I HAVE A SERIUOS PROBLEM WITH MY 2 MONTH OLD PUPS!

I am sure someone more knowledgeable about Dobes will come along, but my first suggestion would be to buy a couple crates and feed them there.  If that is not feasible right away, feed them in different rooms with the door closed.  

Here is my advice -
take one of the puppies and return it to its breeder.

It's VERY difficult to raise two puppies at once, its VERY difficult to raise a doberman PERIOD - it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE sometimes to raise a doberman duo.  Aside from issues like this, the dogs should be kept apart as much as possible so they do not bond with each other, and however hard it is to house break, train, and socialize one puppy, you need to put in at least twice the work to do it with TWO puppies ALONE - they each need and deserve their own time, space and attention.

I would return a pup now - before you get too attached, before it is affected negatively by being with its littermate, and while it can still be rehomed easily. Before they fight and injure each other, before they are 6 months old and hardly housebroken because its extremely difficult to watch after 2 pups ensuring there are not accidents. Before they are reactive towards other dogs, and before you get injured in between the two of them.

I don't dare ask what breeder sold you two littermates - no responsible, ethical doberman breeder will sell a home two littermates, with rare exception.

It s common for many adult dogs at least to have food aggression issues. In cases like this, the dogs are fed seperate from one another to avoid problems. By seperating them I mean either in different rooms or crating such as Marty suggested.  This would be my suggestion

Good luck with it and[sm=welcome2.gif] to idog!   

You should always feed your dogs separately.  It is not fair that they can't eat in peace.  They are dogs and will perfect there food from other dogs.  I would hand feed each dog SEPERATLY and implement NILIF with BOTH dogs immediately.  Also, you should start to bring them to an obedience class - it would be good for both the dogs and you.
 
Have ever raised a pure bred dog before?  They have their ways and you should learn how to work with them and study the bred you own.  Raising and TRAINING one dog is a full time job never mind two.
 
Good luck and believe me when I tell you; you've only just begun so get a handle, a gentle handle now.  Training and socializing is key with any dog.  Crate train and feed them in their crates, they deserve to enjoy their meal times.
 

I agree with dobedvm - return one of the pups ASAP. A two month old pup deserves all of your time and attention to grow up into a good canine citizen. If, after nine months to a year, you still want another dog, then look into getting a second dobe from a reputable breeder, rescue, or shelter. I am also not sure why the breeder would have let you take two pups since I am sure that they know how difficult it can be to raise a dobe pup, let alone two. Even at our shelter, where our main purpose is to get dogs adopted ASAP into good homes, RARELY adopt out sibling pups together for this exact reason. In addition to this, siblings can bond intensely (making it harder to bond/train them with you) or can develop very serious sibling aggression (essentially puppy play fighting that escalates into real aggression).

If you are set on keeping both of them, or the breeder won't take one back, get them each their own crate to sleep and eat in. As was suggested, you will need to work with each of them one-on-one on a regular basis. If possible, take one pup to a doggy day care a couple days a week so you have some time with the other pup alone. Switch which pup goes to daycare and which pup stays home so that they both become socialized with other dogs as well as getting individual time with you.

Lastly, contact a good (IMO positive reinforcement) trainer in your area NOW. It is not a matter of IF you will need a trainer, it is only a matter of WHEN. The sooner you start these pups (or single pup) off to a good solid start, the better off you will all be in the long run.

"Separation creates enemies, not packs"

IMO if you feed them in different rooms then you could be forming 2 different packs in your house, the boy and you would be one and the girl and you would be the other, therefore your problems will not be limited in the future to only feeding time

All you have to do is supervise the feeding time and by that i mean you standing between the two of them while they are eating, i am NOT saying to have each dog right next to each one of your legs, you put the plate for any of them on the floor and 3 or 4 feet away you put the other and watch untill they finish the food, if one of them wants to go to eat the other's food you stop him/her, you can do it by standing in front of him/her and dont move until their attention goes away from the other, the first couple times will be difficult but after that they will learn that they need to eat their own food and you (the leader) does not like the idea of stealing each others plates, i'm sure that they wont then attack you because they are too young to be challenging the leader for a higher position (and if you use NILIF probably they never will)

You can have both dogs, both dobermans, even if they are littermates, it does not matter, once you know what you are doing it does not matter if they are 2 or 14

Have you talked to the breeder about this?  (although, at 8 weeks old and you've had them for 3 weeks, that means the breeder let them go at 5 weeks... hmmm...[>:])What were the parents' temperaments like?  How many pups were in the litter to begin with? 
 
