Which gender is best together?

posted by K9soul: One of the better dog breed books I've looked at that gauge each breed's tendencies is called 'The Right Dog for You' by Daniel Tortora. >>>>>>>

I have that book too. :D
It also has information on grooming needs for each breed.

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Originally posted by KYS
posted by K9soul: One of the better dog breed books I've looked at that gauge each breed's tendencies is called 'The Right Dog for You' by Daniel Tortora. >>>>>>>

I have that book too. :D
It also has information on grooming needs for each breed.

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Isn't it a neat book? I wish it had more breeds though. It has a bunch of various scales towards the back too, kind of a cross-cut like a territoriality scale and listing all the breeds that score low, then all the breeds that score moderate, etc. etc. It's really an excellent beginning primer for someone not familiar with various breeds, and just really fun to look at even if you are.

I agree with all of those except sociability with family. GSDs are prone to seperation anxiety. In my own expereince, they definatly hate being away from "their" people. :)

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Originally posted by wolfsoul
I agree with all of those except sociability with family. GSDs are prone to seperation anxiety. In my own expereince, they definatly hate being away from "their" people. :)

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Here is how the author explains the "sociability within the family" category. It seems to not have to do so much with how sociable it is with family as it does with how many close relationships it will form within a family, or how many people it is most comfortable being around.

Moderate is described as a small-family dog. "It will form a bond with a few others besides its caretaker, but these bonds will be weaker. It is uncomfortable in crowds greater than five."

A dog that scores low on the family sociability would be considered more a one-person dog. High would be the dog shares a bond equally strong with all the family members, etc.

Oh, I understand now, thanks. :) I've found that to be true in Leather's case.

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Originally posted by Shelteez2
Well most any dog book you read will tell you that opposite sex pairs are more likely to get along than same sex.
I also read in a lot of books, and on a lot of websites (with people's personal accounts) that female/female fights are usually much worse than male/male. Of course there are always exceptions.

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Most animal behaviorist will say that female/female dynamics are very complicated. Even though male/male pairings can create some jocking for position - it is usually manageable (i.e. haunch bits, leg bits, etc). What happens with female/female pairings is that months or even years go by with no issue until one big fight that ends up with one dog fatally injured (i.e. bites to the throat and abdomen). It is very hard to make generalizations - as all dogs are different. Just like some women get along great with other women, some women feel more comfortable with male friends.

Statistically - male/female combinations have a greater rate of sucess. That does not mean that you cannot have female/female combinations - it just means that you have to understand dog posture and what it means.