two female dogs in the same household

[Bluey]

Since the OP question was, what comes first, that I want another female, don’t really want a male, or that second female may eventually cause fights?

I would say, while fights can happen and even with a male it can happen that two dogs dislike each other enough to keep fighting it out, I would get a second female if that is what you want.

We were in that situation, preferring females and guess we were lucky never having any fights ever.

I know of several families that got two puppies, some not even from the same breed, talked into them by breeders pushing the old “they will entertain each other”.
Even when those were male and female, as mature dogs, several of those fought very bad.
It was not the sex, but the mix of temperaments and growing up without quite deciding who is boss that may have cause the trouble.
One friend here has two dog yards, one on each side of his house, because, I did warn him, he got two puppies to raise together.
They are male and female and sadly, they do fight if kept together.
They let one at the time in the house.

If you didn’t care, then yes, get a male.
If you prefer a female, I would get a female.

[Houndhill]

:yes:A big “it depends”.

Contrary to what you might think, and what some here have said, spaying actually androgenizes a bitch (makes her more like a male, hormonaly), and according to the literature, tends to make her more aggressive to other dogs. When you remove the ovaries (source of estrogen and progesterone), you are left with the adrenals, which produce testosterone (in females as well as males).

If your bitch tends to be aggressive to other dogs, you would probably be better off with a male. Ridgeback males are not that huge, if you got a puppy you would never notice that he was big! Marking need not be an issue.

But, if your bitch is OK with other other dogs, a bitch would be fine. I’ve had multiple bitches of IWs for over forty years, and all has been fine…I have sometimes sais I could keep an infinite number of bitches! …Until the last one, who is aggressive to some other of my bitches. But she really does not try to kill them, just fights and may put holes in them, but does stop, and though it looks and sounds horrible, it is no more lethal than fights betwen males (which can also turn lethal). This is a different bloodline that I have been working with, a European one, and they tend to have more of an “edge” than I am used to. But, not all bitch fights are lethal, in my experience. I know many Ridgebacks very well, and many Ridgeback breeders, and their experience has been similar. If I were a pet Ridgeback owner, who had a mellow bitch, even if spayed as ealy as yours (and please spay your next bitch at a later age, if possible), I would get a bitch if that is what I wanted.

You have to know your bloodline, and then manage appropriately…but do consider spaying or neutering later.

[Starhouse]

Why should I spay the next one later? I thought the whole idea was to spay before the first heat?

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=Starhouse;7085350]
Why should I spay the next one later? I thought the whole idea was to spay before the first heat?[/QUOTE]

There is clearly decades showing that is a very good time.

Then lately there have been all kinds of secondary studies and reports saying this or that and people pushing for their own version of all those.
You are open a can of worms in the dog community when you want to investigate that further.

In reality, for every one saying to do it at any other time, well, there are that many more saying to stay with the true and tested good way to spay right before the first heat.

There are dog competitors in our dog club that have followed all and any one “new” theory on that and the results have been less than stellar, so beware of all those out there saying “it worked for them” to do other.

You may think two horse people, three opinions is par for the course?
Well, two dog people and dozens of opinions is more like it.:lol:

[Houndhill]

Oh, dear…there is a wealth of literature supporting the later, (if ever) literature on the effects of pre-pubertal spaying, please do a literature search.

[Crockpot]

I’ve always preferred female dogs for some reason and usually have 2 . Never had a problem but mine have been been very good with other dogs anyway.

[Casey09]

I wanted 2 bitches, but I backed off pretty quickly after a couple of breeders brought up the potential consequences. I spoke with one lady that has multiple dogs. She said that she has some bitches that spend a lot of time together and get along fine. She also said that if she ever sees 2 bitches start to fight, she separates them and they are never, ever together again. Once they take a dislike to each other, they will be waiting for an opportunity to fight . . . and fight bad. When you have big dogs, a serious fight is very dangerous - to the dogs, to you, and to anyone else who could be caught in the middle.
I do know people who successfully keep 2 bitches together, but if you are only going to have two dogs why not err on the safe side and get a male? Training a dog not to mark is, in my opinion, a lot easier than keeping the peace between two bitches. Now that I’ve had a male, I think that I might like them a little bit better.
Your bitch might very well be good with a female puppy. You don’t know how they will get along when the puppy gets to be 18 months or 2.5 years old. Things can change. I knew someone who had several rescues and she had problems once her spayed bitches hit middle age. Her vet told her that spayed bitches, as they get older, just don’t do well together. She had to start crating and rotating them. I decided not to take that chance.
You have to make a decision that you are comfortable with. If you really want two bitches, then it is something that you may have to manage and manage carefully. If it is only the marking and a male being a little bit bigger that is causing the problem, I’d get a male. JMHO.

[Bluey]

If you dislike that male dogs, even well trained ones, may lift their legs here and there, don’t get one and have to live with that dislike all it’s life.
I would say there are many more male dogs where lifting and marking is a problem than any two female dogs that as adults may not get along.

[SquishTheBunny]

My household contained 3 females, all spayed (young), age 16, 12, 13. One JRT and two pitties. The girls NEVER fought, ever.

The boys (two jacks) would on occasion get into tiffs.

So…my point is…it really depends on the individual dog. Sounds like your female is tolerant and if you raise the puppy with boundaries from the start there’s a good chance everything will be wonderful

[grayarabpony]

[QUOTE=Houndhill;7085373]
Oh, dear…there is a wealth of literature supporting the later, (if ever) literature on the effects of pre-pubertal spaying, please do a literature search.[/QUOTE]

OP, do a literature search and read CRITICALLY – the benefit is mainly neutering after a year (not if ever) for large breeds. Talk to the breeder.

