09/15/2025
This! PSA for owning 2 pups same litter! Is there an exception to some? Of course! But this litter syndrome is for real !
đŤ LITTERMATE SYNDROME FACTS 101 âď¸
Why We Donât Adopt Sibling Puppies Together
Weâve had a few heated messages about adopting 2 from our current litters and even some on our Jesse and James post, so letâs clear something up.
â¤ď¸ Yes, Jesse and James have a heartbreaking story but rescue work isnât about warm fuzzies and âawww they love each other.â Itâs about long-term animal welfare, rehabilitation, and implementing documented behavioural practices. If we keep applying our own emotions on to dogs, we would fail.
đž What is Littermate Syndrome?
When two siblings are raised together, instead of bonding with humans and learning independence, they bond primarily with each other. Sounds cute⌠until it isnât. Symptoms can include:
âď¸Aggression toward each other, especially when high-value resources (food, toys, your shoes đŹ) enter the picture
âď¸Stunted social development and inability to cope with new environments
âď¸Training difficulties (because they tune each other out and ignore you)
âď¸ Fights to the death. This has happened more times than people realise.
And hereâs the kicker: it doesnât usually show up at 8â10 weeks. It rears its head around 12 months old, when hormones leap. Thatâs when we get the desperate calls.
đ Our Reality
Every single year we take in 40â50 dogs suffering from littermate syndrome. And thatâs not counting the ones we didnât have room for. This isnât a myth. It isnât a scare tactic. Itâs a brutal, documented fact we deal with on the ground.
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đ˝ââď¸ âBut I had siblings before and they were fine!â
Good for you, truly. Some people can juggle knives blindfolded too, but that doesnât make it a good policy for us to hand out knives at puppy preschool. Just because it worked once doesnât make it ethical or safe for us to roll the dice with every pup.
Would you let your child learning to drive a car, learn with no seatbelt? You know the risks but YOU haven't had an accident yet therefore you're living proof that it's ok right? Or would you always apply practices to PREVENT as much damage long term as possible?
đ About Jesse & James
Theyâre siblings, yes. But theyâre also trauma survivors. Puppies from abusive situations donât need to cling to each other, it wont help them heal. In fact, it does the opposite.
They need confident role models (older, stable dogs) and humans who can give them individual guidance. Keeping them together reduces their chance at rehabilitation and adoption. They wont come out their shell because both exhibit the same trauma response. They need to watch another dogs healthy reactions and copy them.
If we let human emotions override logic and evidence-based practice, weâd be running a sham organisation. Thatâs not who we are. Dog welfare comes first, always. The comments on the Jesse and James post were out of passion and heart, we know that but when people start coming into our inbox with abusive messages, we will draw the line.
⨠Our Policy (and your attitude)
Circle back to examples like this one here who we politely declined to adopt 2 from the same litter and we gave the explanation of littermate syndrome.
We wonât adopt littermates together. Itâs that simple. You can be upset about it, but being rude to us wonât change the fact that science, logic, and welfare outweigh âbut they look cute together in photos.â Also using your work email to be rude was a bold move before I've had my 3 earl greys.
Weâre here to do whatâs best for the dogs, even when itâs unpopular. And if you truly love Jesse, James, or any rescue pup, youâll understand that putting their future first sometimes means making the hard calls.