It sounds like you put down one plate for both pups to eat off of.  Definitely need separate bowls for each - and not a bad idea to feed them in separate crates.  Good for crate-training and good for giving them separate space/peace when eating. 
 
There will be lots of good suggestions from great dobe and dog people here- just need some more info.  Understanding what your experience is with the breed, what your plans are for them long-term (ie, companion animals, working dogs, etc) and some other things will help pinpoint what the next steps should be.  Welcome to the board.

ORIGINAL: espencer

"Separation creates enemies, not packs"

Where'd you come up with that one?

[sm=huh.gif]

i would agree with the advice of returning one. this way you could just give attention to one of your dogs.
 
if it isnt an option, feed seperately, in crates or in different rooms.
i had the shock of my life, when i first fed my dogs. naively i fed them together and all of a sudden they got into a fight. they were 4 and 7 months old. until this day, they will fight over food. just gotta learn how to avoid situations that tend to end in a fight.
 
anyways, welcome to the forum. keep on posting questions, and don't let the negativity get to you. despite the very emotional responses you tend to get here you can learn a TON. i know i did..

Welcome to the forum!

I strongly urge you to return one of the pups as well. Two puppies of the same age is much, much more than twice the work.

It also sounds like the pups came to you at a very early age, and that is going to present real socialization problems. Get yourself into a puppy class! Here is a great, free booklet about puppies that you can download and read right now:

http://www.jamesandkenneth.com/new_puppy.html

And...

...I don't know anyone who has more than one dog who feeds them together for exactly the reason that started this thread. Can you please *not* Bogart whatever you are smokin', Espencer? ; )

ORIGINAL: dobedvm

Here is my advice -
take one of the puppies and return it to its breeder.

It's VERY difficult to raise two puppies at once, its VERY difficult to raise a doberman PERIOD - it's virtually IMPOSSIBLE sometimes to raise a doberman duo.  Aside from issues like this, the dogs should be kept apart as much as possible so they do not bond with each other, and however hard it is to house break, train, and socialize one puppy, you need to put in at least twice the work to do it with TWO puppies ALONE - they each need and deserve their own time, space and attention.

I would return a pup now - before you get too attached, before it is affected negatively by being with its littermate, and while it can still be rehomed easily. Before they fight and injure each other, before they are 6 months old and hardly housebroken because its extremely difficult to watch after 2 pups ensuring there are not accidents. Before they are reactive towards other dogs, and before you get injured in between the two of them.

I don't dare ask what breeder sold you two littermates - no responsible, ethical doberman breeder will sell a home two littermates, with rare exception.

As a trainer, and former Dobe owner, I can tell you that dobedvm is exactly right.  Not because I think you have a couple of vicious pups, but because littermates learn to depend on one another, and it's harder to get them to listen to you.  After all, you don't speak canine, and they do - think of it as the same as if you were a two year old, suddenly plunked down in Shanghai with your sibling.  Everyone is speaking Chinese, except sis.  Who would you want to talk to? 
Plus, you sound like a newbie dog owner and you will be feeling your way with one pup, never mind having to deal with a more complicated situation.  If you simply can't bear to part with one (a situation that your less than responsible breeder was probably hoping for), then please feed them separately in crates, take them to puppy class asap - separately, but at the same time (Monday is the boy's night out, tuesday is the girl's night out, for example.)  And, get them out separately on walks, meeting other dogs and new people, etc.  If you have help in the home, one person watches each pup for housetraining - use crates when you can't watch, and never leave a pup unsupervised outside its crate and things go much faster.  (Also, NEVER scold for mistakes, just clean with an enzymatic cleaner and remind yourself not to take your eyes off your puppy and not give too much freedom too soon.  Scolding makes them afraid to pee in front of the human - then you would have two Dobes hiding pee in the house - not my idea of fun. []   Two pups is a LOT of work, as you can probably now see.  But, the work would be well  worth it compared to having two large dogs that are out of control.  Please read "The Culture Clash" and "The Power of Positive Dog Training" and find yourself a good positive trainer who has experience with Dobes.  These are sensitive dogs and do not need harsh treatment to learn.  In fact, if you deliver that, you will quickly find that they can decide when they've had enough, and the results will shock you much more than a puppy tiff over food.  Good luck and stick around! []

