Syndrome in Puppies

Bringing home two puppies from the same litter might seem like a great idea—they’ll have built-in companionship, right? However, many dog owners are unaware of the challenges that come with Littermate Syndrome, a behavioral condition that can develop when sibling puppies are raised together.

What is Littermate Syndrome?

Littermate Syndrome is a set of behavioral issues that arise when two puppies from the same litter (or even unrelated puppies of the same age) are raised together. These issues often stem from excessive bonding between the puppies, making it difficult for them to develop independence and proper social skills.

Signs of Littermate Syndrome:

Severe Separation Anxiety: Puppies become highly distressed when separated, making training and socialization more difficult.

Fearfulness: They may become overly reliant on each other, leading to increased anxiety in new situations or around unfamiliar dogs and people.

Difficulty in Training: Since they focus more on each other than their human, training sessions can become ineffective.

Inter-Puppy Aggression: As they grow, fights between littermates can become more intense, sometimes escalating into serious conflicts.

How to Prevent Littermate Syndrome

If you’re raising two puppies together, consider these steps to ensure they grow into well-adjusted, independent dogs:

Separate Training Sessions: Train each puppy individually to ensure they learn to focus on you rather than each other.

Encourage Independence: Allow them to spend time apart daily so they learn to be comfortable alone.

Socialization: Expose each puppy to different people, dogs, and environments separately.

Individual Bonding: Spend one-on-one time with each puppy to strengthen your personal relationship with them.

Should You Get Two Puppies?

While raising two puppies is possible, it requires significant effort and commitment. If you’re considering adopting littermates, be prepared to implement structured training and socialization strategies to prevent Littermate Syndrome.

By understanding and addressing Littermate Syndrome early, you can help your puppies grow into happy, confident, and independent dogs!

10/19/2024

All hail the number one selling dog treat the world, owned by J.M. Smucker: “The Milk-Bone”!🦴

““We anticipate our total dog snacks portfolio to grow approximately 3% annually over the next two years to US$1 billion💰 in annual net sales,” reports the company.

My gosh that’s a lot of dogs🐕 eating milk-bones!!

However, Brazilian & Canadian 🇧🇷 🇨🇦 scientists are not particularly rejoicing in the success of all the milk-bones being sold and consumed by dogs. In a recent paper published in ResearchGate, one of the many commonly used, synthetic petroleum-derived, food coloring dyes may be leading dogs to express anxiety and potentially unwanted behaviors.😾 Today, studies show over 70% of dogs have some kind of highly problematic behaviour.

In fact, the California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment acknowledges these same synthetic food dyes, also used in human food, are linked to hyperactivity and behavioral problems in children.😵‍💫

To make matters worse, one coloring agent: E171, used in Milk-bones and several other pet products, has been banned🚫 by the European Commission as a food additive due to the fact it has been shown in studies to damage DNA🧬 thus accelerating the aging process and shortening lifespan in animals.

Join me tomorrow, Sunday at 10am Eastern, on my Planet Paws page as we go over the ingredients you need to watch out👀 for if you are feeding or know someone feeding milk-bone products.

P.S. – some of these potentially harmful dyes can be also found in some of the most popular selling pet foods that we will touch on as well.

05/15/2024

04/03/2024

The Connecticut Humane Society has an urgent need for donations of dry dog food for its Pet Food Pantry and it is asking for help from the public. The Pet Food Pantry provides nutrition for pets of families facing financial hardships and it needs dry dog food, specifically Purina One, Pedigree, Blue...

01/05/2024

We are still collecting donations until the 15th. We could use some food and treats, we do have a ton of p**p bags, and dog gear. Thank you!!

Grooming by Gina & CG Grooming Co will be collecting donations in support of Dog Star Rescue this holiday! We will be collecting food, treats, collars/leashes/harnesses, toys, p*e pads, p**p bags.

Feel free to drop donations at the salon any Tues-Sat between the hours of 8-2 (12/15/23 through 1/15/24)

❤️ Big thanks to our friends at Daleypawz for putting together this holiday drive! We are so happy to be a part of it. ❤️

Happy holidays! 🎄🐕🐾

12/13/2023

Grooming by Gina & CG Grooming Co will be collecting donations in support of Dog Star Rescue this holiday! We will be collecting food, treats, collars/leashes/harnesses, toys, p*e pads, p**p bags.

Feel free to drop donations at the salon any Tues-Sat between the hours of 8-2 (12/15/23 through 1/15/24)

❤️ Big thanks to our friends at Daleypawz for putting together this holiday drive! We are so happy to be a part of it. ❤️

Happy holidays! 🎄🐕🐾