2nd dog, male or female?

Hi everyone,

I’d love some advice. We have a 7 month old German Wiredhaired Pointer. He’s not neutered yet, our vet has advised us to go back and have a chat with them when our dog is 9 month old. However, planning ahead, we are definitely wanting another dog in the future. Would anyone advise which sex to get next? Has anyone had any experience?

Thanks

Hannah

I would definitely go with a bitch - opposites attract and all that. In time, we're thinking about a live in companion for our boy and it will be a female, it will suit him as he's a bit of a ladies man and he likes the girls!!

Thanks for this. I’d always assumed we should get another dog, but reading a few articles online, they also recommend opposites. Hope your little fella gets a lovely lady friend!

Its each to their own and everyone can read into a situation what suits them.

I've had mixed groups of boys and girls, then a boy and a girl and now two boys.

Boys get on better in my experience - but it depends on other issues aswell apart from sex.

Its each to their own and everyone can read into a situation what suits them.

I've had mixed groups of boys and girls, then a boy and a girl and now two boys.

Boys get on better in my experience - but it depends on other issues aswell apart from sex.

Willman, out of interest, were yours different breeds?

Willman, out of interest, were yours different breeds?

No - at the peak we had 5 cockers. But up to then we had boy & girl, 3 girls 2 boys,2 girls 1 boy. Now we have two boxer boys.(we had these two with 1 of the girl cockers for a couple of years).

Its not always the case but in my experience "the/a" bitch tends to be/try to be in charge - it doesn't always work.

Thanks. It’s really helpful to find real peoples experiences, other than the horror stories on the internet! Food for thought.....

We were looking at adopting another lurcher a while back and when I mentioned that we'd be wanting a male to go with our existing female, they said that they find sex makes no difference when adding another dog and they key thing was to assess the individual dogs personalities and how they get along together.

Which makes sense when adopting a dog, I think.

No - at the peak we had 5 cockers. But up to then we had boy & girl, 3 girls 2 boys,2 girls 1 boy. Now we have two boxer boys.(we had these two with 1 of the girl cockers for a couple of years).

 

Its not always the case but in my experience "the/a" bitch tends to be/try to be in charge - it doesn't always work.

Interesting. We have had five German Shepherds, most three at one time. We have had to choose the sex of the next dog depending what we already have. They have been spayed and neutered.

We have found the bitches to take on a certain role, to be more aloof but in charge. They seem quiet and on watch about it whereas the alpha dog makes more noise about protecting the pack. With one of our dogs there is no way an adult male dog could enter our garden, even if he knew them. A vicious fight would break out. We had to get a female pup and keep him on a lead so he could never hurt the pup. He seemed to realise it was a pup but it took several months before we could let them sit at our feet off lead and play together. We still kept them apart when we weren't there. He was very dog aggressive, not with people though unless they were a threat.

To a certain extent it depends on the individual dog/bitch and the age of them and how many other dogs you have.

We were looking at adopting another lurcher a while back and when I mentioned that we'd be wanting a male to go with our existing female, they said that they find sex makes no difference when adding another dog and they key thing was to assess the individual dogs personalities and how they get along together.

 

Which makes sense when adopting a dog, I think.

That makes perfect sense yet when we've looked into it before we've been told opposites attract and to get one thats completely different (Sex, breed, size) from the existing dog which really, I suppose thinking about it doesn't make sense as plenty of people have two dogs (Or bitches) of the same breed as indeed Willman has mentioned.

Like everything I guess it's whatever works for individual people/circumstances

I agree fully Chez - aloof is appropriate. My daughters lurcher still "looks down her nose at me" 'cos everyone else lets her run things.

I think it depends on breed as well as individual temperament too.

If you had a GSD boy I'd be asking you about his guarding and warning behaviour to decide whether he's a confident dog that needs a playmate/underling or a boy that would benefit from being bossed about and having someone to follow. Most breeds are less definitive in the leader/follower behaviour than GSDs though, and many other breeds are much better at living together in pairs or groups, including most of the gun dogs I've been around.

The leader/follower I'm talking about is not pack structure, but about the individual characteristics. A nervous boy is likely to benefit from having a more confident dog (male or female) who is calmer and who can guide, or tell the nervous dog to get back in their place when their nerves lead to them being gobby or guarding.

IMO there is little more solid than a dominant GSD girl who really knows how things are going to work around her and the dogs around her who just know that following her orders is the new normal. I've seen it loads of times, the bloodless coup as they arrive, and the happier and more secure less confident dogs who can play their own part but don't have to make the decisions once she's arrived.

So, is your boy happy and confident?

How does he react when you meet dogs when you're out?

Does his reaction differ between dogs and bitches?

The easy answer is to get a girl because there's less chance of in-fighting, but I've seen pairs of boys get on fabulously, even in GSDs.