Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by christy fry on April 30, 2010 at 1:33pm

Jordan was a little over a year when we brought Teagen(she's about 1 now) and they got along famously up until about 2 months ago when disputes starting breaking out between them but Teagen isn't a dumb puppy anymore running around going love me, love me to the other dogs she coming into her own and I guess the pack is adjusting. So I'd say go for it but be prepared for some disputes..I certainly wasn't and was a little shocked when they started happening but adjustments have been made and calm has started to settle back in. I get a little magazine called WHOLE DOG JOURNAL it has an artical about inter-pack aggression/ how to promotepack peace maybe you could find it and read the article.

Permalink Reply by Roger/Laurie on April 30, 2010 at 2:03pm

We got our second corgi when he was 6 months old. Our first corgi was 14 months old when Tenby arrived. Tenby had been in a cage his entire life, very little human contact and really messed up.
In my opinion the hardest part will be adjusting the new dog to a "good" family and lifestyle. It took us a year to potty train and 2 years to get him mentally straight. We love him so much and maybe it is because we had to work so hard. It wasn't easy, there were days (weeks) we thought we had made a mistake bring him home. We do think that our older well adjusted dog Chepstow was very helpful in Tenby's education and development. Chepstow was bossy and Tenby followed him like a little brother would. Today they are best buddies and yes they have their fights like siblings do. We don't know what we would do without our "boys".
We had Tenby neutered 4 days after he arrived, don't think that added to much extra stress.

Permalink Reply by Rachael & Waffle on April 30, 2010 at 2:17pm

I can't comment on the first, but I can comment on the second!

All of the cats we've had have come from the SPCA and have needed to be spayed/neutered. The way our SPCA does it is they do the surgery, and at 7 PM that night, they have a big meeting where people come to pick up their dogs/cats to take home. All the animals are at least partly drugged so it's pretty funny to be in there with puppies and dogs stumbling all over and cats in the cage like "WHAT IS GOING ON??" like that kid after the dentist. Our most recent kitty, October, had the single most stressful life prior to us picking her up. She was dropped off because her family didn't want her, gave birth to kittens who all later died, caught kennel cough and had to be put in isolation, and then we got her spayed and took her home to a territorial male who I'm pretty sure wanted to kill her on the spot. Then, to top it off, we had to redo her spay 10 days later because they messed it up. I can't think of a more stressful situation. She's happy and healthy and tolerated by the male (mostly). I know cats aren't dogs but I can only imagine the transition being easier for a pack animal.
Short version: It should be okay to spay her and bring her home, as long as you do it in that order so she doesn't associate you and your home with getting her insides scooped out? But even then, it wouldn't be too awful, I don't think.

That's my two cents, anyhow. Granted, they might be Canadian 2 cents and not US 2 cents, but hey.

Permalink Reply by Jane Christensen on April 30, 2010 at 2:31pm

If you're insane then many of us on here are. I have brought in 2 unspayed rescue females into my home with my own 2 unspayed females and although you would want to be very cautious as you don't know much on this poor girls background. Either I have been lucky or it's just worked and I have never had much of a problem. Sounds like you will have to start from square one BUT if it were me I would do it...getting her spayed within a couple weeks would be good though! Is your dog spayed? This will help also!

Permalink Reply by Beth on April 30, 2010 at 2:51pm

Personally, I would be concerned about having two females of the same age. Usually when you hear of people who need to rehome a dog because their two hate each other, they have two females who just can't get along. If I will only have two dogs, I prefer one of each sex; they are less likely to see each other as competition.

It's a personal decision. There are people who have no problem. Good luck with your choice.

Permalink Reply by Cindy P on April 30, 2010 at 10:07pm

I've had two females with the same age difference without any problem. I you have your place as pack leader established then you can deal with the squabbles. I applaud you for your rescue effort. Every dog deserves a good life. You can give this poor little girl the life she deserves, a happy stable life with a good loving family.

