If 2 dogs, both same gender or 1 of each?

[BWVDenise]

Just curious to know what is best/easier to have: 2 females, or 1 female and 1 male, or doesn't it matter?

 

[FreshTressa]

I like one of each...then you get to know what both are like and they tend to fight less.

BUT, dogs are such individuals, you can't make any guarantees by sexes.

 

[texasthree]

We have 2 females from the same litter and they fight about once a year. I think they are going to kill each other its that bad. I would never get 2 of the same gender again. I had never seen dogs fight before they did it the first time and its horrible. We try and get them apart asap but we dont put ourselves in harms way either. Now the rest of the year they are best friends......go figure.

 

[horseshowmom]

I've had it both ways and never really noticed a difference. It always depended more on the pet's personality than their sex.

Right now, the two at my feet are one of each. Prior to getting the male, we had a female (who died unexpectedly) with the other female we have.

 

[SPAM]

i have a brown lab boy and a red lab girl and they get along really well, they used to fight more when he was a puppy but now they like each other. he cleans out her ears all the time. lol.

 

[heidica]

I've always read 1 of each is the best way to go and this is the advice we took when getting our vizsla puppy. We already had a spayed female dog of mixed breed and we made sure we got a male puppy. Has worked out great and I would do it again. The puppy has gotten the older dog to play again and be more active. There are times you can tell our older dog is a little annoyed by the puppy and when we first brought the puppy home we got the "silent" treament from her for about a week but no real fighting, not once. They both have different "play" styles and it is really funny to watch them play.

 

[kaylajr]

We have 2 male labs 3 years apart in age

no problems with fighting at all

 

[magicmouse2]

We have a German Shepherd male dog and MIL has his brother, who spends most of his time at our house. They only play fight or have the odd quick snarle at each other. They play most of the time or sleep. No problems.

 

[DVC Sadie]

We have 2 labs and a boxer, all are female and no problems fighting.

 

[Obi-Wan Pinobi]

I think it will boil down to the personality of the dog you currently have - whether they prefer the same or opposite sex. Take your dog out to areas that have a lot of dogs and see if there is a trend in which sex he prefers.

Either way, eventually they will warm up to each other. Lauri had a dog that hated all other dogs. She brought a Samoyed into the house and her other dog gave her the cold shoulder for about a year and then gave up and started liking her.

If you are talking about bringing two puppies in at the same time, I don't think it will really matter because they will grow up together.

 

[CJMickeyMouse]

We have two male labs that are littermates. Their personalities are like night and day, one is laid back and just loves to be petted, while the other loves to play and fight constantly.

That said, they get along perfectly - never more than play fighting.

My 100+ pound babies will be four on April Fool's Day!

 

[Shugardrawers]

Opposite sexes will have less issues with being the Alpha dog (VERY important in the dog world to be the Alpha). What you really need to look more for is personality rather than sex. If one of your dogs is more passive than the other they'll do best. If you already have a dog at home be prepared for some territory battles no matter what sex they are.