Training 2 pups at the same time

[RebeccaTarver]

Training a 8month old female beagle and 1.5 yr male beagle apart is best but can it be done together? 

[Adrienne]

Hello and welcome to the forums.

Do you have a family member who can train one dog while you train the other? 

You can start training them apart just initially, and then once you are past the luring stage, and you have added the verbal cue, you can then start asking them to perform the behavior together.

To answer your question can it be done together? Well, when there is a will there is a way, I have trained some basics like sits and downs with dogs side-by-side, but it's not without challenges, such as: 

-Juggling treats, one in each hand, and possibly a clicker if you're using that.

-Marking and rewarding each dog with perfect timing which can be a challenge since each dog learns at his own pace

-Having two untrained dogs possibly getting into each other's space

-Having two dogs feeding off each others' emotions (like one dog barks and take off and the other one follows)

-Risking fights should the dogs be prone to resource guarding

Additionally if may be unpractical with training some cues, for instance, when training them to stay, you may have to take a dog back to the area if he breaks the stay, while your other dog will be waiting for the reward, which, if it takes too long, it can cause him to break his stay too. 

Here is a more info about the challenges: