I recently bought my first puppy along with a family member who also got a furbaby from the same litter.
Whenever they meet they’re inseparable and it was the same when I had a dog growing up.
My grandad also had a pup from the same litter and the dogs grew up together and had a wonderful bond.
This made me wonder whether they knew they were actually siblings? Watching my dog Bungle and his sister Maggie play together, it’s hard to believe that they’re not aware of their special bond.
So I decided to ask an expert. I contacted Anna Webb, a nutrition and behaviour expert and host of A Dog’s Life podcast, to find out if dogs really can recognise their own family members.
She said: “Whether canine siblings recognise each other after they’ve flown their birth nest is still not known.
“There’s been some studies that show that puppies do know their mother’s scent and their littermates, but unless a dog is living with one of his original littermates there’s less likelihood they’ll recognise each other.
“The reason for this is whilst wolves do maintain their ability to know each other in their pack for life, domestication has weakened this survival skill in dogs.
“A dog’s pack becomes his human family and dogs are known for remaining in the present. That said, in one study 76 per cent of dogs aged two selected their mother’s scent sample over another bitch of the same age and breed, highlighting scent recognition.
“Every dog is an individual and some siblings may well just get along, but whether they know they’re related is still unsure.”
So, there you have it. It’s not known for definite, but I’m going to carry on believing that they know - because the thought warms up my heart!