Permalink Reply by Sky and Lyla on May 1, 2010 at 9:41am

I know there is a lot of conventional knowledge that says two dogs of the same sex are bad together, and I think it is true to a degree, but look at all the breeders (Joanna and Jane are just two on here) who keep multiple intact females in the same household. I have two boys and only one girl (though I am "camping" an intact female here starting in two weeks so I'll let you know how the girls do, lol) and my boys do fine for the most part (one neutered, one in tact). There are ocassional tussles where one is enforcing rules, but no blood. I think it depends on the individual dogs the most. If you have two dogs and at least one is not willing to take orders, it may be a problem. Again though, I dint have two females right now, so I'm just speculating!

Permalink Reply by Beth on May 2, 2010 at 3:44pm

It is true that breeders generally have multiple intact females, but it's also true that most breeders manage a much tighter ship than the average pet owner. The breeder we used has mentioned having to place an adult because it simply did not get on with her other dogs. Long before we got Maddie, she had a scuffle with the breeder's #1 bitch and they needed to be separated for awhile (this is not why she was placed with us, though). And she mentioned at the time that we got Maddie that she had a young dog she was going to need to place soon because she was starting to challenge her #1 bitch and that was a dynamic she didn't want to maintain for long.

Most people who have kept multiple females for years will have stories of dogs that quite literally wanted to kill each other, as Magnolia Fly mentions. You rarely run into that with two of the opposite sex. And in this breed, the girls are notorious for being tougher than the boys.

Permalink Reply by MagnoliaFly on May 2, 2010 at 9:02am

If you do get a second female you need to be prepared for the outcome that they will not get along. We all hope they do of course, but you need to be prepared if they do not. Two bitches fighting in a household can be very complex to solve for even the experienced trainer.

One of the dog trainers I work with adopted a female labradoodle. She immediately started fighting with the other female in the house, a mini-poodle. The trainer was diligent to keep them separated. She slipped up one day and the mini-poodle got out and hid behind a crate while she was packing for a trip. The other female found it and killed it before she could separate them. While this outcome is rare, it does happen.

Since you are considering adoption I would offer to foster the dog for a while or do lots and lots of playdates to see how they get a long. Do an overnight to see what happens. If Dakota doesn't seem happy or they are fighting, I would consider getting a male instead.

Personally, I prefer male dogs. They seem to be more easygoing about things. I have one female and one male. I plan on getting another male at the end of the year. While my female is incredibly smart and learns things at the drop of a hat, she has a major attitude. I know I could never have another female in my house with her long-term.

Permalink Reply by breanna bellefontaine on May 2, 2010 at 5:40pm

I don't think you are insane...i think we need more people like you in the world! I am no experienced dog owner but I would try having a dog in your home first...do you have a friend with a dog? My boyfriend and I adopted this amazingly sweet swedish vallhund/cattle dog on thursday and we had to turn around and bring her back to the shelter on friday. ( this nearly killed me..I don't think I have ever cried so much in my life...she will get adopted again though..she is so sweet!) Maggie and the dog were the same age, and they played and walked fantastic together at the shelter. Maggie showed no signs of possession. However, when we got home, maggie became a completely different dog! She now was not just trying to herd her or get her top lay ( the other dog was quite submissive, maggie is NOT.) but she was being mean to her; i had never seen maggie growl or get defensive ever. It was so sad. maggie was really defensive of our furniture and of my boyfriend. She did not care about food, beds, or toys, but she was really possessive of the couch and of Brandon. We know maggie, and we had to come to the decision to bring back doxie. It killed us to bring her back to the shelter, but it would have been fair to both dogs. That is maggies personality and we shouldn't ask her to change, and it would not have been fair to the new dog to deal with maggie bossing her around and being borderline agressive. Though she loves to play with other animals, she apparently likes to be the only dog in the home.

My suggestion would be to try having a dog visit inside your home first. I would hate to have you run into the same problem I did.

Permalink Reply by Dakota SmallCaps on May 2, 2010 at 6:08pm

Hello everyone! Thanks for all of the really valuable advice! I just updated the post with what happened! Everything ended up even better than expected!