Two Bitches Together?

[Sophieandgracie]

Hi everyone - still new here but wanted some advice - we have an 18 month old Spaniel (a bitch) and are hoping to get a German Shepherd puppy in the next few weeks. We had wanted another girl as we love the generally more *feminine* temperament of the females but a GSD breeder was quoted on another forum as saying to never get a female puppy with another female dog in the house

Are we asking for trouble? WE really would prefer to get another girl but still have time to choose another puppy if we have to.

[mita]

Can you ask the GSD breeder for more info on why she gave that opinion? Must be something in her experience which has led her to that conclusion.

We've had 2 females as desexed pets ever since we've had tibbies. Before that we always had working breeds....one male & one female.

Our females tibs have been retired showdogs. There might have been a little minor argy bargy when they first came together. But soon they settled in to becoming devoted to each other. Our biggest problem has then been, how a surviving one has fretted with grief when her 'sister' has passed on.

[Dust Angel]

It really depends, we have three bitches in this house two desexed and one not (mains register show dog). Flute (undesexed 14 month old bitch) gets along with everyone.

Sienna and Lunar used to get along really well and will tolerate being in the same room together now however as they have had a fight previously we are extremely careful in the situation they are mixed together in. There is a lot of shuffling goes on during the say but we make it work and everyone is happy. Lunar is a rescue dog who had an appalling first five years of life and so has issues that have slowly decreased in time but will never truly be solved.

[corvus]

Can it work? Yes. Would I try it? Probably not. Unless my resident was friendly and non-confrontational towards other dogs and I was getting a breed that was known to be much the same and the sizes of both dogs would be profoundly different. That's me. I've lived with warring females trying to kill each other and it was extremely horrible. I would never take that risk lightly.

ETA my mother has two females that are closer in size than I would generally be comfortable with, but her resident female was much more comfortable with other females than males, and was also quite soft and not very interested in fighting, so it made sense and has worked out fine.

Edited April 26, 2010 by corvus

[GoldenGirl85]

Ive never had a problem having two bitches together, provided that you pick a pup which will hopefully have the right temperament to get along with the existing dog you shouldnt have a problem

[Kajtek]

YES I have two girls and they love each other completely.

My boof boy joined us last year (major foster failure). Although he is much adored by everyone, I cannot see anything or anyone breaking the special relationship the 2 gals share.

[ish]

It can work, but you need to have a good think about what you're going to do if it doesn't. Bitches can be friends for years and all of a sudden have a tiff and from that point on, not be able to stand the sight of each other. I've got 2 GSD bitches who hate each other with a passion, and we've had 2 very serious fights - I am forever double checking doors etc now so its a constant stress. One of these bitches is fine with my other GSD girls, plays and runs with no problems but I never leave them together unsupervised or drop my guard.

Will you be ok with building a run to keep them separate, or rehoming one if that doesn't work? A male would be easier in many repects. Male GSDs a bit sooky smooches many times

[Sophieandgracie]

Thank you Mita. Perhaps it is different if they are undesexed? I think the breeder was referring to two entire bitches but I would have thought if they were both desexed and introduced as young as our two are - then it should be fine???

[Cosmolo]

I have 3 bitches and 2 dogs- yes it can work. BUT, its not something i would generally recommend for those who have the choice. If you do decide to do it, carefully consider your leadership abilities as well as how much training etc you will be doing as i believe this has a significant impact. Have you had a multi dog household before?

[Rebanne]

I kept GSD bitches together for over 25 years with never a problem ( different ones ) mostly desexed at 6 months but one was entire until 3. My entire greyhound bitch I have to watch with the smaller cross bred, speyed, bitch and I had to return a speyed greyhound bitch due to her attitude to my smaller bitch. So sometimes it work very well with no work, sometimes it works very well with a little bit of hard work, sometimes it is ok with a lot of hard work and sometimes it doesn't work at all.

[Clyde]

Thank you Mita. Perhaps it is different if they are undesexed? I think the breeder was referring to two entire bitches but I would have thought if they were both desexed and introduced as young as our two are - then it should be fine???

I don't believe desexing makes a difference with bitches, it's more with the boys.

[Dogsfevr]

I don't believe desexing makes a difference with bitches, it's more with the boys.

Yep agree.

How social is the spaniel.how much exposure has she had to big dogs that are females??

will they be both house or outside dogs??

You do need to look at her temp & limits around other dogs & then match accordingly.

