Originally Posted by matese  If you're concerned about marking then get a female.
My boy was neutered about 8 months old, he was house broken when I got him. He came with a bag of belongings, in that bag was a pee pad so I knew he used them. I do have a pad down for him ALL THE TIME, in 3 years he used it once. He prefers to make out doors. He squats, no leg hiking. If I walk him he will hike his leg, in the yard he does not. That is why he is PERFECT for me lol.
I have only had female dogs, I raised them from 8 weeks old. I had a pack of 3, all 3 years apart. My 3rd baby was bossy, and aggressive towards my 2 older girls, she wanted to be # 1. She was my smallest weighing in at 9 pounds as an adult, the 2 older ones were 13 pounds,very sweet passive girls. The baby was very dominant, I was able to train the aggressiveness and dominance out of her, and teach her I WAS THE PACK LEADER, not HER lol. But she was a baby, not a rescue, I trained her not someone else.
In most rescues they do allow a meet and greet where you can see if both dogs are friendly towards each other. But, that is not to say they will stay friendly once they share the same roof, toys, yard, humans. There is NO guarantee they will always get along, that also holds true if you buy a baby, raise it yourself, that baby can be aggressive and dominant towards the other dog.
Older dogs (over 1 yo old) usually do not chew furniture, chewing is usually done when a baby is teething. That has been my experience in raising 8 puppies.
I can understand all your concerns in adopting a rescue, it's a chance you take in adopting and having another dog in the same house. There is no guarantee you will get exactly what you want, a perfect, well mannered, well adjusted, non aggressive, non dominant dog.
You may be better off getting a female puppy, go through the house training, teething stage, raise her the they you want her to be, there is more of a guarantee she will be more of what you want. |