male to female ratio

[jrid]

Does any one think the ratio of male to female dogs matters if all dogs are spayed/neutered? I have multiple dogs and will be adding another dog to my household before too long and only have 1 female at this time. Was wondering if I should get a bitch or a dog.

 

any input is appreciated

[SecretBC]

This is not scientific at all, but generally multi-male households tend to get on better than multi-female households. There are always plenty of people who have a house full of 7 girl dogs with no problems, though, to dispel that myth. It really depends on each individual dog.

 

I think if you plan to bring a puppy in, it tends to be less of an issue.

[brndlbc]

I have had a multi bitch household for years with no problems. I totally agree with much of it is the dogs involved as well as the people involved. All of our dogs have come into the house as puppies which I also think that helps. When our border collie came into the house as the only male, he automatically assumed the role of alpha male, a position he thought was his birth rite. Unfortunately for him, and contrary to his thinking, alpha male did not translate into "alpha". The old girl made sure there was no misunderstanding.

[RhettsMommi]

We are a multi male household, they get along great(only girls are my self and the kittie)! Granted I think he helps that I am SUPER Alpha with animals and humans alike, so they all 3 know that Im top dog!

Leo, 4 year old Border Collie, altered for 18 months. Not alpha in any way, allows others to eat before him if I tell him.

 

Brody, 18 month old Pug/x, altered since 6 months old, very much so bottom of the pack, however since he was in the family first he is fed, walked and given treats first.

 

Rhett, 15 week old Border Collie, not altered, may not be. Easily top of the pack of boys!

[NorthfieldNick]

I have two males- both castrated- and they get along perfectly fine most of the time. Every now and then, Nick snarks at Hoot, but it's usually because Hoot (not yet 2) is being an idiot & deserves it. I've only ever had one female at a time. My old Lu, who was a very dominant bitch, got along quite well with another very dominant bitch, oddly enough. She'd snarl at others, though.

 

As far as bringing in a puppy: Nick was almost 6 when I got Hoot at 5.5 months. Hoot was in charge right from the start. Nick really could care less about being "top dog," though, and Hoot is a bit of a menace to society. It seemed backwards to me, but it works for the boys, so I don't interfere. Everyone has to be polite- no guarding, no stealing toys, etc- but if the pup is the dominant one and everyone is happy with that, I don't really care.

[juliepoudrier]

I have multiple males (3) and females (6). In general, they get along, although specific individuals do not particularly like one another and there's one female pair I would not leave together if I leave the house. The youngest male, not yet two, generally gets "abused" by everyone because he's generally obnoxious. I don't have any inter-gender issues, but Pip doesn't much like Farleigh, though it never goes beyond just giving the stink eye. Willow and Jill have never gotten along (repeat analogy: two little old ladies beating each other over the head with their patent leather purses--you know, like the little old ladies who have been in the news for using their purses to thwart crimes, lol!) and will sometimes escalate to snarking and nipping during periods of excitement when they think they can get away with a flyby. Twist harasses Kat when she can get away with it, but I think that is more of a dog (Twist) wanting to be top dog but not able as long as Willow is still alive and kicking, so bullying one lower down on the ladder. None of them cross me, but they do try to jockey for "position" among themselves at times.

 

In general I think multiple males are less likely to have conflicts than multiple females, but for every rule like that, there will of course be exceptions, IME males will flare and then let it go; females never forget.... (no smart comments guys!)

 

J.

[ejano]

Does any one think the ratio of male to female dogs matters if all dogs are spayed/neutered? I have multiple dogs and will be adding another dog to my household before too long and only have 1 female at this time. Was wondering if I should get a bitch or a dog.

 

any input is appreciated

Nick's example highlights the importance of the human's role in the whole business...and, study the pup if you can... what kind of qualities does it exhibit? We had a pretty good idea of who would be "top dog" -- that is, after Ladybug from studying the puppy dynamics and it pretty much turned out that way.

 

That said, I have always picked a male...

 

Liz

[MrSnappy]

I have 4 males and 1 female, if that tells you anything Piper is the Queen Biyatch, and everyone else grovels before her. I'm not sure I'd add another female while she is still alive; Piper has traditionally gotten along just fine with female foster dogs, but I think a lot of her self-imposed 'status' comes of having all these boys kissing her ass and if I chanced upon another female that didn't toe the line, I'd have problems. I had one foster dog who objected to Piper's bossybootedness and dumped her on her ass, and rocked poor Piper's whole sorry little world.

 

Having said that, TWooie and Dexter absolutely loathe one another. I think this is a personality issue, since both of them get along fine with the other males. I often say that if it weren't for Piper getting all up in their grills when they start posturing with one another, I might have worse problems ;-)

 

But even with their snarking, I'm not afraid to leave them alone with one another. As Julie says, if two females don't enjoy one another, there are much bigger problems than when males don't get on too well. My first border collie bitch Abi got into a fight with my roommate's Whip-Pit many years ago and they put multiple, oh-so-many holes in one another in under 20 seconds. TWoo and Dex have only ever lost a little hair.

