Hi All

As you know we are looking at getting a 2nd westie to join our family Robbie is now 18 months old and has been castrated, i have contacted a few breeders who have told me it will make no difference whether we get a boy or a girl especially as he has been done, when i spoke to my dog trainer she said a bitch would be a better pairing for Robbie especially as he is still prone to cocking his leg in other peoples houses where there are dogs and he does it at the dog training hall, she said he will be more prone to going back to cocking his leg indoors if i bring a boy into the house than he would with a bitch, and also when the younger dog matures and tries to take dominance there may be fights, is this correct as i have heard mixed stories about this.
I thought if both boys were castrated there wouldn't have been a problem, there are boys that live on our estate and people say they don't have problems just the occasional squabble, the only people i know that have had fights with 2 boys have been a lady that brought litter brothers!!

Helen

I keep intact dogs and never have a problem with them, at one time as well as the boys I had three bitches and one of them took a dislike to one of the others and there was no way I could get them to live together, it seems once bitches have had a fight there is no way they will forgive. The boys will on occasion have a difference of opinion but two moments later will be playing together. Still none of that helps you, think if you have another boy you would be best to leave him intact but with a bitch it should not matter. Any two dogs like any two people may take a dislike to one another but it is on balance less likely with dogs than people.

If people in your breed have told you that there isn't going to be a problem with either sex then get what you want. If, on the other hand, the people who you have spoken to are from a different breed then I would go and find out more from the breed club. They know their breed better than anyone.

I know nothing about Westies, apart from the fact that they are white terriers ;-) so don't feel that I can give any other advice :-p

Hi Helen

I added an entire gundog when our castrated terrier type mongrel was 4 ish.  We had no problems then and haven't experienced any issues with either of them in the last 3 years.

However, terrier to terrier can be a bit different so do get good advice from breed people.  My mum found that her castrated terrier started to wee in the house when she added another same breed puppy.  She has struggled ever since to eradicate the problem in both dogs even though the youngest was also neutered at 2.5 years of age.

Incidentally my lad is a very mannered boy and the only time he ever shows his mettle is when he gets together with his terrier chums.  It's all noise and fur but it sounds alarming and is a bit off-putting to those that don't know quite what they are looking at. 

I would be inclined with a slightly more 'reactive' breed as some terriers are, to go for a bitch, if you're not strongly against that idea. You may well be fine with 2 boys, but you're even more likely to be fine with one of each. :-)

i have 2 dogs both toy poodles with a gap of 21 months between them and they get on fine together. When I first brought the younger one home at 8 weeks the older one wasn't very keen on him but 24 hours later they were fine. They have both been done and the only time I have any problems with them is if they both have a chew bone and they want each others.