[JanM]

I think Yellowbritches hit the nail on the head. It depends on the specific animals, and if you have two Alpha females you could have problems. I had two females at two separate times, but in each case there was a dominant one, and a more laid back one. I think two submissive ones could be OK also, but I doubt RR’s come that laid back usually. I had a friend who had show RR’s, and they ran on her fenced acreage, and they were all fine (unless you tried to crawl over the fence, then they looked rather menacing), and her dogs were intact for breeding, or until they had their championships.

[Foxtrot_s]

In my entire life we have never had a dog fight within our own dogs’ pack and have owned multiple dogs, of all ages, sexes and breeds for ever. Foxhunts manage very well with multiple dogs of both sexes, and while there are squabbles, they get sorted easily enough.

[Bluey]

[QUOTE=grayarabpony;7085446]
OP, do a literature search and read CRITICALLY – the benefit is mainly neutering after a year (not if ever) for large breeds. Talk to the breeder.[/QUOTE]

Yes, there are trade-offs to all we do, even when to spay.

As per our vets, the jury is still not out, but saying that before puberty your dog will have the best chance of not even getting the estrogen receptors that puberty sets off become active and that trumps most any other anyone may want to say about if the growth plates close better or any other.
Those are the ones that may cause cancer later.

One day at the dog club meeting, one of the members that is a vet was speaking about this and asked all with females with incontinence raise your hand and guess what, they were all those still not spayed or spayed later, contrary to what some insist.
Not one of those spayed before puberty as an older female ever was incontinent, as none of ours ever was either.

Yes, read about all this and use your CRITICAL thinking skills, because yes, there are trade-offs, but they still today weight, for the majority of dog owners, to spaying right before puberty.

[Tom_King]

12 female dogs in our house, some retired and spayed, some still intact, and 3 intact males. No fights, but during certain times, the boys have to stay in the dog room.

[cowboymom]

We have four female dogs and one intact male… no problems. We’ve always preferred female dogs and it came as quite a surprise to me to hear that it was supposed to be a problem having more than one!

Mine are all different breeds and temperments, Aussies, Blackmouth Curs, mutts, and a chi… the male is a Great Pyrenees… One big happy family.

[Bluey]

It really is rather rare to have to adult females dislike each other to death.
When it happens, it is a very sad situation for all, the humans and dogs.
A good friend has one such situation and copes by keeping them in kennels and not together unless supervised, while training, etc.
Both are agility competitors.

I have known of a few such dislikes, but for the many others that do fine, including ours over the years, I would not let that keep me from, owning one female of good temperament, getting another female, also of good temperament, if I didn’t want a male.

[spotteddrafter]

[QUOTE=harnessphoto;7084855]
I think it depends on the dogs. I have known many pairs of females that live happily together, and I have known some that despise each other. My recommendation would be to have a ‘trial period’ with the new puppy after your dog meets it to make sure they’ll be able to live in harmony.[/QUOTE]

Excellent advice!

I have 2 spayed females and have had no problems - in fact they play and play and play…it’s non stop! Penny is a 4yo goldendoodle and Zoe is a 2yo golden retriever. Granted 2 breeds not known to have aggression, but aggression is not necessarily breed specific. I think it sounds like you know your dog quite well and a trial with new puppy seems a great way to go! Good luck!

[bits619]

I’ve personally experienced many more harmonious pairings than dangerous ones between females and the stories certainly wouldn’t stop me from having two females together. Just as I would for any dog regardless of gender, I’d be sure the temperament was one that meshed well with my current dogs.
Our six personal dogs are equally split male and female, all fixed. Right now we have sixteen dogs in our living room and kitchen, six of them are puppies under 5 months (5 females 1 male), and 5 adult males and 5 adult females, all adults but one female are fixed. The three dogs of this group we have had any snark between are all males.
Of the two times in 5 years of fostering that two females have fought, yes it was ugly, but the instigators in both cases were mentally unbalanced (poorly socialized, not great with many other dogs) as it was. We’ve certainly had instances of males and mixed sexes getting into tussles as well, and usually in our case it’s an unneutered male involved or when a bitch in heat was brought in.

Now I’d suggest a male but that’s only because I seem to find them the most lovable ever! Currently cuddling in bed with a weimy boy who skipped his breakfast (even hearing all the dogs barking excitedly and kibble being poured) because he’d rather snuggle. My girls would have been GONE! Ha!

[S1969]

My dog’s breeder only keeps bitches; she recently had 4 (two big, two small, one of the four was spayed)…, but throughout her life she’s had many different groupings of bitches and I don’t think she’s ever had any real issues…? I know they all tend to live together (didn’t have to be separated.)

I said I’d only keep males but now I have one neutered male, one unneutered, and my breeder’s (now-spayed) 7 year old bitch. I haven’t had two adult unneutered dogs before, but I suspect I wouldn’t really have too many issues (other than the occasional tiff, which I have from time to time anyway).

While things can always happen, I would say that introducing a puppy to a mature dog will help them work out their pack hierarchy - certainly better than bringing in a mature bitch and expecting them to get along.

Good luck!

[SonicBoom]

I havent read all the posts but I just wanted to say that I own two spayed female Pit Bulls and they love each other.
Long story short, my older girl (Hope) was seized from a fighting ring and I adopted her through the SPCA. Years later I was looking for another female. The director at the SPCA advised me against another female. But of course I found and fell in love with a female Pit Bull pup. She had me look at dozens of male dogs that she thought would be a fit, but I knew my dog best.
Hope and Faith have been together ever since and Ive never had any issue with them being mean to one another. I think you just have to know your dog, and it sounds like you do. I think 2 girls will be just fine.