Puppy pens

[SLacowboy]

I see photos on here of several pups together in a decent size pen. Just curious for those that will raise a litter or several pups at a time how long do y'all leave them together in these pens? Any problems with more aggressive pups eating more than weaker pups? Will pups still be independent when it comes time to do a job when they have been raised with other dogs their entire life?

Sure seems like it would be a lot easier to raise pups like that until they make the cut and earn space in the kennel.

Jake

[Bryant]

Jake,

My last two litters I have raised in a pen together until they were almost a year old.  I feel very strongly about raising and working littermate pups together.  They seem to hit the woods hunting better together and compete with one another.  I avoid feeding issues by keeping them on a self feeder.  Keep feed in it, and they all eat as they get hungry.  In addition, all my kennels except the puppy pen are on concrete.  Pups make a heck of a mess on concrete kennels, so the dirt puppy pen makes cleaning after them a lot easier as well.
I don't separate them until I start them in the woods, and then I will kennel them beside whichever older dog I plan to hunt them with.

Just my .02
Bryant

[YELLOWBLACKMASK]

Great advice from above. I also like to raise my pups together until they hit close to a year give or take by maturity. I like it due to being able to identify the independent pups and the leaders not followers. Once I am confident I have them pegged I move the less independent pups into the proximity of an older dog as described above. The independent pups I keep seperate and let them do their own thing as long as its correct. Its also allows you to seperate the sandbaggers along the way and completely remove them from the equation.