hi just wondered you thoughts on having two  males? I have someone wanting a pup from me, she has a male pup already of the same breed, from me who is now a yr and a half. What is recommended, she wants a male as doesnt want to breed etc or want the seadon problems etc. ~I want to give her the best advice. Will she have problems with marking/fighting etc, as i ahve heard mixed reports on this and i only have one male so dont have these problems.

I'd say this sort of thing depends a lot on the breed in question. Some breeds tend to get on no matter what, others are far less likely to. Even if you only have one male yourself surely you will have an idea of what the breed is generally like? If not, ask other breeders. :)

I keep intact males together, have I had problems, yes, but not with males only between bitches.

Think it may depend on breed and if you also keep intact bitches but in general it is not a problem if you introduce a pup to an adult dog.

Love the name!

I know many people who keep males together. Most live together quite happily. As already mentioned, it does really depend on the breed and the upbringing. I would have no problems letting someone have aother male from me.

Definitely depends on the breed, I've heard of very few problems in my breed between males that live together, my boys are 14mths apart in age and no probs so far.

It really does depend on the males,I have two males who hate each other but get on with my third male. I can only say I would not home a male with another unless there was a 3/4 yr age gap between them,you have to take into consideration a number of factors including the breed,the owners abilty,even the owners own dog. Is he an easy going lad or does he not suffer other males when out on walks etc?

Re the marking I dont think that will be a real issue to be honest.

Kind Regards

I started off thinking you were Lindylou, and wondered why she was asking, when she would know the LM answer lol Doh.

Can you say the breed as it really is breed specific, otherwise ask other breeders their opinions and also look at how other people in the breed keep their males

As most of the posters here have said, it depends on the breed.  Terriers and bull breeds can be more problematic and hounds and gundog would be less so but there's always the exception.  There are techniques you can use to minimise disruption and maximise harmony which are fairly easy to implement.  PM me if you need an more help.

John

I usually keep 4 entire males, gundogs with no problems. Did have a couple of tussles a few months ago before the eldest passed on between the younger two (second oldest is just a wuss so didn't get involved!!). Since his passing they have sorted themselves out and have had no problems since.
Age difference would be a factor though as they will be quite close in age. As others have said it is really breed dependant.

Hi lindilou, I have 3 entire males, aged 35 months, 30 months and 15.5 months. The older two were 15 and 10 months respectively when they started to live together (they didn't meet each other beforehand either), and the youngest one was 13 weeks when he moved in. They never fight and although the two older boys spent the first week peeing on newspaper as part of the puppy moving in upset, they have been fine ever since. I have caught the middle boy marking once--curious since he is the least dominant of the three--and he hasn't done it since being told off.

When the 2nd dog moved in it took a couple of days before he was allowed onto the bed by the oldest dog. The puppy was allowed on the bed straight away but has his place at the end of the bed; the oldest boy has 'best' place and the middle boy has his own pillows :)

The oldest boy is 'mother' and washes everyone's ears and face in the morning and at night (and he would do mine too). I have been told that it's unusual for 3 dogs to get on so well, but perhaps it's more a reflection on the breed, and that fact that my oldest boy's breeder did a superb job of socialising him.

I love having the dogs together and watching the way they interact with each other--they all take turns during the day to get up on the sofa to sit next to me while I work and never argue. I have only ever owned one bitch in my life, and sorry to say it but she was a bit that way by nature too. These boys are just sunshine all the way :)

I can only give my own experience here--I don't know what breed your friend has, but I imagine that could be significant too. Good luck!

What's that saying..."a dog and a bitch will never fight...two dogs will sometimes fight...two bitches will always fight"

If I was going back to a two pet household, I would definitely opt for a dog and a bitch. I have issues with one of my dogs and other dogs in the house - he is very selective in his dislike though. He can live happily with some of the other dogs.

