Sad to say, this if a common occurrence when you adopt two males from the same litter. Either they grow up to be totally dependent on each other and can never be separated, OR they are in constant contention. How old are they? Have they been neutered? If they are over 6 months old they need to be neutered. This will help reduce the aggression.
However, it is not the cure. You need to find a behaviorist NOW! Don’t just pick any dog trainer – look for one that can come to your home and work with you there. Or one that specializes in aggression cases such as this. And sad to say – the only answer may be that you have to find one of the boys a new home. They may have developed such a dislike of each other that they will never live comfortably together.
You do desperately need help! But it is far beyond the scope of this forum. You need hands on help from a professional that can see your dogs and figure out what triggers the aggression. And in the future – remember – never get 2 puppies at one time!
It will probably take a little while to potty train him because he is so young. To socialize him you can take him on walks and play with him and get him toys to play with. Puppies are resiliant so even though he has had a rough start just give him a loving home and play with him and make sure he is happy and he will be fine into adolescence. I hope you and your new puppy the best!
Don’t worry about what happened to him. Think about how lucky he is to have a caring human now who is taking great care of him. Socialization is important. Make sure to introduce him to lots of people when he is old enough to go on nice walks. Also dog parks or other dogs that you know, should be a great way to introduce him to other dogs. Your vet should have a ton of info to share with you. Best of luck!!
Thanks for the encouragement! I had a torturous few day where I didn’t know if I should keep him or take him to the shelter. Many people on the internet acted like it was inhumane to have a dog if you couldn’t keep him indoors 24/7 and be with him most of the time; however, the lady at the shelter showed me all the cute pups there and told me that many don’t make it out. I refuse to give up on him! I’m not rich and I don’t have the resources to put him in a daycare every day but I do have a very comfortable and large home with a privacy fence. I have lots of love in my heart and no children, as well.
I plan to use the next 6 weeks to get him into the routine of our household. My mother won’t be able to help out because she takes care of my grandmother but my man is gonna arrange to drive 40 minutes here and 40 minutes back on his lunch to check on little man.
We are looking at collar activated doggie doors currently but he will be too young for that at first. I found a really cool solar paneled fan that can attach to a doghouse and “heated flooring” options for winter. I can’t believe this stuff exists! Who knew a dog could have a climate controlled doghouse?!?
Again, I really appreciate the supportive comments while I was panicking about what to do. 🙂