Hey, yall. Shiloh here.
I was talking with my mom today about two concepts that we have decided are absurd. One is this ridiculous notion of “littermate syndrome” and the other is this rumor that Maltese are “one-person-dogs”.
“Littermate syndrome” is (supposedly) a behavioral pattern in which two puppies become so overly bonded that they become inter-dependent, have separation anxiety, poor social skills, aggressive, blah, blah, blah. (REALLY? As if having a playmate – that you LOVE – your same age – your same size – causes you to have all these problems)
The “one-person-dog” theory means that we (supposedly) pick one person in the family who is our favorite and that’s the only one we really bond with.
Who comes up with this stuff?
I’m not allowed to cuss, so I’ll just say, that’s boloney.
I’m not saying neither one of these things ever happens. But – I’m willing to bet (if it does exist) it happens mostly to people who ALLOW it to happen.
Like, maybe if you have two puppies and you lock them in a pen together and they don’t really get much human connection and all they have is each other – but wouldn’t you bond with the only thing you have to bond with?
And, maybe if a puppy spends 80-95% of their time being loved and cared for by one person, they become partial to that one person – but wouldn’t you?
I think it’s all about how you raise your babies. And, we raise our babies to be well-rounded and highly sociable members of society….. so we wouldn’t know anything about any syndromes over here.
Stormy, Harley, Ace and I all came to Fluff Town at the same time and as baby puppies. We don’t have no littermate syndrome. We don’t have no favorite peoples. In fact, we have to be sequestered in the bedroom sometimes when company comes, because we have boundary issues. We want to play and love and kiss everybody.
Our babies are the same way. We’ve had 4 sets of sibling adoptions and no issues at all with this so-called littermate syndrome. No inter-dependency. No aggression. No anxiety.
And – as for the “one-person-dog” malarky…. Our FTP families always seem to share how our babies love humans and other animals alike. We hear a lot about how positive and well-rounded they are. We start them out that way on purpose!
So, for real, peoples. Just have fun with your babies, spend time with them, raise them in a loving and social environment – and don’t worry about what the internets says. And, don’t worry about what other people do.