Colliecrew, what a very true saying!!
I kept a breed well known for it's dislike of other dogs before.  My males got on brill and at one time, I had 5 entire males running together fine because of the leadership of the top male.  Bitches on the other hand, had to be separated at all times or war would ensue!  I think it depends entirely on the dogs nature on how he would re-act to another male or female?

i have three males all live happy together, if i had a bitch now there would be trouble i'm sure.

We had 2 Boxer boys that lived happily together living until they were 10 and 11 years of age without a grumble.Debby

> bitches will always fight"
>
>

I would disagree and say bitches rarely fight, but when they do it is serious.  Have owned 7 bitches now, and up to 5 at any one time, adn ahve never had anything more than a spat.

Hi I have a male chihuahua and was wondering if its okay to get another male does anyone have any information as most people are saying its breed specific.

>I would disagree and say bitches rarely fight, but when they do it is serious.

Ditto that. In future I will only ever keep bitches because the dogs I've had have been more 'squabbly'.

I'd say sometimes it is breed specific(Been told Akita's would be in this case) but other times it can be down to the individual dog/s in the house at the time. It might all be fine one moment and then as they reach adolescent it can all change, no one can predict whether 2 dogs may fight or not in the majority of breeds, as a general rule it seems that most are fine with each other.

We really would need to know the breed here, for example most hounds are perfectly happy sharing with other males, even with bitches in season nearby. I also know several people with multi-male gundog houses and no problems. I wouldn't recommend 2 young males in most of terrier breeds and some of the working/pastoral breeds.

i have always feed together and walked together also all three sleep together and never more than the odd spat, that would change if i brought in a bitch now.

I've had a bitch and 3 dogs together and had no problem but the bitch was in charge.

following this question as I currently have 1 male gsd neutered age 3, 1 female pomx age 2 and spayed I would like  a female flatti to join them next year.
Given some of the above comments do people think that would be sensible ? Both my dogs are fine with dogs they know and certainly my gsd is calming down now to the point that his over enthusiastic greetings and slight dominant behaviour is towards other dogs is fairly rare now He is probably more dominant towards dogs rather than bitches but general gets on with his own business

Hi thanks for all the comments, breed is chihuahua!

furrie, I have 3 bitches and 1 male. I rarely have a disagreement between them. My male, if he thinks something is about to kick off, will go and stand between the 2 who are eyeing one another up - he seems to be a sort of mediator ;-) It usually tends to happen round about the time one of the girls is about to come into season (she can be a right mare at this time :-p ) so having her neutered should sort this out. As yours are neutered I wouldn't think you would have too much of a problem, but it really does depend on the temperament of your dogs. It also depends on the ages. You have to make sure that their behaviour is acceptable (not saying they aren't ;-) ) before adding another. That's why we tend to tell people to wait for a couple of years before adding to the pack. Adolescence is then over with. Having 2 lunatics is bad for anyones nerves :-D

I only have one bitch and one dog at the moment, and they have never once had so much as a spat! Aside from my bitch who will grab my boy's ear and make him squeal if he's being over the top when they play! She has told him off a couple of times but that's mainly because he's such a doughnut and is going to be the eternal puppy at heart... all 42 kg of him (and almost 5)!

We're about to add one of her daughters into the mix, so bearing in mind her mother is most definitely the boss, I'm praying all will be well - mind you the girl we've got our eye on at the moment is just the sweetest, easy going baby - some of the other bitches may be more dominant so we'll see who it is in the end!

Interestingly, her bitch puppy from her last litter who lives with my daughter nearby, was the feistiest bitch from the litter, so I felt glad she wasn't living with me, BUT 16 months' on, she is the loveliest dog ever, who has stayed with us frequently, and pays her mother utmost respect, and so far touch wood has never pushed her, so they haven't had any problems at all.

