Well Since my last post about my darling boys there has not been 1 single grumble.....

We have been very strict with them and affection is more on our terms now rather than before but another thing I have noticed is that the bitch that lived in the garden that backs on to ours is no longer there......hmm could this have been a trigger to them falling out on occassions do you think?

Quite possibly, my boys are the best of friends but occasionally scrap if the bitch 2 doors up is out

Mine seem to have made things up since we moved house - perhaps being in a new place has removed the triggers. Even with Ellie in season, the 2 boys are showing no signs of any fighting (though we separate them when not watching them still). Weird aren't they! :-)

> Mine seem to have made things up since we moved house - perhaps being in a new place has removed the triggers. Even with Ellie in season, the 2 boys are showing no signs of any fighting (though we separate them when not watching them still). Weird aren't they!

Yes I think they like to keep us on our toes :-)
I think that your situation made me think long and hard about adding a female and I think as their arguments happened mostly over resources that we will be getting a male (small breed though not large as we originally wanted)

Good! Not that in many cases people aren't absolutely fine with mixing the sexes, but it was such a stressful time, specially at the beginning before we learned to manage it. And it's been so lovely over the last month (before madam came into season!) just having 3 dogs all together, like it should have been all along! I would never have 2 the same age and sex again like that, though if any grumbling starts with future dogs I hope I know a bit more now and know how to stamp on it before it escalates. :-)

>Yes I think they like to keep us on our toes :-)
>I think that your situation made me think long and hard about adding a female and I think as their arguments happened mostly over resources that we will be getting a male (small breed though not large as we originally wanted)

Owning an entire male, I thought the only option when wanting another dog was a female. I had read up on it and asked around. A friend I admire for his knowledge and enthusiasm when it comes to dogs told me he loves male male combo and that is indeed what he has.
I then began to think of the bitches' seasons and all that goes with them.
We had the pick of the litter of 9 girls and 3 boys and fell in love with the blue boy. Our boys, both entire, get on like a house on fire. They are now inseperable and play non stop.
I dont know if this applies to all breeds but Ive heard say that male GSDs are more forgiving than the females