Getting second dog/same sex or opposite best?

[saddleup]

I have a spayed female English Springer Spaniel and have decided to get a second dog. Is it better to get a male if I have a female, or is it possible for two females to get along? I've heard differing opinions on this, and would like some more input from other dog lovers. Thanks.

[WorthTheWait95]

We've had both. I'm no dog behavior expert but here's what my experiences have been.

One female/One male seems to be just fine and so was two males. Two females caused some problems but it might just have been the two we had (both alpha females). Two females and one male caused problems for us as well and the same thing with two males and one female. I think once you get beyond two you start having pack issues.

We now have 6 females and one male (who isn't very manly) and everything is smooth except for the two that belong to me. They are both alpha females and tend to battle it out over random things but for the most part everything is peaceful.

[Milocalwinnings]

I think it depends on the dog, quite honestly. I do a lot of volunteer work with a large scale rescue and there are always people coming in who fall in love with a dog but they are worried it won't work out because it's the same sex as theirs.

We have 4 dogs in our house right now (3 we own and 1 foster). 2 females and 2 males.

Our 7 y/o dobie/greyhound female is alpha. The 6 y/o plott hound is generally submissive but she likes to push buttons and is very stubborn (typical hound!) 98 % of the time, there are no problems, because anytime the alpha "gives an order", the other submits. However, occasionally a fight will break out because the submissive one has decided to test the alpha female (this is usually 1x a year.... IMO she tests to see whether she will be able to take over "alphaness" lol). They rough around, play, sleep etc together and are fine except for that 1 day where the hound decides to test her boundries a little too much.
There have never been any problems with the 2 males. One is a 12 y/o basset hound who would rather sleep than anything, and the other is a severly abused walker hound (he's the foster dog) who is afraid of everything so there are no problems with him challenging anyone

We have always had 2 females together w/o problems in the past (aside from what I described above) and at one time even had 3 females (one of which was the alpha that we currently have) together for 3 years until both the other two passed away from cancer.


Some dogs don't get along with anyone, others only get along with opposite sex, but most, IME are fine with a proper introduction.
If you do add a second dog, introduce them in a neutral territory first. We always introduce them, on leashes, at the park just down the street from our house, then if that goes well we bring them home and introduce them in the backyard on leashes. Providing that goes well, we let the newcommer off the leash to investigate and eventually let the others off the leash one at a time. When they are comfortable in the yard off leash we then let the newcommer in house alone, and then let the others in one at a time. By doing it this way, we've never had any problems. When people DO have problems is when they just bring a new dog home and bring it into their house expecting their other dog to be all fine and dandy with some strange dog now living with them.

[Simkie]

I have always had multiple (2 or 3) girl dogs and have never, ever had any problems.

I find boy dogs too needy.

[Bluey]

First, it depends on the individual dogs.
Second, the least problems are between two of opposite sexes.
Third, there are not that many dogs with problems, so your chances with whatever dog you like to add are good that it will work.

The down side is that, if you happen to get two that don't get along, rare as it is, it can be heartbreaking.

We had up to six dogs at the time, with four people here then, most dogs females and the occasional male and never had a dog fight ever.
Guess that we were lucky.

The only time you may have more than normal problems is to try to raise two puppies of the same age at the same time, litter mates or not because, if they are too close in the dominance traits, as they mature, they may start not getting along and seriously injure or kill each other in their dominance fights.
Then, even there, if one has always been very dominant and the other doesn't care and the dominant one never loses it's place, you may never have any problems.

As mentioned, see if you can take a dog for a few days, start letting the dogs meet in neutral territory and that may help tell you if they like each other or not.
Good luck.:)

[FatPalomino]

I've seen two male dogs, housemates, fight so severely that it required euthanasia of one or both of them.

In the first set, the more aggressive dog (a mix) was not altered. He killed the housemate, and the owners euthanaized him for fear he would do the same to a neighbor's dog. The dogs were not getting along for quite some time and were kept separated...which obviously didn't work.

In the second case, they were rescue pit bulls, and it could be suspected that long ago one could have been involved in fighting. They had a history of minor fights. The owners came home, and the dogs sought for attention... one snapped at another, and a fury broke out.
After trying everything to break up the fight, the police and animal control were called... neither of which would step foot in the house, it was that bad. I honestly have no idea how they broke these two up. They had lived together for years but were killing each other.

