Dog Community

Two girls??

Posted : 7/17/2006 7:21:36 PM

Is it true that two female dogs will not get along well?? I find this hard to believe, as my dog usually tolerates female dogs better than males.
If we ever get a second dog, my mom wants it to be another female. This won't cause a problem, will it??

Katie M.

Posted : 7/17/2006 7:53:20 PM

The idea is that you can run into aggression *easier* with same sex dogs, especially the girls. I think it depends on several factors:

1 - breed (certain breeds can tend to have same sex issues)
2 - repro status (spayed or intact)
3 - age (how old is the present dog vs new dog)
4 - temperament (submissive or assertive)

I've had several females together at various stages over the years and have never had a problem, but I know some people on here have horror stories. You just want to be sure that your girl likes other girls -- ALL GIRLS, not just a select few - and that you choose a compatible breed/temperament roommate for her.

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Posted : 7/17/2006 8:01:08 PM

Its not so much as a LAW of dog ownership but more of a precaution. Having them well trained, spayed, and healthy are always your best deffense.

jennie_c_d

Posted : 7/17/2006 8:01:41 PM

All I have to say is there's a reason they call them bitches

Seriously, in my (limited) experience, girls are more uptight and snippier than boys, and more likely to fuss and fight. Of course, my dogs are terriers, so they're uptight, to begin with.

rwbeagles

Posted : 7/17/2006 8:06:09 PM

I have Beagles...a VERY easy going breed. Prior to that I had Akitas a very NON easygoing breed...with other dogs.

My Beagle bitches have fought.....pretty seriously and without stopping until physically made to do so....both were barely pregnant at the time. Hormones can play havoc with normally placid bitches. I would definitely...if you are not interested in going about breeding in a serious responsible way....have both fixed, BEFORE any heat cycles. You will have less problems that way...and get an easy going non-quarrelsome breed....ditto!

Males can fight and get along afterwards...bitches can IMO never be trusted again with a bitch they have fought with seriously. It's a grudge they can hold forever it seems! I kept my Beagle girls apart until one was rehomed upon retirement. Now I have 3 girls total...2 pups and a 3y/o....we'll see!

glenmar

Posted : 7/17/2006 8:20:35 PM

In my experience, the boys will posture and jostle and then go back to life as usual. The girls, on the other hand, will fight to the death and have to be physically pryed apart...and then that's NOT always the end of it....they'll go back after one another with NO provocation....as Gina said, as if they are holding a lifetime grudge.

cakana

Posted : 7/17/2006 10:11:41 PM

Yep, I have the horror stories to share too. I will never, ever do it again, but I love both my girls and we're making it work. I can vouch for it being a female/female issue because Buffy got along for several years with our male lab, Jake. Never did it occur to us to consider sex when we rescued Sassy. Buffy was already spayed and Sassy was spayed the day before we brought her home. Didn't seem to matter with these two and if you'd have witnessed it, you'd have sworn they were 2 teenage, PMSing, females. Some days they were buddies and playing with each other and then the next day, bam! - they'd be fighting over an old toy. They haven't had a fight since last Sept., so I feel much better about things now, but I was a phone call away from rehoming Sassy for the first 2 years. Unless you've lived with it, you really can't imagine.

jensw

Posted : 7/17/2006 10:21:00 PM

Males can fight and get along afterwards...bitches can IMO never be trusted again with a bitch they have fought with seriously. It's a grudge they can hold forever it seems!

Gee, that sounds exactly like the classroom - from Kindergarten through high school LOL! [sm=lol.gif]

Xeph

Posted : 7/17/2006 10:53:53 PM

Like the others have said, female x female can be horrid.

With boys, it's usually a brief fight over rank...bitches mean business! They're not taking ANY shiznit, and they WILL kill each other if left to their own devices! Things can seem fine at home, and you can have two girls out on the floor, and one can just decide "I remember when she..." And go after her, even though the other girl may be doing nothing other than laying quietly.

I plan on breeding eventually...I'm likely going to have multiple bitches...we'll see what happens

Mia

Posted : 7/18/2006 10:43:23 AM

Well, I guess I'll just have to give my story too. Never had a problem with our females coexisting. However, all were spayed, all were at least 2 years apart in age, all were fairly well trained, and none were extreme alphas. Breeds were an Australian Shepherd, Lab/Shep mix, and Pointer X. For a long time our biggest requirement in a dog was that it be female.

For a very short time we housed an extremely undersocialized German shepherd female who wanted very badly to attack the other dogs, but she would try to attack any dog, so it wasn't a female-female specific problem. She also wanted to eat cats, and any other small animal she encountered.

However, I have had problems with other peoples females trying to dominate mine. Mostly mine just ignore it. All the ones we had trouble with were other females, but none of them were ours, and most had very alphaish tendencies, and on average were not very well trained. Two were cocker spaniels, and one is a golden retriever.

I will admit until the most recent pup none of our dogs have been male in over 20 years. Our newest dog is a male, was neutered early by the rescue and is the most submissive dog we've had. And he gets along fine with who we have now, though he does pester the pointer to play.

I'll agree with everyone that two females have the potential to be problematic, but they won't automatically be a problem. Some dogs just don't get along.

fuzzy_dogs_mom

Posted : 7/18/2006 12:02:01 PM

[][] Jen, that's just what I was thinking. That sounded more like human females than dogs. Girls just seem to hold that grudge forever, even when they can't even remember what started it.

Joyce

Melaney B.

Posted : 7/18/2006 12:10:14 PM

I think it truly matters on the dominance of the dog itself. Is she an easy going dog or a more dominant dog? you can usually tell this on how she "treats" her owner or if she's been with other dogs and how she reacted to them (females of course).

diane303

Posted : 7/18/2006 12:20:19 PM

I have three females. Socks is 17. No one messes with Socks, she is almost totally blind and deaf and very wobbly, but she is the dowager queen. Trudy, my 2 y.o. setter (see avatar) is my precocious brat. She is annoying sometimes but never malicious. Grace, my 2 y.o. rescued pointer is the mediator. Socks loves her because Grace shows her respect and affection and she controls Trudy with her calm assertive style. We call her Saint Grace of Paw Paw Street. The funny thing is that even though she seems to be able to calm Trudy, she follows Trudy's lead and will lay her head on Trudy's butt or touch Trudy's legs when they are resting. Trudy will race around and come up to Grace, look her in the face and kiss her nose. It's very interesting to watch their interaction.

I have to say that, as the goddess of the house, Even the Socks the queen knows that she defers to moi.[

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Melaney B.

Posted : 7/18/2006 12:32:05 PM

in most cases, like the wolf instint in them, there is always going to be a dominant one the "alpha female" she will be the controlling one adn all that. If your friends dog shows any aggression towards other dogs or is just aggressive herself, there is a good chance she will be very cruel towards the new pup if she doesn't respect her leadership.

diane303

Posted : 7/18/2006 1:13:37 PM

Pooch_luvr - YOU have to be the alpha. If you have a dog that pushes everyone else around, YOU have to set her straight by making it clear that SHE is NOT the boss.