My friend breed GSD & i had a male who i found to be way more tolerate around smaller dogs than there girls

[tdierikx]

I have 2 alpha temp girls here - Rotti X is 10 years old - Labrador is 4 years old. They have had their odd fights, but are generally very content with each other's company. Both were desexed when they were 2 years old, and the Lab was introduced as a puppy.

I've had a few bitches that were quite happy with each other and had no scraps at all.

I have also had intact males running fine together.

I foster puppies up to 6 months old, and they tend to fit in just fine too...

T.

[Kirty]

I have three desexed girls and one boy, and they are all fine. My oldest girl has become quite bossy with the youngest girl, but its not aggressive. She is just a party pooper and if the young girl starts to have fun, the older one steps in and tells her off! The younger girls are both submissive to the oldest though, not sure what would happen if they were more dominant themselves.

[Dogsfevr]

Entire stud male with other dogs

[Andisa]

I have 3 entire bitches who run together- 2 Rottweilers and 1 pug.

Best advise I can give is to make sure you have runs set up for when you need them. Some dogs will always get along but others just won't. When your not home to supervise them then keep them apart - easiest and safest option for all.

My 3 girls spend day/night together - the only time they are apart is meal time or sometimes if I am going out. They eat treats together and share from one bowl - but when bones are on the menu (daily here) then it's best for all that they are on their own. If I wanted to change this I am sure I could work on it - but to me there is no need - separate runs for bones and all are safe.

It was not always as easy as it is now - the young rottie bitch has taken a bit of "breaking in" by Lizzy (pug). They all know the house rules and must stick with them or they could not live together as well as they do. She has gone through the challenging stage trying to dominate her mother - but I am on that at the first sign of trouble and she is made aware that it is not on. Most of the time when I am going out all 3 girls remain together - sometimes the young bitch will be locked up.

I have the son/brother (entire) of the girls here now and if he was staying I would be running them together - he can run with Lizzy and is great with other dogs. I am sure with a bit of effort he could be one of the pack again, when all are inside there is only a baby gate separating him from them - if they wanted to have a go at each other the gate would be useless.

Good luck.

[Loving my Oldies]

I have three desexed girls and one boy, and they are all fine. My oldest girl has become quite bossy with the youngest girl, but its not aggressive. She is just a party pooper and if the young girl starts to have fun, the older one steps in and tells her off! The younger girls are both submissive to the oldest though, not sure what would happen if they were more dominant themselves.

OMG - Danny is like that. He is the Fun Police . However, in the last few days, he has started to play with Kisho and Tamar which is great to see.

I honestly believe how well dogs get on has less to do with gender and more to do with individual personalities and the general ambience of the household - not quite the word I'm looking for, but can't think of the right one at the moment .

I have no direct experience, but just from reading on DOL, it would appear that some breeds are more prone to same sex jealously and fighting.

I had a male dog (4 years old and desexed) stay with me last Friday and the only one of my six dogs who proved a problem was ancient Mufti who was barking in visitor's face!! I had to remove Mufti from the scene a couple of times, naughty boy .

[newfsie]

I have 3 bitches and 2 dogs- yes it can work. BUT, its not something i would generally recommend for those who have the choice. If you do decide to do it, carefully consider your leadership abilities as well as how much training etc you will be doing as i believe this has a significant impact. Have you had a multi dog household before?

When i first got my rescue newf bitch, she tried to kill our other bitch....People said they would never be able to live in the same household again ( a behaviorist vet included) But i went to a dog trainer who changed our way of being with dogs and we have a great pack now. Three bitches all friends. And if any little grumbles happen, we go into dog training mode, side by side, and all works well again. We now have three girls......Two newfs and one Golden X Border. Life is happy hear, though we do a lot of dog training every week and we have rules in the house

[~Shepherd~]

2 bitches here. Best mates WGSD and Whippet. All the neighbours have bitches too.

[twodoggies2001]

When we were contemplating getting a second dog for the household, (we already had one male), I asked our vet and her reply was the best mix is one male and one bitch, the second is two males and the third is two bitches. We opted for two males and have never had a problem. On the other hand, the breeder of one of my boys had mother and daughter and at one stage, the daughter turned on her mother and almost killed her. From then on it was a shuffling game. Personally, I would find that too stressful. I would want to live in peace and harmony and not have to look over my shoulder so to speak. I don't think it would be too good for the dogs involved either.