Hi
Would love your opinions please -

What do you think would work better

Older dog middle bitch and young dog OR older dog and two younger bitches?

Hmm, 2 dogs the same age and a younger bitch hasn't worked out for me :-( but not sure about 3 different ages I'm afraid. I know that people say if bitches fall out it can be nastier than if dogs fall out - it's bad enough with dogs!!

Depends on the breed I think - 2 males of some breeds are likely to rip each other to shreds regardless of age

If only everything were that straightforward!  Much depends on the breed(s) and the individual characters of the existing dogs.  If you can provide some inside info to the breed, age and characteristics of the current canines it may help with a guess-timate ......

There are rarely hard and fast rules for multiple ownership - which is anything higher than two at the same time ;)  If it were only two, then one of each sex is generally recognised as being the easiest option but, as the saying goes, "two's company and three a crowd" :rolleyes:

Now I bet that helped hugely, erm ..... NOT :D

Ok - Old dog is 9 1/2 yrs old  - cross collie  and young dog is retriever/collie bitch aged 20 months

Old dog is not dominanat nor is he a softy etc ....young bitch is a push over !!!!

The old dog is used to living with dogs. The pack consisted of two old dogs  and one young bitch up until four weeks ago (my old one had to be PTS four weeks ago (liver disease)) 

Just wanted peoples opinions .

I have 2 unneutered males, ages 1 and 3.  When they are around my mom's female dogs, the older one will attack the younger one if the younger one so much as walks by one of the girls.  Mine are angels when they are by themselves, just not when girls are around.  I have also hear though, that bitches will challenges other bitches for dominance.  It probably all depends on the dogs.

I've got three un-speyed bitches and apart from one minor scrap over a bone never had a problem. Used to have three un-castrated dogs (GSD) and two speyed bitches live together and never a problem. Think they know I am ultimately the boss, one growl from me and they slink off! usually together, safety in numbers I think!!
I think a lot depends on how you handle it and how much in control you are. Not to say that some just hate one another and you will always have trouble, whatever the mix, maybe i have just been very lucky.

I have 1 male, his neutered mum and an un-neutered bitch. The male keeps the peace :D If he thinks that the girls are getting a bit out of hand he stands between them and just stares at them. Though they do play a lot together, he just doesn't like the play to get too rough ;) I have a friend with a fluid household of 7 dogs and bitches. The oldest bitch is the boss. No-one argues with her. One of her sons is the boss amongst the males, but he will turn away if his mum tells him off. I also know of someone with 3 unrelated males who live quite happily together with hardly a bad word between them. A few years ago I had to rehome a bitch as 2 of them started arguing (they were sisters out of different litters). In their case the old adage of 'males fight for the right to breed, but females fight for the right to breathe' was certainly true. :)

Look at your own dogs and if they are happy dogs it really has to be up to you to decide if another dog might upset the apple cart. Be prepared for the worst, but hope for the best ;) :D

Definately depends on the breeds and temperaments i think

Your current ones may be ok but the newbie might not

I have three entire males and 4 females -apart from the odd squabble over bones etc they all get on really well . There is a very defiinite pecking order and they all seem settled with their place in the pack - my top dog stops anything from developing and is by nature non-agressive to other dogs - in fact outside of the home he is quite shy so he does not seem to feel the need to start fights with the others. As people have said I think it very much depends on the breed - we are lucky that ours is one that is able (usually) to co-exist happily with their own kind - I don't know if this would be different if they lived with another breed with different characteristics.

Yvonne

Hi again i think it depends on the breed of the dog and their temperament i have 2 males one uncasrated one casrated and they can fight like cat and dog both being stud dogs then again sometimes they cuddle up together but at the moment i have 8 females that live together very well no scraps all diffrent sizes and breeds and there great together although they do range in age but not really alot between them all

I've got a neutered male (springer x lab), 2 spayed bitches (rottie & beagle x parsons) and a 4 month old border collie bitch. We also look after 2 neutered chinese cresteds mon-fri (one dog, one bitch) with no problems.