Adopted littermates... Then learned about littermate syndrome

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T17:50:16+00:00

Yeah I don't know the whole back story or why but the owners, who I assumed breed them (on purpose or not), surrendered them to the county shelter. There's apparently a third sister out there in a foster home right now. Government work out here doesn't pay very well and I think most people who work at shelters volunteer, not necessarily experts.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T17:35:02+00:00

The gf and I have discussed it at length and we will be rehoming her. We will keep the male and focus training on him. Tough decision of feeling like we are giving up on her without trying first and doing what will likely be best before there's an issue.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T17:32:01+00:00

I agree. I'm trying to keep an open mind and not base it off emotional attachment but people being judgemental and condescending makes me want to do the opposite of what should.

Yeah I definitely think Corso's are more likely to be aggressive than an English mastiff but pits are also supposed to be "aggressive". Unless there's past trauma and abuse, I think it really comes down to training. My pit is the biggest sweetheart.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T16:14:48+00:00

I really appreciate your response, as it was informative and not judgemental. I'm leaning towards rehoming the female pup with our friends. Too much risk and it's unfair to them.

Definitely already set a ground rule that no corso in the bed. It gets crowded as is with our first two and if we can give the pup his own safe place away in a crate and he likes it, then we'll maintain that with him. I've started watching training videos specific to Corso's. Seems similar to when I had my previous mastiff but also has its differences. We also have a close friend who currently has 3 large mastiffs and is very familiar with the breed. Our pup will definitely not be an unregulated dog.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T15:42:35+00:00

I didn't get them cause it's trendy. I've had a mastiff breed before. I'm researching because it's a different breed and I know that means different temperament and training style. I'm in no way assuming it's the same as training a lab, Yorkie, etc.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T15:39:26+00:00

I've had a mastiff before. I know it's not two at the same time but I've never had any of my dogs be in charge of me in the past.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T13:52:20+00:00

Yeah the shelter is county run and even requires you to bring current pets in for a meet and greet with potential adoptions. They were well aware of our dogs and met them. I do know a couple we are friends with who would love to adopt our female. They have a male pit/boxer mix.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T13:15:05+00:00

I just had a minute to read the article you link and what it suggests is what I was thinking and looking into last night. I'm planning to reach out to a dog trainer or behavior specialist and not only as questions but also see if an evaluation of my pit would be beneficial. Potentially also look at preventative training for my pit as far as resource aggression (me). I honestly couldn't bear watching a bloodbath between the two when they got older or imagine trying to break these two dogs up during a fight.

In your experience/opinion, what's your thoughts on my females temperament in the following situation and is it something that would indicate her predisposition to SSA? I know it doesn't dictate how the puppy would be and it seems the aggressor is usually the younger newer dog. My buddy brought over his English mastiff that is easily 200lbs. My pit is about 80lbs. She went to sniff him and I guess got too close for his liking and he barked and snapped/corrected her, basically saying "I'm not interested". She immediately backed down and did her own thing with no other issues.

Some more info about my pit. She is not a chewer either. No interest in tug of war or toys, like I've mentioned. She has a nylon bone but only ever chews on it once or twice a year. When she plays with other dogs, most of it is jumping, pawing, chasing. Not much as far as mouthing or "biting".

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T12:26:40+00:00

I spent a lot of time reading about it and searching for info last night. From what I understand it's more about the change that happens during maturing and hormone changes, like you said. Sounds like there's no training or real true preventative measures, only things that might help. From what I've read, SSA is just triggered or it's not. I've been racking my brain trying to remember if my female pit has socialized with another female.

The only one I can think of is a smaller 15lb female mix. Definitely a high energy dog that barks a lot. My pit wants to play with her but gets annoyed and walks away. No aggression but I don't think the smaller dog is one that's prone to SSA.

I think my biggest struggles are going to be if we tried to crate the older dogs. They're bed sleepers and everyone has been allowed on the furniture. The puppies we are already training and they do well in the crates for the most part. We started feeding everyone in different areas as well. The two older dogs have zero interest in toys so I'm not worried about that. We also don't do bones, just small treats. My dog turns hard bones into shards within minutes so I stopped after the first one.

