# How long do i wait to see if 2 females will get along?



## sneed7 (May 3, 2010)

Molly is a 3 1/2 year old german shepherd mix. We adopted her about a year ago. We just brought home a 6 mo old german shepherd (another female, Caeli) 7 days ago. When i am trying to socialize them I have Caeli on the leash outside and Molly just goes around the yard as usual. She will come over to her and Caeli wants to play and Molly seems to get aggravated, but doing better with the barking now. I am not socializing them inside for now, as they tried to fight the other day. Now Molly will pass Caeli in the doorway going in and out...when Caeli comes in, Molly wants out and when Caeli goes out Molly will walk away from her usually. 

When I need a break I will put Caeli outside on a leash and Molly runs around the yard (wireless fence). If they were going to fight and hurt eachother wouldnt they do it then when I am not there to supervise? 

My husband thinks we should put them both on the wireless fence and see how it goes, supervising them but not on a leash...any suggestions?

Thanks,
Jessica


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## codmaster (Aug 5, 2009)

_You won't really know until the puppy matures into an adult; but you should have a pretty good idea how it will probably go after a few weeks/months._


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## MaggieRoseLee (Aug 17, 2001)

How much have you socialized Molly in the past? How well did she do with all those dogs over the past 3 years? Wash she more controlled in dog class with the other dogs? Or always leery there too?

Past behavior predicts current. So you can't expect a dog agressive dog to enjoy having a new dog in the house. While if your dog always does 100% with dogs that are also friendly, then it should work out for your dogs.

I have found it's WAY better to have the meetings and working out stress for new dogs OUTSIDE my home/yard. Too crowded in the new house. It's the older dogs home and they have habits in place a newbie won't know.

Instead, all the activities I can do OUTSIDE the home and even better in a neutral place to both dogs. My off leash walks with all dogs are a huge help. But if you haven't trained your dogs to be off leash, then even on leash, walking side by side in the same direction (with you in between ) helps the dogs work things out in a calmer situation.

EXERCISE EXERCISE EXERCISE will bring down the tension level for BOTH dogs. And set the dogs up to succeed by assuring there are never opportunities for a fight to start. NEVER leave them alone together while working this out, crates or closed doors if you have to leave. DOG CLASSES for the puppy!


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## Samba (Apr 23, 2001)

I limit puppy or young dog exposure time with the older dogs. Some older dogs tire of what can be constant pestering from a youngster. I don't expect them to accept all the puppy play if they are not enjoying it.

That being said, I have an older female who will not tolerate another female very well. She can't be left out with them, ever. Plenty of my friends have this situation, and it tends to be with females. 

I would do as MRL suggests as you work on progressing the relationship. I wouldn't turn them loose on home turf and just hope for the best!


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## sneed7 (May 3, 2010)

Molly was adopted a year ago from a shelter. I do not know about her exposure to other dogs prior to 2 1/2 years. Currently we have 4 neighbor dogs and she is pretty ok with 3 of them as long as they dont get too close to the kids. We ALWAYS keep them seperated from kids now, as i dont want them getting hurt. Molly has not been to training professionally, but knows basic commands and obeys them very well in. She will run off if not on a leash or wireless fence. Molly adjusted very well to the cat we got last august. 

Caeli is very obedient already. Walks beautifully on a leash, follows commands almost 100% of time with treats...a little less without. She knows sit, down, stay, come and this has all been taught by me in the last week. I am currently working on "gentle" as she will knock over the younger kids trying to play with them. We have decided to keep all socialization outside for now, but both sleep in the house at night, molly in my room on the floor and caeli in the crate. 

They are both wonderful dogs and listen very well. I am going to have Caeli in training, a friend of mine does the police dog training (forget what its called) and is going to help me with that. I am not having her trained for protection necessarily, although that is what we got her for...we live outside of town kinda in the woods and have had people on our property/porch late at night and Molly does nothing.

They do seem to get along better after the walks and we try to do that everyday, but that isnt always possible because my husband has to walk molly...she sucks on a leash! pulls everywhere, just bought choke chain to try to teach her, as we havent had success any other way. 

any other advice greatly appreciated!
Thanks,
Jessica


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## TxRider (Apr 15, 2009)

Why not teach them to get along?


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## sneed7 (May 3, 2010)

Thats my ultimate goal! Any suggestions? We are going on lots of walks and going to the park and things like that, places that are neutral territory to both dogs. Caeli only wants to play with Molly, but is getting to be a bit bigger than Molly. Molly isnt too crazy about the idea of Caeli jumping on her and her "puppy play". Molly tolerates it for a few seconds but looks at us like "get her off of me or i will". The good thing is Molly listens very well and is understanding that we will not tolerate any aggression towards Caeli.


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## Dejavu (Nov 11, 2010)

How did this work?

I'm worried because I have two females together (3 years and 13 months-old), they're mother and daughter and so far they're very attached to each other. But I know the puppy is still... a puppy, and I also know females tend to be aggressive towards other females.

Negra, the older one is intact and Lulu, the puppy, was spayed before her first heat.

I have been taking them for walks daily, the puppy has had some beginner training and everything I've learned with her I practice with her mom too. 
Now this is a huge problem for me, I do not live in the US, there are absolutely no trainers or anything like that close to me. The best I can do is a 1 - 1 1/2 hr trip to Petsmart where they have pet trainers, and I can't even do that too often. I know it's not the best choice but it's the best I can get. Besides whatever info I find online.

I've had no problems so far, but I fear that one day when my puppy reaches adulthood they'll start to fight. They have shown no aggression so far, whenever I see anything suspiciously close to that I stop them. They do play rough, but I see that as normal play.

Does anyone here have females that get along well? Any advice that I can get so I can avoid them fighting in the future?


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## Stosh (Jun 26, 2010)

Do you take them on walks together? That way they can be next to each other but not so focused on each other.


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## onyx'girl (May 18, 2007)

This thread is old, so my reply is to the new post/Ruth:
I have two females(both spayed and 2 yrs apart) that get along, though they have some tense moments where I have to diffuse the situation...it usually is resource guarding me. 
One of them is submissive to the other, but now and then will not back down, so I know things could escalate if I don't redirect them to something else. As far as I know they are fine when I'm not around. 
They are not crated or separated when we aren't home.
I adopted Kacie, then 21 mos(the submissive one) when Onyx was 5 months old. They were bonded very well until I fostered a male, then Onyx's maturity and Kacies confidence level has made them less best bud playmates and more just housemates. 
I have an intact 20 month old male, but he doesn't really factor in to their relationship. Though Onyx gets really jealous if she is inside/they are out, and she watches them play...she goes nuts to get out there and herd Kacie away from Karlo. All three play well together, I am really fortunate.
I do know that once/IF they do get into it(heaven forbid) they will hold a grudge forever...always in the back of my mind.


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## JKlatsky (Apr 21, 2007)

I know this seems like overkill- but I really have found this to be a very reliable and safe method for introducing a new dog into the house...ESPECIALLY if you have any concerns about how the dogs will get along. It's a nice slow approach that allows everyone to get comfortable with the idea of someone new in the house before expecting any interactions. I use a modified version of this anytime I bring a new puppy into the house.

Leerburg | Introducing a Dog into a Home with other Dogs


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