I find it a scary prospect that I could upset the apple cart by keeping multiple bitches together as I have always previously had dogs, but I'd agree with the others here that a dog and bitch together in my experience is a good combination.

my bitch and dogs despite size live together happily she will tell him off if he gets near her food and if he is playing to hard (never unsupervised I add) dont think I have ever seen him try and boss her. He is my first dog and generally speaking I still go towards bitches. With advice from wherever I get her I hope he will be happy with his hareem and little miss bossy boots general is fine witheveryone once she says "hi"
I think she is just like a lot of little dogs small in stature but she doesnt know that and thinks shes as big as anyone !
I too dont want to upset the apple cart I dont do stress lol These two are my first venture into having more than one dog. Also one of the resons I am leaving any addition untill next summer at the earlist is that gsd will then be four and pomxchi will be three so past adolesence

Well chis are pretty feisty considering size, but I would hope that with a firm lead, letting them sort out their ranking but not to the point of actual fighting, 2 males could live together. I don't know the breed very well though. If you've got a nearly 2 year age gap I think you said, it should be ok surely?

Hi this is my first post on the forum.I keep to male Dogue De Bordeaux's together and they get on with each other extremely well together.No sign of aggression towards each other or other dogs.They sleep,eat and play /swim together.Most people think that me and my wife are nuts keeping two of these dogs together.One person that i spoke too in no uncertain terms told me to get rid of one of them.this was suppose to be a well know dog trainer in our area.

Hi Shaun, and welcome to the site. :-) Funny you should mention getting being told to get rid of dogs. My health visitor was horrified to hear we had 6 dogs in the house and commented that we would obviously be getting rid of them now we had a baby in the house. She was firmly told no, the dogs were planned, the baby wasn't, so the dogs were staying. :-D She never visited again, wonder why?

One of the dogs actuallyslept beside the cot/pram and watched closely whenever someone went near. She even told my OH to get lost once, almost attacking him before I managed to stop her He obviously wasn't allowed near 'her' baby :-p

Yes she is fiesty if needing to hold her own but generally just minds her own. She is just vocal and sounds vicious actually if you give her firm no she ducks as if we beat her the tail goes down and she curls up grinning (I am talking about the little one)and wants to likc you as if to say "sorry" She is the first dog i've had who really shows she doesnt like a raised voice 

I have intact males living together with no problem and I know plenty of other people who do too. It wouldn't be a concern to me, I would be looking at the temperament of the existing dog and choosing a pup to fit in with that.

In reply to laws

I have the breed, and as I have a house of mixed breeds, with both entire dogs and bitches, and neutered dogs and bitches, I have to organise things carefully.  Any spats between male Chi's is just that, never really threatening like a bitch would be.

When I have bitches in season, I have to resort to crating.  Two 4ft crates in the kitchen, one on top of the other.  Girls in the top, and they are let out once entire males are safely closed in the bottom crate.  They have to take it in turns and usually get swapped at one hour intervals.  I feel that it's a small price to pay when I don't have to watch them every second, and, to be honest, the girls do seem to bring each other in season, so it isn't something I need to do all year round.

And, as they get goodies, I don't have a problem about them wanting to be in there.  When the girls are really ripe, the boys do sing, but it doesn't last for the whole season.  I keep 3 entire Chi's and 1 entire Yorkie in the crate.  All have sired litters, and I only get the odd grumble.  Most of the time they are cleaning each other.  So, if you are talking about keeping 2 boys together, in a bitch free household, I think it will be a breeze.

Hi lindilou

as most have mentioned the breed you have will have a lot to do with it.  In my experience, some breeds, particularly terriers and working / guard breeds have a greater chance of two males not getting along with each other but that said I've known many keep multiple males, all studs, together without ever having a problem.

It's easy to write off or be drawn to a particular breed as being more or less difficult however individuals within any breed are simply that - individual - and so while it's helpful to get others' experiences and opinions it's crucial to know the temperament of the older male and that within his lines to see how it fits with the puppy you have bred and it's base temperament.

Personally I don't think there is sufficient age gap here to be introducing a puppy as the other dog, unless a toy breed, is not fully mature physically or mentally and even without potential aggression or bullying problems that's hard work for anyone.

regards, Teri