Female dogs (update: adventures in puppying)

[seeuatx]

Literally like potentially having 2 of the same sex. I have heard not to do it in general and keep male/female house if possible but…

Catching up on back story since last posting- we did not end up adopting the other dog from a few months ago. No specific reason except we decided to wait and the perfect single dog home for him came along in the meantime (yay! He got adopted after 500+ days waiting!). So back to the drawing board for us.
Now I’ve been saying I don’t really want a puppy puppy but trainer did mention adding a young dog might be easiest on Jazzy. Turns out a night shift co-worker had an oops litter with his female and a local wandering romeo male. He has found happy homes for all pups but 1… a female. She is almost 10 weeks now and he just wants someone he knows to take her so he can keep tabs on them. I was hoping to find a male but she does need a home.

Sooooo…. Should I? Shouldn’t I? I can’t decide…

[Casey09]

I have a male that I felt wouldn’t do well with another male.
I also had a really chill female.
I decided I wanted a 3rd dog, and got a female.
So far, it’s worked out well.
It depends on the dogs, and the risk is that you end up in a crate and rotate situation. I do think it worked better for me than another male would’ve.

[S1969]

Most people do not have problems with all male or all female packs. You just have to be observant for any warning signs and plan accordingly. Lots of people who breed and/or compete in other dog sports keep only one sex because their dogs are intact. It’s very hard to have intact dogs and bitches without special housing arrangements.

I have many friends with all female packs and no issues. I suppose breed might matter; which breeds are you talking about?

I have all males, all intact. Generally no issues but I have separate kennels for them. In the past I would kennel my oldest male with the bitch we had until she died in 2020 - but I would never kennel the intact males together. I’m sure 99% of the time they would be fine, but no reason to test that 1%. So, thinking down those lines - in the event you didn’t feel you could trust them together when you were not at home, how would you manage to keep them safely apart?

[ladybugsbw]

I feel like it’s more about individual personality. I have two females that get along perfectly and went really well with my husbands male lab when we met. The male is good with either gender IF they are not dominant.

Growing up we had 3 girls (not related) and they did great together too. But again I think it’s personality

[CindyB59]

My female standard poodle is an angel with all dogs, either sex.

Our female mini poodle is quite literally a bitch.

When I started looking for a GSD, I got a male. Same sex scuffles would not have ended well for an 11 lb dog vs a 65~70 lb dog. So I think a lot depends on the individual, and as someone pointed out, how will you manage them if there are issues

[sophie]

@CindyB59

My female standard poodle is an angel with all dogs, either sex.

Our female mini poodle is quite literally a bitch.

This made me laugh. My Std poodles have been so different from all the smaller poodles I’ve known over the years.
Isn’t it funny how std and mini seem to be 2 wholly different breeds?

[fledermaus]

@sophie

Isn’t it funny how std and mini seem to be 2 wholly different breeds?

They are two different breeds – both closed gene pools for many generations. They are never interbred. The Standard was the original water retriever (although I imagine they weren’t as tall as modern Standards often are). Developing a fifteen pound dog out of a sixty pound dog would clearly make for some temperament changes.

[fledermaus]

I think it depends far more on the individual dogs than on the sex. Particularly if neutered.

[sophie]

Indeed.
It’s just funny they are all called “poodles”, is all. Teacup, mini, moyen, standard poodles.

[fledermaus]

@sophie

It’s just funny they are all called “poodles”, is all. Teacup, mini, moyen, standard poodles.

The names of dog breeds is a source of perpetual mystification.

[S1969]

Well, technically poodles are one breed with three varieties (in AKC) and I believe 4 in Europe. The standard is the same for all varieties except for size.

[fledermaus]

@S1969

technically poodles are one breed with three varieties

No matter how humans decide to classify them, genetically and in practice they are three different breeds.

This is a peeve of mine: like other AKC kool-aid drinkers, I was raised to believe that what is written down as a physical “standard” is kind of a sacred document which essentially creates a breed. After several centuries of close examination of this idea (yeah, I’m old), I now look only to two things to know anything about breeds: phenotype and genotype. Does it look and quack like a duck? Did both parents also quack and waddle? Are these ducklike animals only allowed to breed with each other? That’s about all there is to know. Almost everything else is just convention and tradition.

[MunchingonHay]

I don’t remember how old Jazzy is, but I would think there is enough of an age gap for them both to be female and to be an issue. I am also assuming that you will be spaying said pup and that Jazzy is already spayed.

As long as Jazzy maintains “top dog” and pup respects her, I don’t think its a problem.

(I have had all male dogs packs, mixed sex packs and everyone is neutered/spayed, never had any issues).

Its more of a personality thing than a gender thing, (I think)

[seeuatx]

@MunchingonHay

I don’t remember how old Jazzy is, but I would think there is enough of an age gap for them both to be female and to be an issue. I am also assuming that you will be spaying said pup and that Jazzy is already spayed.

As long as Jazzy maintains “top dog” and pup respects her, I don’t think its a problem.

(I have had all male dogs packs, mixed sex packs and everyone is neutered/spayed, never had any issues).

Its more of a personality thing than a gender thing, (I think)

Jazzy is about 5ish now and yes was spayed when we got her from HS at about a year old. Puppy will be spayed as soon as fully vaccinated and deemed appropriate by the vet. It was asked earlier in the thread but I’m just now catching up… Jazzy is an Am Staff mix of some sort, puppy’s mama is a Am Staff and daddy may be a local lab or doodle males that are unfixed but seem a bit small for that so who knows. Coworker said one of the males fell through so may go look today and see. I honestly haven’t decided what I’m going to do because puppies are so much work and with working full time i don’t know if it really meshes. On the other hand some of the training issues we’ve had with Jazzy relate back to early socializing or lack there of and I often think “if only we had her as a puppy”

[snowblaze]

Terriers are infamous for same-sex aggression.

[S1969]

@fledermaus

No matter how humans decide to classify them, genetically and in practice they are three different breeds.

Sure, ok. There really isn’t anything different between a breed and a variety anyway. The reason they are considered the same breed is because the standard (proportions, shape, type etc) is the same for all sizes. But yes - it’s a closed gene pool for the most part. Some breeds intermix their varieties but most don’t - especially with regard to size.

[fledermaus]

@snowblaze

Terriers are infamous for same-sex aggression.

boy howdy are they. I have a friend who tried to keep two males out of her litter of Jacks. They barely survived this experiment before it was abandoned.

[seeuatx]

@fledermaus

@snowblaze

Terriers are infamous for same-sex aggression.

boy howdy are they. I have a friend who tried to keep two males out of her litter of Jacks. They barely survived this experiment before it was abandoned.

Yeah that’s sort of what I was thinking too. I’ve luckily never experienced a fight over it personally but my JRT was the king of the hill and anyone be damned that tried to mess with his status. They are nothing if not tenacious and I don’t want to be on that side of a squabble over pack status. Meeting puppies later this morning. Hopefully one of the 2 males he mentioned yesterday are still available otherwise I will probably not go for it.

One of my other coworkers took 2 littermate females from this bunch. Best of luck to her but that’s an absolute nope for me.

[seeuatx]

Update: I guess I should change the name of the thread. Coworker brought 3 puppies over to the house. The female that was originally the only one unspoken for but now 2 males had their people back out. It was like Kismet. I picked up the first male out of the carrier and he snuggled right into my chest. Sigh… it was over for me. I played with the others who were also adorable but he was the one. So Wed. little boy will be coming home, and Thurs he has a vet appt to get his shots and whatever else he needs. I am smitten… Jazzy met him through her crate (not ideal but strangers and strange dogs in the house I felt better having her in there). She sniffed and seemed interested and not upset so hopefully that is a good start.

Anyhow here is photo tax

[sophie]

Congratulations! What a cutie.