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Originally Posted by Squiter  We are ready to get Sophie our 10-month old female yorkie a playmate. I have searched the archives and am just not finding the information I am looking for...
I personally would like to get another female, but upon asking the breeder for her opinion she said that she would get a male as two females can at time butt heads so to speak. The breeder does have one male and one female available so it is not like she is trying to "sell" one over the other.
Anyway...what are your opinions. Those of you who have two females do they get along with one another? Do they battle for the top spot?
I am really torn over this. My Sophie is my little princess and I certainly don't want her to think she has been replaced. But on the other hand I would like for her to have a playmate and fur friend as well. However, don't get me wrong, the new puppy will be equally adored and not in the least bit slighted!
Sophie is somewhat (alright, a lot) spoiled! I am a stay-at-home mom to school aged children, so it is just Sophie and I home together during the day.
Should I go with my heart and my gut feeling...or am I asking for trouble if I bring in another female?
What are your opinions? What are the pros and cons of having two females? What are the pros and cons of having one of each?
And...no matter what we choose, we will of course spay or neuter!
Oh! Please help me!
Jana |
The big reason that most people do not recommend getting two dogs of the same sex is "pack mentality." One dog will always fight to be top dog, and two females may be in constant battle to be the dominant female. You can have two females and have absolutely no problems - but you can have two females that rarely get along.
Growing up we had a lot of dogs in our house. Two owned by us mini. schnauzer and a greyhound - both females. Lady the schnauzer was super dedicated to being the top dog in the house, and every time our greyhound Dutchess stood up she did everything she possibly could to make that clear by jumping on Dutchess's back. Most of the time they were good friends because Dutchess was the mellow dog I have ever met - but it got really rough sometimes too and the fighting semi-often became play fighting. When we started fostering greyhounds and brought more females into the house it became a lot rougher - as Lady had a lot more larger dogs to fight over dominance with. We never had any serious injuries, but there were definite squabbles that were serious and dogs came away with nips and scratches. We never had an issue with dominance and the male dogs. Lady lived to be 15 years old, and I can't remember a day in the 12 years she lived with other dogs that we didn't have some large show of dominance over another female and no efforts at training ever made a difference. (It was the one behavioral issue we had with her before she got dementia and its not even something we can fault her for.)
I often contemplate getting my Winston another dog to play with (on top of me wanting another dog to play with lol). From a personal perspective - I'll be getting a female, simply just because not having intersex dominance to deal with makes things easier. I could very easily get another male and never have issues, but I'd rather what will most likely smoother road and get another dog of the opposite sex.
Is there a particular reason you want to get another female?