Which gender is best together?

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Originally posted by pupslover
i've heard of instances where people have 2 males/ 2 females and all is well. i tend to feel safer with the male/female combo however.

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That's another thing with these "rules". If you follow them you can only have 2 dogs. I mean if female/male is the best than you shouldn't add another male because then you'd have a male/male relationship as well. Same goes with adding another female. I still stand by the fact that it has a lot more to do with the personality of the dogs than the sex. :)

In my opinion, male/female. I think they're less likely to fight over roles.

when I was younger we had to females, and they ALWAYS fought.

Now Sierra and Buddy... they have been the VERY best of friends since the second I brought Buddy home!

:D

There are so many variations that it usually just depends on the individual personalities of the dogs. That said, female/female relationships generally tend to be the worst because when they fight, blood will usually be drawn. If two males fight, they get over it a lot quicker. Generally speaking, male/female would be the best because there will likely be no struggle for dominance with the opposite gender. Of course it could happen, but most likely not.

When you don't want struggles between your dogs, its always best that there is a significant age difference (at least 2 years), size difference, and gender difference. Or at least 2 out of those 3 things.

But I would just go by Nebo's personality and what you think he'd do well with.

aly...What kind of pup is that in your siggy? Its way cute! And those eyes...beautiful!

I feel that spayed females get along better

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Originally posted by K9soul

Indoor activity: very high
Outdoor activity: very high
Vigor: medium
Behavioral constancy: high
Dominance to strange dogs: medium
Dominance to familiar people: medium to low
Territoriality: low
Emotional stability: high
Sociability within family: very high
Sociability with children: very high
Sociability with strangers: very high
Learning rate: high
Learning obedience: low
Learning problem solving: very high
Watchdog ability: medium
Guard dog ability: low

Btw if anyone is interested in what it lists for other breeds I'd be happy to share :D

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Hey, I would LOVE to know about St. Bernards!!! Thanks so much for the offer.

Sure Cataholic! I absolutely love reading anything I can get my hands on about dogs and the different natures of breeds :)

Btw, just for reference, vigor refers to how the dog performs activities, if he/she does most things gently/carefully or more strong/firmly.

Behavior constancy refers to how easily distractible the dog is.

Here is what is listed for St. Bernard, the puppy mill variety scale can really differ a lot from well bred. I'm just going to list well bred here.

Indoor activity: low
Outdoor activity: medium
Vigor: low
Behavioral constancy: very high
Dominance to strange dogs: medium
Dominance to familiar people: medium to low
Territoriality: low
Emotional stability: very high
Sociability within family: medium
Sociability with children: very high
Sociability with strangers: high
Learning rate: high
Learning obedience: medium
Learning problem solving: high
Watchdog ability: very high
Guard dog ability: low

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Originally posted by pupslover
aly...What kind of pup is that in your siggy? Its way cute! And those eyes...beautiful!

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Thanks! She's a Husky/Shepherd mix that I fostered. She just went to her new home for Christmas :)

I think it really depends on the dogs. Take Leather for example. She is very very aggressive and will not tolerate other dogs. Yet, once she gets used to the dog, she becomes very attached to it, and she will be a good friend to the dog if it does not bother her. She grew up with my old female dog, Stitch, and they formed such a great friendship. When we moved, she formed a wonderful friendship with the neighbor's female dog Koda. She also had a nice female elkhound friend. I've only ever seen her get along with one male. She doesn't like males because they are too "sniffy" or they try to mount her. Years ago, when my dad was going to breed her, he had a Hell of a time with it. He couldn't find ONE signle male dog that could mount her wihtout getting attacked. :rolleyes: I'm glad for that.

I plan on having a catahoula leopard dog in a few years, and maybe a year or two after that I plan on getting another GSD. As much as I would LOVE two males, it's doubtful that it would work. Both are aggressive breeds and most of their breed don't tolerate members of the same sex.

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Originally posted by K9soul

Indoor activity: low
Outdoor activity: medium
Vigor: low
Behavioral constancy: very high
Dominance to strange dogs: medium
Dominance to familiar people: medium to low
Territoriality: low
Emotional stability: very high
Sociability within family: medium
Sociability with children: very high
Sociability with strangers: high
Learning rate: high
Learning obedience: medium
Learning problem solving: high
Watchdog ability: very high
Guard dog ability: low

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Behavioral constancy: very high

Good lord! This is sooo on point! If there is anyone within 50 miles of us, Binx won't even sit without repeated commands! :)

And, what is the difference between watchdog ability and guard dog ability? I have noticed that Binx would sooner walk off with a stranger than protect me...and, he barks nearly never inside. Mind you, I am not complaining, just commenting.
Thanks for posting this, I liked reading it.

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Originally posted by Cataholic

And, what is the difference between watchdog ability and guard dog ability? I have noticed that Binx would sooner walk off with a stranger than protect me...and, he barks nearly never inside. Mind you, I am not complaining, just commenting.
Thanks for posting this, I liked reading it.

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The way I understand it, watch dog is the dog alerting you when a stranger comes around, by barking/growling or running up to get you etc.

Guard dog is how willing the dog would be to bite to protect you or the home etc.

I know Tommy is an excellent watch dog, but he'd be unemployed if his main job was to guard :p

Having 2 of each, I have to say that the only fight that scared me, was when the 2 females fought. Kito and Abbey had a bad fight last spring (my fault, I gave them yummy bones), but it was easy to break up. Jada and Abbey had a disagreement a few weeks ago, and I was scared to death, and they were much harder to break up. No one was hurt, besides a small cut on Abbey's chin, but it was scary.
Riley doesn't challenge Kito for alpha male status at all. He's so happy-go-lucky, he could care less, but that's just him. Jada and Abbey are under constant watch, because they are trying to outdo each other constantly.


K9soul--if that book includes Shiba Inus, I would love to hear what it says about them.

K9Soul --- I'm assuming your book only does AKC breeds? Because I'd love to hear what it says about catahoulas. Can you do GSDs? Even though I know what they are like already, things like this are always fun. :) I wonder if it matches Leather.

It's an older book (1980), not sure if it has been updated now or not. I've had it for quite a long time now. It only has AKC breeds that were recognized at that time, so it does have Akita but not Shiba Inu, sorry :(

For GSD, just going to list the well bred scale and not puppymill variety :)

Indoor activity: high
Outdoor activity: high
Vigor: high
Behavioral constancy: high to medium
Dominance to strange dogs: high
Dominance to familiar people: medium
Territoriality: high
Emotional stability: high
Sociability within family: medium
Sociability with children: very high (with puppymill varieties can go from very high to very low)
Sociability with strangers: medium to low
Learning rate: very high
Learning obedience: very high to high
Learning problem solving: very high
Watchdog ability: very high
Guard dog ability: very high to high