Could a dog recognise its siblings?

[charly77]

I think they do. My dog regularly meets up with his litter mates and he acts very differently to when he’s with other dogs. The other day we went for a walk and we bumped into a guy walking his pup, my dog can be aggressive whilst on the lead but he was really submissive with this one. We chatted for a bit then worked out that this pup was my dogs niece, the way mine behaved I am sure he knew!

[Nicksgirl]

Originally Posted by FlorayG

Of course they did. You'd know your own sibling wouldn't you?

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Totally agree, why do people think animals don't feel for their young, don't sense their young ?

[Nicksgirl]

Originally Posted by ERICSMUM

I used to volunteer at a Cats Protection rehiring place, socialising kittens before they were homed. I was told and then saw for myself that mother cats are ready to “move on” from looking after their kittens within 6-7 weeks of birth. I think it’s an instinct thing, the mum is ready to find another mate and have more babies.

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My wonderful mother, who adopted every stray dog and cat, once found a mum who had recently given birth to her kitten. For 8 years that mother cat, constantly pushed her little one to her bosom to feed, it was so funny to see. But she never stopped trying. She is still alive bless her but sadly her little one has gone. She loved her little one her whole life. We will never forget that.

[Jagmate]

According to our breeder who has bred labradors for the last 40 years, a dog tends to retain a scent memory of its dam for life although that doesn't necessarily mean that the dam will show any particular interest in return. They tend to have a scent memory for littermates for around two years, although I'm not sure if that memory 're-sets' if they've seen each other within that time. We have become friends with all of the other owners of our older girl's siblings and certainly when we meet up, most of them are really excited to see one another again. Funnily enough it's just Ember and her only litter sister who are not that interested in each other. We now have one of Ember's nephews (from her litter sister's first litter) and when we brought him home, the first thing he tried to do was go under her and suckle and for the first few days he just couldn't get close enough to her, which confused the heck out of her lol! They are now really bonded and sleep in the same crate and play constantly. She's just turned 3 and he's nearly 8 months.

[4fromsuffolk]

I can’t comment about sibling recognition as our dogs haven’t met their Mothers or siblings again. I am certain though that our Labrador recognises other Labradors. There is certainly more pulling and tail wagging as we approach another Labrador less so with other dogs.

[Andybear]

Originally Posted by Nicksgirl

Totally agree, why do people think animals don't feel for their young, don't sense their young ?

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This thread is about siblings (brothers and sisters) not parents though.

[olgaandcoda]

I know this is about domestic dogs, but in a wild pack of dogs, it would be detrimental if siblings mated with one another and so they would need to recognise each other.