# Same sex dogs?



## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

Benny will be 3 in April and I am planning to add a new pup to our family which includes Jake, (DH's 2 year old neutered Borzoi). 

I hope to add the pup this year, but may need to wait if DH is not quite onboard. I plan on having a male because Benny is semi intact (had his retained testicle removed). Benny gets along great with Jake, who readily accepts his higher rank. 

Before we had Benny and Jake, my former male GSD, Eli, lived happily with our son's male intact APBT. From what I have read, two males are easier than two females.

I am interested in hearing from those who have dogs of the same sex.


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## BlackCat (Sep 22, 2011)

I have 3 dogs, all neutered. The old man of the family is Silver, my Norwegian Elkhound. The pups are 9 months old, male and female. The biggest factor I see is age, not sex. Silver is top dog because he is the adult. The pups defer to him and chase each other.


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## Emoore (Oct 9, 2002)

I've always had two males. Never an issue. Not to say there can't be an issue-- there certainly can-- but I think the overall incidence of aggression is lower between males than females. I think having at least one of the males neutered helps decrease the chance for aggression even more.


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

I don't worry so much if they are males. Females are a WHOLE nuther ballgame!!

Of course problems can arise no matter the gender of the individuals, and IMO, the higher the number of dogs total, the greater chance that you will have issues.

Benny gets along with Jake, but how would Benny be with a dominant male? (Since you never know how a puppy will act when it reaches adulthood.)


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I have two females(spayed) and one male(neutered) and so far so good. I think a lot depends on the inter action they get early on. From what I'm seeing with my 7 yr old female and my 5 month old female they have determined between themselves that the older one is the "boss"...Knock on wood no fights, the older one has put the puppy in her place but the puppy doesn't always back down and surprisingly the older one lets it go I will continue to supervise any play times because if a fight is going to break out that is where it will be. They are fine with food...the older one backs down and lets the puppy eat. They are good with sharing toys too...the male is the toy hoarder


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

Emoore said:


> .... but I think the overall incidence of aggression is lower between males than females.


I agree, especially if you don't have any females for the males to "argue" over.

Males fight for BREEDING rights. Females fight for BREATHING rights!!

Males generally make lots of noise when fighting, (which is often more like a argument, rather than a serious out for blood brawl.) but don't usually really hurt eachother. And they can fight one minute and be right back to being buddies the next. Females will try to KILL eachother. And they hold a grudge!!!


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

llombardo said:


> I have two females(spayed) and one male(neutered) and so far so good. I think a lot depends on the inter action they get early on. From what I'm seeing with my 7 yr old female and my 5 month old female they have determined between themselves that the older one is the "boss"...Knock on wood no fights, the older one has put the puppy in her place but the puppy doesn't always back down and surprisingly the older one lets it go I will continue to supervise any play times because if a fight is going to break out that is where it will be. They are fine with food...the older one backs down and lets the puppy eat. They are good with sharing toys too...the male is the toy hoarder


Generally fights are between ADULT females. Things are "hunky dory" UNTIL the youngest becomes an adult and decides she isn't going to be bossed around by the older female any more. Doesn't always happen of course, but if it's going to, thats usually when it is.

The young ones "puppy pass" likely hasn't expired yet.


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## Debbieg (Jun 7, 2009)

BlackGSD said:


> I agree, especially if you don't have any females for the males to "argue" over.
> 
> Males fight for BREEDING rights. Females fight for BREATHING rights!!
> 
> Males generally make lots of noise when fighting, (which is often more like a argument, rather than a serious out for blood brawl.) but don't usually really hurt eachother. And they can fight one minute and be right back to being buddies the next. Females will try to KILL eachother. And they hold a grudge!!!


]

We do not and will not have any unspayed females.

My hope is that as the pup grows up with Benny and learns the rules from me they will both respect one another. ( because I am the dominate B****)  I would definitely be watching their interactions closely. 

Benny is dominate over Jake but seems to be more middle of the pack when with other dogs.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

BlackGSD said:


> Generally fights are between ADULT females. Things are "hunky dory" UNTIL the youngest becomes an adult and decides she isn't going to be bossed around by the older female any more. Doesn't always happen of course, but if it's going to, thats usually when it is.
> 
> The young ones "puppy pass" likely hasn't expired yet.


Yep I've been there and done that, so that is why they are supervised. I watch them carefully and I stop the playing when things are not going how I want them. I will not let their playing get out of hand and at the end of the day...I am the dominant female and they know it


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

I have 5 gsd's. Two males intact (one is young, about to turn one) and 3 females, one intact (just had one of the others spayed). I have been a muliti dog household for 30 yrs and I have yet to have any same sex issues with any of my dogs (or between genders). My girls get along great with each others, as do my boys.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

All of my dogs get along with each other. Whisk is friendly with strange females, but he doesn't play too well with strange males. I don't think he would have a problem if he grew up with another male or female. But he's also a dominant intact male so I don't have any delusions that he will play happy with other intact males. 