Simba gorgeous white one that lived. On radiographs, you could see where his housemate's teeth fractured his leg! It was a horrible event. Simba was such a wonderful dog to treat.... with some really severe injuries, he let us do anything to him. The worst was these were super caring owners that really, consistently, tried to do the right thing. The owners immediately euthanized the other dog... who they say was the provoker. He was in a total frenzy after this fight and they needed serious sedation just to be able to handle him safely and transport him the clinic. It was heartbreaking.

I am a HUGE pit bull fan, but I wouldn't put two dominant males (of any breed) together in a house after that... ever.

I have seen two super dominant dogs (one of ours, and a rescue we were fostering) really go at it. We were glad to be there to break it up (not easy)... although they did relatively little damage, it was only the first time. We didn't keep them together and rehomed the new rescue.

We purposely only keep one alpha male and one alpha female. We usually have several dogs... at current count it's 5. The newest puppy, named Puma because she was like a lion at 4 weeks old, wanted to be the boss but quickly learned the throne belonged to the old 25 lb "Jack Beagle" and life has been great ever since... even though the new puppy is now 2x the size of the Jack Beagle ;) We also reinforced the fact that the Jack Beagle, not Puma, was the boss. There are a lot of ways to do that. It worked well for us, as Puma is almost a year and has been great for the past 9 months ;) It also works well, because, at the end of the day, *we* are top dog and the pups know that!

[TrotTrotPumpkn]

As long as they all will be spayed/neutered it shouldn't matter. My two dobes are opposites in personality but I don't think it has anything to do with sex and everything to do with the bloodlines. The working bloodline dog (well actually she is a b#tch) is go GO GO!!! The boy just wants to sit on the couch and nap.

Also agree two dominant (esp. non-neutered) males are a no-no

[vacation1]

I've heard that the worst fights tend to be between 2 intact males or 2 females, and that intact/spayed status is a major difference in the genders. It generally is reliable at reducing aggression overall in males, but there's a range of opinion on what it does in female dogs - from 'it has no effect on aggression in females' to 'it actually heightens aggression in females.'

I think the personality probably matters more than the gender unless one or both dogs is very dominant - not just dominant over the other dog, but dominant in general. Many dominant dogs will tolerate the opposite gender but not their own. Personally, I'd also look at size and try to get a 2nd dog that is either the same size or smaller than my 1st dog, and a similar 'personality' as a failsafe.

Another thing you might look at is play style. I forget where I read this, but a training book I saw once mentioned that some dogs and some breeds tend to have very rough, physical wrestle/bump play styles that will often trigger fights when they're mixed with dogs/breeds with more tag-you're-it chase play style, as the second type will react angrily to what they perceive as an attack, and the first will then retaliate for what it sees as an unprovoked reaction, etc... So maybe a Springer and a Lab, for instance, aren't automatically natural buddies.

[eventmom]

I think your chances are better if you get a male and female, or two males. In my limited experience, female dogs tend to fight more.
No guarantee's, but I think that is your best chance for success.
Like everybody else said, in the end it just depends on the particular dogs.

[classicsporthorses]

Well, we have always had multiple dogs of different breeds and had both males and females together. ALL are spayed/neutered.

We have never had a problem until more recently. We currently have 5 dogs, 3 males and two females. One of the males, who was more aged but not the oldest was the alpha male. He ruled the roost and actually raised one of the females, whom we got as a puppy.

He died in 2006 and the dynamic changed in our household, among them. The female he raised became the alpha female, and usurping the "power" of the existing alpha female. Interestingly enough, this did not happen right away. It took a number of months for the female alpha to change. We replaced our old dog with another male puppy, who I think is clueless about who ranks where.

With the females (the old alpha is pushing 14 years old) she stays in our bedroom and we coordinate who goes out when. We have another ancient dog, male, who thinks he is alpha but only with ONE of our other dogs, weird. Honestly, it's a real interesting mix in our household.

[cloudyandcallie]

It's personality not sex that determines whether all will get along or not.
I've had rescues and "bought" dogs, male and female, and I've had 2 male dogs separated by age and breed that got along like best friends, and I've had ones that had to argue to establish boundaries, and avoided each other except when barking at the fence together.

The females usually worked things out faster. But then some of my males and females didn't get along while some were best friends. I've had 2 alphas get along great, so I just gave up on trying to figure it up. Same with horses.