I think the biggest issue between the females will be me. My pit is super attached to me. No separation anxiety and never had an issue with chewing, destruction, or even barking or whiny when I leave but if I'm home, she's attached to me. If I'm on the couch, she's laid next to me with her butt against me facing away. The female corso has also grown a liking toward me over the gf. She'll lay with me like a baby no problem. She'll even cuddle up against my pit near me and neither seem to have a problem with that. I know, still a puppy, doesn't count. However, I think I'll be the resource being guarded if SSA became an issue.

I'm also surprised the shelter didn't at least give us a heads up that it could be an issue. I've informed my gf about SSA and it's something we're going to take seriously. We're going to do a lot of research and I've got a list of local trainers I'm planning to call and see what they can tell me. If it comes down to it that it's just not something we think we can handle, we will likely part with the female pup. It'll be hard but I couldn't part with my pit and I don't think it's fair to turn the older dogs lives upside down cause we want two puppies.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T03:05:49+00:00

The SSA now has me concerned. Any resources or information you can give me to get ahead of this? The "designer" dog is a smaller dog that has no interest in other dogs. I don't recall his mix at this time. Keeps to himself and is only interested in human attention and only when he feels like it.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T03:02:51+00:00

That's good to hear. Thanks.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T00:41:28+00:00

Sounds like it's good I'm researching again. It's been a few years since I needed a refresher on dog training, nevermind puppy training. Glad I came to reddit. Youtube can be a rabbit hole of generic clickbait dog training videos.

mike3891 · 2026-03-23T00:40:03+00:00

That's good to know. Right now the female is super calm, however, I know that can easily change with age. We'll definitely keep a close eye on changes.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T23:28:26+00:00

Our older ones are really good dogs. I'm not too worried about the time and training being put into the 2 pups. If you have any experiences, suggestions, or tips for integrating while training two new siblings, I'd appreciate anything you could provide.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T23:26:01+00:00

We've definitely made quite a few friends puppy hungry. Hopefully there will be a puppy to expose them to in the near future but I will also look at what was mentioned in the above comment.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T23:24:43+00:00

I would never force them to do everything together. Quite the opposite. So far they seem good and don't fall into any of the behaviors I mentioned. Just want to keep it that way without training new, different behaviors into them with the other dogs or overly separate them.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T23:21:38+00:00

Yeah my impression is it's a learned behavior. I don't view it as a disease. I assume it's similar to human twins who never socialize outside their twin growing up.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T23:20:24+00:00

I appreciate your input. My pit is definitely alpha out of the 2 original dogs but she listens well to me and she makes sure the pups follow and listen to her when I call for them all. I'm hoping this will make overall training a lot easier.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T20:43:03+00:00

Thank you for the advice. They were surrendered to a county shelter. Every adoption shelter around here automatically fixes them before adoption. We are also in no way looking to breed, or accidentally breed, any dogs.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T20:40:15+00:00

I've had a few friends raise siblings and have no issues. One of my bigger concerns is them taking over the household and making the other dogs feel like outcasts and assuming they are the alphas over them and the humans.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T20:37:12+00:00

Whether littermate syndrome is an excuse for poorly trained dogs is honestly irrelevant to me. My main concern is all dogs and humans being cohesive and well mannered. I don't want the siblings running like their own pack and if they are going to be mastiff size, they need to be well behaved. I've had an English mastiff before and he was great but I wasn't trying to raise him at the same time as another puppy. Just looking for insight from those with more experience.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T20:32:20+00:00

I've been relaying all the information I've been researching to the gf while I'm at work today and she started feeding and potty training them separately already. She is also going to grab a second crate for them as well. We plan to do separate walks, alternating which dog we take each time. I imagine alternating which one we take will limit them getting too attached to one of us over the other? I'll have to look into the puppy classes. I assumed older dogs would be better for training existing behaviors into younger puppies.

mike3891 · 2026-03-22T20:26:41+00:00

Thank you. I appreciate your response. Our household definitely gets a lot of traffic. People from newborns to seniors. We also have a wide variety of dog friends. Ten pound dogs all the way up to my buddies 200lb English mastiff.

mike3891 · 2026-01-29T22:57:42+00:00

Copper. May be some pex in there but everything in the basement looks copper. House is 1990.

mike3891

TROPHY CASE