 

RDM

[Dal & Mad's Mom]

I have a multi female household and aside from occasional grumbling between Genie and maddie all is well. If appears Dal holds the highest status in my home. He is first everywhere and he is allowed to move anyone out of their food bowl when the goodies are gone.

 

My moms is at equal status in boys and girls right now and Penny is the boss of the crew but, she gets issues where they will try to change positions esp with the boys Frodo her split face is the current top male. Oddly the loss of Dave has had no effect with them as though he wanst really part of the pack.

 

The most interesting part is they are all ruled by a 1 eyed 4lb male shitzu. It's like he's a rotti in disguise.

[Rave]

It's funny that I hear about more male - male problems among my friends than female - female problems. Of course that's purely anecdotal, but interesting to me. Especially since I have had 4 girls at a time and no issues. I do have one boy now in the mix, my first male dog and he fit in fine. So my current ratio when I get my new pup this weekend will be 4 girls:1 boy.

[CLW1]

I think it really depends on the dogs. As of a week ago, I've got 3 males, 1 who is intact, and the intact male and one of the neutered males are growling and snarking and occasionally wanting to fight. Prior to a week ago, I also had 1 and then 2 intact females in the house also and everyone was pretty sympatico but for occasional growling from the intact young male. When the female left, the issues between the males escalated which surprised me a bit. The intact one is getting neutered in a few weeks so hopefully that'll curb some or most of the issues. In the past, I've had 3 intact females and 2 neutered males and the females had no issues with each other but one female did have a problem with one of the neutered males.

[border_collie_crazy]

depends on the dogs, I have 5 females and 2 males(all fixed)...all the females are fine together(although that is through training and work..they all HATED each other st first) the 2 males on the other hand cannot be loose together..ever. because of work with them, I can control the sitution and not so much as have a hair raised if I am standing there staring at them, but the second they are left to their own they will kill each other. the females while bitchy, were at least workable with effort, the males not so much.

[painted_ponies]

Does any one think the ratio of male to female dogs matters if all dogs are spayed/neutered? I have multiple dogs and will be adding another dog to my household before too long and only have 1 female at this time. Was wondering if I should get a bitch or a dog.

 

any input is appreciated

 

It sounds like your boys get along well now, right? So another dog might be easiest.

 

I had multiple bitches and one dog till recently: 2 BC bitches and a wee terrier-ist with my one male LGD/BC cross (all altered). Occasionally the girls, being girls, have a snark and very rarely push poor patient Scot into a show of temper, but by and large we're ok.

 

A couple of weeks ago a year old intact male Brittany showed up. The girls all adore him. Scot took about two weeks to warm up, and still has to mash poor Jamie into the ground every morning and growl at him just to be sure he remembers his place.

[Root Beer]

I always said I would never have more than one female in the house, but I did end up adopting our female foster last fall. I could see right off that Maddie, a very soft female, had no issues with the new whippersnapper. Tessa is definitely the stronger female, but Maddie doesn't care and they get along beautifully. They hang out together a lot and they both seem to genuinely enjoy each other's company.

 

Two of my males do dislike each other. So, I'd say it really does depend a lot on the individual dogs. I don't think I'd add a second female without giving it some kind of trial period, as I had with Tessa since she was a foster. But it definitely can work if the two females get along. I do think the fact that Maddie is so laid back has made it work out so well.

[2 Devils]

So I have 3 females and 2 males. The females are a border collie and both cattledogs while the males are a toy poodle and borderjack.

 

The youngest acd at 2 yrs (a rescue that came with issues but is greatly improved) and the eldest acd at 13 yrs have some issues. The young acd, Denali, does not like us playing with the eldest acd, Foster. If we do, Denali will attack Foster. Foster growls and such when playing so not sure if Denali is protecting us or just being a bitchy female who is lacking in social skills. Denali is a wannabe alpha dog while Foster is the alpha dog. Tempe the border collie is 5 yrs old and she respects both acds and is quite submissive to them. She was taught early on that you don't mess with Foster and don't mess with the poodle. Tempe is the fun police now but no one really takes her that serious.

 

My poor borderjack, Riot 7yrs, is everyone's bestfriend but is also the one everyone picks on at the same time. He rarely fights back and tries everything to avoid a confrontation. He is at the bottom in my house.

 

The toy poodle, Aspen, rules the roost for the most part. Denali has recently decided to take cheap shots at him. The problem is he goes back after her which is a big problem. Now we are working these issues.

 

Luckily none of the issues has truly escalated to bloodshed and has been all noise but I have to keep an eye out. I can leave 4 dogs, not the newest acd, out together and unattended without issue. I cannot leave Denali out with anyone because at some point I know she will attack. I can stop an "attack" with a strong yell from a couple hundred feet away but that may not always work and I can't guarantee I can get there before she really hurts one of the other dogs so all interaction is supervised.

 

After all this I would say if you bring in another female, I would serious think about a puppy or foster a one for a few weeks and see how everyone gets along. Denali has added a ton of stress into our home and I just wonder if it would have been better if we would have gotten her as a puppy. ACDs are notorious for needing to be socialized with people and dogs early on or you end up with some aggression issues and well we are doing our best to manage it. She is better but will not be 100% trustworthy. With a better trainer she could but not with me.