[Fairview Horse Center]

I always have females together, and sometimes not spayed. No fights.

[lcw579]

I think it depends on the personality of the dog. I have one female standard poodle and one mutt male. Older girl wasn't thrilled with new arrival at first but now she enjoys bossing him around. :)

As a kid we always had two. A male standard poodle and his mutt. Poodle was always dominant and all was well. In fact when the first poodle died my mother thought the mutt would enjoy being the only dog but instead he went into a depression. She got him a new poodle pup who grew up to be his "boss" and he was happy again. After the mutt died my mother got a second male standard puppy. Unfortunately as the new puppy got older he began to try to become the dominant dog and the fights were getting serious. My mother ended up rehoming the puppy before anyone got hurt. It was heartbreaking but the puppy ended up top dog in his own house and was much happier. Older dog didn't miss him at all and was quite happy as an only dog.

So my advice when adding a second dog would be to carefully judge the personality of the dogs involved.

[Bluey]

Poodles tend to be like that.
Most would not think to start a fight, they are too polite for that, but if someone else is not giving them the respect they think they deserve, they will demand it in no uncertain way and the offender will generally give in with a careful "yes, ma'm".;)

Grandma always had at least one small poodle and for all their lives, since they were puppies, toy poodles were indisputable boss of all, even dobies and rottie and kept the peace, no one ever thought to fight.
They were by birth "the one to be obeyed or else".:lol:
Then, so was Grandma.:cool:

[lcw579]

Bluey, you are so right about poodles and respect! None of our males would ever start a fight - but if another dog growled at them they sure would be the one to finish it! The barn owner when I was a kid loved having them around. Kept all the stray dogs away and they killed the groundhogs too. :lol:

[Carrera]

My parents breed Standard Poodles and usually have 3 intact girls in the house at the same time and we have never had a fight *knock on wood*. There is a pecking order that is followed, but they all get along great and are all related (daughter, mother, grand-mother)

[welshrider]

I have 2 standard poodle females and a peekapoo - also female. We were very careful when we brought in our sencond poodle that she was more submissive, as Ella is the boss. It worked like a charm and Ella has always mothered Zoe and peace reigns in the kingdom! Our peekapoo was a totally unplanned addition and as she is so much smaller I think she amuses the poodles with her tenacity and belief that she is their equal (in size). We haven't had any problems with 3 females, but then, poodles don't know they're dogs and the peekapoo is just too cute to get angry with!

[STNS]

We have 3, one male who is 11, daughter #1 who is 6 and daughter #2 who is 4. We've never had a fight however we have always been very careful with the politics - Mr. Man is #1 and everyone knows it, daughter #1 is mellow and gets along with everyone, and daugher #2 can have a bit of an attitude however she knows her place. Mister was always rather ambivalent towards little girl, although he has gone from tolerance to acceptance in the last couple years. Mister will play with older daughter but not the little girl, and little girl will play with older daughter, so it all seems to work.

[snkstacres]

Whew, lots of answers here. I would get a member of the opposite sex and then nueter him. Most altered male dogs are nonagressive but.........................there is nothing in the world worse than two alpha females. They seem to be worse when they are spayed for whatever reason.

Take it from someone who split there house in half hahahahahhaha honestly. I couldnt part with either so I didnt.

[yellowbritches]

It is more of finding the right mix of personalities than anything, but that being said, females can often be quite "bitchy" (pardon the pun) when together. My female is very alpha and you can expect a bit of a tussle if she encounters another alpha female. Boys, though, she LOVES, and gets along great with even very alpha, assertive males. If the females she encounters are submissive, she loves them, too (my brother and sister both have pretty submissive girl dogs and Stella adores both of them. I think it also helps that my brother's dog Stella has known since she was a tiny pup). So, you really got to do your research and try and let the potential pals hang out with one another. Most rescues are pretty good about that. Breeders, I don't know about, but they'd probably be more than happy discussing your dog's personality and make recommendations on pups they have that should grow up to be good matches. Be very honest about your dog's short comings when picking a new pal. Everyone needs to be happy and peaceful, and by denying that your dog might have a thing against little dogs, or hates males, or is easily bullied you are likely to end up with an unhappy home.

[Meredith]

My husband and I are thinking about adding a second dog and have an appointment to meet with a breeder this weekend. The puppies we will be seeing are only about 4-5 weeks old. What questions should we ask to help us determine personality traits?