The Gender Balance

[Macha]

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I have three male dogs. They now get on quite well. If and when number 4 joins the pack, I wonder whether it would be better to have a dog or a bitch. We often hear and read advice that the easiest pair to keep together is a dog and a bitch (providing at least one of them is neutered) but I don't remember discussions of what is the best mix of genders if you are going to keep 3 or more dogs.

I also wonder whether 2 unneutered males might fall out over a bitch when she is NOT in season or even over a spayed bitch? Do neutered males ever compete for a bitch's friendship (after all, they do compete for human attention, for instance to get petted or to cuddle up beside the favoured human!)

 

[Whippets Rule]

we have three dogs,all neutered and one bitch also neutered.....never ever had a fight between the boys over anything other than food...we've had two fights in thriteen years..one about five years ago when I left the kitchen door open at feed time and two got together to share food(Badger doesn't share food) and one around two years ago when I did the same thing...stoopid me!!

We started off with one boy, added three more boys over five years and then added the evil bitch..never a cross word between any of them other than the usual..grab annoying puppy by the face and make it scream until it goes away...once any newbie understands the rules it's always been plain sailing...personally I don't think it matters what sex you add as long as everyone knows their place and knows what is and isn't acceptable behaviour.

I think it's more about personality than gender.

 

[FeeFee]

I think several dogs can get along OK, but I'd personally avoid having several bitches with no dog to balance things.

Ideally I like to have a balanced 'pack'. I have 3 bitches and two dogs here with a range of ages and sizes from small terrier to large lurcher, and they are fantastic together - but they are all very easy-going dogs, I couldn't really say that any of them is in any way dominant of the others and there is no friction at all between them. Considering they've all come as adult dogs at different times from very different backgrounds I'm very lucky they've all worked out together so well.

 

[wishbone]

Hormones really have great affect on dog's behavior, most specially of male dogs into a not neutered female dog. It's better to have all dogs fixed and you have to look for anyone that may stand and try to be leader of the pack. It's normal but just make sure there are no bad aggression between them and ensure you are still the boss over them.

 

[nicky12]

i have 7 dogs living together 2dogs 5bitches and they all get on fine they all live in my house ,althou i think we may struggle if we tryed to introduce an older dog as my ollie and blue are very protective over the bitches , although i think they may be ok with a puppy wev had few arguments but all in all they alll get on fine

 

[FionaS]

We have 3 (was 4 with Dolly 4 1/2 yr old bitch whippet), then Mojo came a year later neutered dog (now 3/12 years old) and then this year came Runa IG bitch 9 months when we got her (1 year now) neutered and Maya IG bitch (2/1/2 months when we got her) now 6 months and wil be neutered when ready.

We have had no problems with any of the dogs getting on Mojo is a very laid back male whippy and takes everything in his stride and we have never had any fights at all.

They all know their place and are very happy with each other.

I also thibk it depends on having the right personality dog to fit in with your pack and having the right attitude when introducing them and having the right enery dog to match the others.

Since Dolly tragically being taken away from us we have thought briefly about having another whippy to be with Mojo but as Mojo is quite sensitive and has just taken over the leader role from Dolly we don't want to put him under any pressure.

 

[Hula]

Can't really offer much help as I only have bitches but never had any problems between them and have had up to 5 at any one time