Hello, I have an unusual question I'd like to see some discussion on. I consider myself a pretty good dog handler. I can usually figure them out and train them to obey and be easy enough dogs to deal with.But I heard somethinglast night that I have never heard before. Have any of you ever heard that kenneling dogs together or right next to each other tends to keep them from bonding with you and instead growing overly attached to one another from the long hours of interaction without you? I had a professional trainer tell me that last night. She said if you are training an individual dog for hunting or obedience or other performance that you should not allow young pups or young dogs to be around your other dogs all day, such as in adjacent kennel runs, because she said it causes the pup to bond too much with the other dogs, and because of the more limited interaction with you, end up not as much attached to you. It sounds ludicrous and impractical to keep dogs separated for the most part until adults or when other situations like in the field, but at the same time I can say my younger female is almost two years old and far less attached to me than I prefer. My older male on the other hand, bonded with only me when he was a pup and was not kenneled with another dog until I got her. He tends to be a better dog in my opinion, while the female never even seems to care that I am around. Do you think there is something to the trainer's thoughts? I realize different dogs have different personalities, but this trainer said she doesn't allow puppies to be with her adult dogs too much during the young training months because she seems to think it has benefits in training and in the long term relationship the dog has with you. However, most anyone I know who has more than one dog usually raises them together in adjacent kennels, if not in the same kennel. I was wondering if any of you have had experiences that might point to this trainers advice being true? I know her and she is pretty good with dogs and runs an obedience school. I just had never heard that advice before. I think it is impractical, but something makes me ask if there could be something to it. I was considering keeping my next pup in an entirely different kennel run in a different part of the yard. I won't have that pup until this summer probably when the litter I am waiting for is ready to wean. They won't even be born for another two weeks I bet. I know it seems crazy, but just think about it before answering, and lets have a discussion. Not an argument or a teaching session where one dog man knows the most over another, but instead just a real discussion. MIKE