My females are nutjobs :wild: They are very jealous and snappy to ANY other dogs male or female. The biggest issue with bringing a new dog in would be the girls getting into it...


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## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

I have a 3 month old GSD female. I plan on getting her spayed when she's old enough. I have my heart set on getting another GSD when she's grown up. Am I better off getting a male or female? I would really love a boy


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## BlackGSD (Jan 4, 2005)

JoMichelle said:


> I have a 3 month old GSD female. I plan on getting her spayed when she's old enough. I have my heart set on getting another GSD when she's grown up. Am I better off getting a male or female? I would really love a boy


A male would be best.


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## TriadGSD (Feb 19, 2011)

glad this Thread was made ,i have a Male neutered cat and a 13 month old male neutered GSD i was thinking of getting another GSD later on after this one matures but thinking of female from a rescue. but now maybe another male instead


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## sashadog (Sep 2, 2011)

TriadGSD said:


> glad this Thread was made ,i have a Male neutered cat and a 13 month old male neutered GSD i was thinking of getting another GSD later on after this one matures but thinking of female from a rescue. but now maybe another male instead


It's not that females are inherently hard to get along with, it's that females can show more same sex aggression, not just aggression in general. If you have a male at home, you'd probably be fine adopting a female. I think the general consensus is that mixed genders are usually best, that is a generalization of course, many females are just fine with each other. Mine aren't and I learned my lesson the hard way. Never have two females again.


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## JoMichelle (Jan 20, 2012)

So obviously you can't tell if they will get on until they both hit maturity? What do you do if two dogs you love can't get along? Is rehoming one the only option? I think I'll definitely go with male and female if that's the best chance of success. Couldn't bear having to rehome a dog I loved.


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## qbchottu (Jul 10, 2011)

You can cycle the dogs inside and outside or you can cycle them with crating. Many people with multiple dogs (4+) will do this


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## BowWowMeow (May 7, 2007)

If I were to get another dog I would get a female because Rafi does a lot of posturing with other bigger male dogs (even dogs he knows really well). He does much better with females. That is Rafi though, other dogs have been different. Honestly, I have lived with every combo (including 3 females) without any problems.


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## Konotashi (Jan 11, 2010)

I know I've told this story a million times, but we had 2 Frenchies, male, littermates, neutered. After a while, they would start to get into vicious fights. We had to rehome one of them because it wasn't fair to anyone that they fought like that, constantly. I think it was more to do with their age than the fact they were male, though. 

Gracie (pit bull) and Sania (lab), both females, cannot be together, period. Sania's roughly 14 years old. We were fostering Gracie (5 years), and my mom caved and adopted her. We fostered her for about 4 months with no issues. Not even a week after the adoption was final, Sania went after Gracie, and since then, we have had to keep gates throughout the house to keep them separate. Not baby gates, but metal gates that latch and are screwed into the wall. Gracie is fine with other dogs, but as soon as they display aggression toward her, it's fair game as far as she's concerned.


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## mebully21 (Nov 18, 2011)

at one point i had 1 female and 2 males, all speutered. the dogs got along great only due to me supervising and their personalities ( 2 brought in as 8 week old pups one dog brought in at 6 1/2 years old when female was 6 months old, then 2nd pup brought in when female was 1 1/2 years old and male was 7 1/2... 

now i have one male dog and 2 females, all speutered.. the 16 yr old dalmation is seperated only when we are not home only due to her age , the 9 1/2 yr old and almost 2 yr old are fine (male/female)

dynamics can change at any time, mostly at maturity.. alot of people crate/rotate or room/rotate if the dogs dont get along. littermates can sometimes not get along once mature and sometimes littermate fights can be very very bad. you can also have opposite sex fights as well, while rare, they do happen. same sex fights are more common.. some male/male fights are worse then female/female fights.

my male dog holds grudges now that he is older.

each dog is different, and you are really better off bringing an adult dog into a house with another dog as adult dogs what you see is what you get, their temperment is set, and there are really no suprises with an adult dog as what you can get with a puppy. my almost 2 year old female i brought into my house at 1 yr 3 months old with my 9 year old male pitx to make sure there were no DA issues with the female . i could have brought a puppy in, but i wanted a set temperment to go by due to my male being dog selective .

what works for one might not work for another, just make sure it works for you and your house/dog


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## Mashirorima (Feb 22, 2012)

I don't think i can ever have two female dogs again. They were medium sized mutts, and god. It was a literal bloodbath. Several times a week. The more dominant one would rip the other one to shreds. The people who got in the way? Their hands didn't even look like hands anymore. More like raw hamburger. We had to take one to the vet hospital because the dominant one had literally ripped off her eye lid. It was a horrific experience. Both dogs are now rehomed. Due to kids who used to live with us.

I loved them to bits. But i will never make that mistake again. So same sex dogs? Not my cup of tea. But i think we could've handled it better if there weren't four little children staying there. 

So our little girl we have now will have no other doggie companions.


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