When pups are really young you can get away with a shared bowl, but once they get past 6 weeks or so, it's far better that each have his/her own bowl.  Sharing tends to reinforce inhaling and gulping because each wants to be sure that they get enough....and some are just pigs.
 
I'm not going to even address the pups being sold as such a young age....if I did so I would be getting the red ink!
 
I'm not a dobe person so I can't speak directly to that breed, however, I can say that it IS possible to raise littermates, but as previously stated, it is one heck of a lot more work.  I have two brothers from my last foster litter.  However, I am a very experienced dog person with a few years under my belt and I can't recall a time when I didn't have a dog.  With siblings especially you have to really be on your toes and you have to absolutely carve out time to work with each dog individually.  My two boys are not more bonded to each other....Mom is the absolute best thing since raw meat as far as they are concerned...but, it takes incredible amounts of work and incredible amounts of knowing what the heck you are doing.
 
My biggest concern is that you have a brother and sister.  Normally I suggest waiting until the male is done growing and the female has gone through a heat cycle to alter with large breeds.  However, in this case that's not going to be possible.  You absolutely can NOT run the risk of an accidental mating with brother and sister.  Take it from one who has HAD an accidental first heat breeding through the door of a darned crate......once the hormones kick in it's hell on earth to prevent.  So earlier spay and nueter is going to be your ONLY option if you keep both pups.
 
And yes, welcome to our little community.

ORIGINAL: espencer

"Separation creates enemies, not packs"

IMO if you feed them in different rooms then you could be forming 2 different packs in your house, the boy and you would be one and the girl and you would be the other, therefore your problems will not be limited in the future to only feeding time

All you have to do is supervise the feeding time and by that i mean you standing between the two of them while they are eating, i am NOT saying to have each dog right next to each one of your legs, you put the plate for any of them on the floor and 3 or 4 feet away you put the other and watch untill they finish the food, if one of them wants to go to eat the other's food you stop him/her, you can do it by standing in front of him/her and dont move until their attention goes away from the other, the first couple times will be difficult but after that they will learn that they need to eat their own food and you (the leader) does not like the idea of stealing each others plates, i'm sure that they wont then attack you because they are too young to be challenging the leader for a higher position (and if you use NILIF probably they never will)

You can have both dogs, both dobermans, even if they are littermates, it does not matter, once you know what you are doing it does not matter if they are 2 or 14

This is an oversimplification of how easy it is to have multiple dogs, especially for someone who is new to raising puppies.  And, crating dogs, or training them separately,  does not cause them to dislike one another or form separate packs if they were not inclined to do so on their own.  In fact, it places the human in more of a leadership position, which effectively tells all dogs in the household that they don't need to apply for the president's job, since the human was already hired for that one.  Dogs that live together will still get plenty of time to bond - the problem with littermates is if they get too much, or if one constantly bullies the other, or if, when they mature, they decide to fight (not as common with mixed genders, but it happens).

Dogs fight over food. They just do. They often don't understand that the food they are now eating isn't the last food they'll ever eat as long as they live. They are domesticated animals, but they are still non-human animals.
 
You may at some point in the future get them to eat side-by-side, but it's not necessary to do that, plenty of people feed seperately for the entire lives of their dogs just to give them a little privacy and relaxation while eating. If you do want to get them to eat in the same room, it will take some effort and slow progress of, over several months, moving their dishes closer together and monitoring their body language.
 
Really though, two puppies? Egad. I'm going to be blunt and say that if you didn't realize that dogs can be aggressive over food, you do not currently have enough dog knowledge to try to raise two puppies at the same time.