All Bitches Together

Archie · Old Hand

All Bitches Together

neeroz · Master

Hi Archie

We took on a second bitch coming up on four years ago now, & can't say we have ever had any real problems.
We were looking for a dog to keep Florence company after our lurcher died & our vet called us bout Abbey who was in at the vet to be PTS. It was all up to Florence if she came home & stayed, one slight growling match is all we've ever had, tho Florence is top dog.
Now they are inseparable & share the house with Dexter as well, so I suppose it depends on the dogs really.

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

Hi Archie & Carol,

I started a topic similar to this, with some interesting feedback, See:-

News/Views - Page 5 - 'Male/Female Homing'

Archie · Old Hand

Thanks, had a read, mixed views.

Keera went really quiet and got a bit stressed when we fostered Luso and he started to dominate "towards the end" (now adopted and happy just to make that quote clear!). She's back to normal again but I think a smaller dog/bitch next time might be the answer.

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

Archie, to my knowledge one dog/bitch will always be more dominant than the other. Still, I think it would be worth discussing this with someone more experienced than me, who could advise what would be a be a good combination for Keera (maybe on Saturday eh??!) No doubt you'll get more feedback here too!

Dave · Enlightened One

I guess there's always exceptions to the rule but in general our best advice is dog / bitch combo works best.

I think for Keera as I think she likes to be quite a bossy lady (correct me if I'm wrong!) a nice submissive male dog would suit best, size really isn't a factor, it's really the nature of the dog that counts..

*dave goes of to think about submissive dogs..*

greyluvver · GAL Membership Co-Ordinator

This is very much the situation with our two: Tyler is a bossy lady, and Max is submissive. So they live fine together

Teresa · Enlightened One

i've only ever had a dog & bitch combination - daisy is very much top dog !!

Archie · Old Hand

Dave

Thanks for the advice mate but Keera's like her mum size doe's matter in this house ...

JanW · Master

I find that Ruby & Bob get on well together because Bob is very submissive (and being fostered so is available if Keera would like to meet!)

-- Edited by JanW at 07:46, 2005-09-15

bluesmumanddad · Master

Ohh sneaky Janet! Posting a beautiful picture like that, how could anyone resist him

Nicki · Big Cheese

What a gorgeous pic, a very handsome boy.

love nicki and janie.x

Steve · Master

Oooh, and Bob would go beautifully with Keera because she's such a beatuiful bluey brindle. Mmmm, matching doglets.....

It totally depends on the personality of the newbie. A friend of mine had two bitches and 99.9% of the time they were fine together. As for bossyness, well, I'd say that Pearly can be pretty bossy but, tbh, she's taken a wee while to settle into having a dog in the house. Harry is quite a big lad and whilst he doesn't dominate her in the 'true' sense of the word, in hindsight she'd perhaps have been happier with a smaller dog, or possibly even another bitch. She's getting better with him (Harry doesn't care cos he's so laid back, bless him!) and nowadays will even tolerate him touching her whilst they sleep. But I doubt they'll ever be snuggle-mates.

Curiosity is a wonderful thing...... we'll all be curiously watching this space and waiting for news of number two.....

Fiona

Lesley · Guru

Bob is SO gorgeous!

Teresa · Enlightened One

fancy sneaking in a pic like that !!

what a STUNNING boy he is

JanW · Master

appologies for the shameful hijacking of this topic. I've removed the photo.

p.s. Bob will be at Langbank on Sat....

takecon · Master

Hi Everyone,

I agree with Dave's comments - best to have male - female. Prevents a lot of the dominance situations

My two bitches Snap and Cleo give me the most trouble - but only when we are on walks.

Snap has this problem theat when she gets excited at the sight of a fox or squirrel she starts barking and growling. If one of the other dogs got in the way they were bitten. Mick got quite a few nips this way.

Once Cleo settled in and felt relaxed - she did not put up with Snap's antics and she would get 'stuck' resulting in a dog fight. Meanwhile the fox or squirrel would saunter off.

I'm asssuming this is a dominance thing. One dog trying to keep the other in place.

Mick and Trei do not get involved altough Tinker bacause he's young and excitable sometimes joins in.

We work on this every time we go out at mo - Water spray - a firm 'no' and turn away from the prey.

It does seem it's a lot to do with the dogs nature. But I've got to say most of the foster boys Ive had and my own. The boys have been easier to deal with.

Charles

ps All my dogs except Mick are muzzled when out - to prevent the bite. I learned hard way - forgot muzzle - Snap's face was ripped by Cleo, £165 vet bill

Carol · Master

My two boys, Whistler and Luca have got on great since day 1. Both the boys are very laid back and they're not really 'alpha male' types if you get my drift. I've only ever had one scary moment in the car when Whistler growled at Luca but nothing came of it and to be honest, Luca probably deserved it.

Eilidh on the other hand is a different matter altogether. She is a bossy little bitch (no comments about like mother, like daughter please) and when she came was extremely dominant towards poor old Luca. They sorted themselves out though and everything was fine and dandy.

When Whistler came she was a bit bossy towards him for a couple of days but not nearly as bad as she was with Luca. I don't think that I could ever have another bitch in the house though as I don't think Eilidh would stand for it. She loves being the centre of the boys' attention and as far as she's concerned the whole world revolves around her. I dread to think how she would react to having another girlie trying to steal her thunder.

As a lot of people have said, I think it is all to do with the personality of your dog and you probably have a gut feeling of how it would go if you were to introduce another dog of the same sex. For me boys are fine but definitely no more girls just yet.

Leolurcher · Master

I think a lot depends on the individual bitches. I have kept two rough collie bitches and a papillion bitch together in the house with no problems. Just for interest I will add that one type of lurcher bitch that I would be wary of introducing another adult bitch of her type as a house companion if they are left together unsupervised is a beddie/sighthound x. Bedlington xs? Generally the sweetest loyal and most loving of dogs to their owners but some can have their fiesty moments with other companion dogs in dominance struggles. This is not to put down the beddie x in any way...it is just that thing I have heard said about bull terriers....all dogs can fight...just some are better at it than others

Eleanorxxxxxx

max · Enlightened One

We took on Sasha a whippet bitch ,and yes her and Cas have there moments but generaly they get on well together. When we go out we have a double cage for Sasha ,just in case Cas gets to bossy and i feel better knowing that Sasha is secure and safe. Nora ,Cas and the gang

Leolurcher · Master

max wrote:

We took on Sasha a whippet bitch ,and yes her and Cas have there moments but generaly they get on well together. When we go out we have a double cage for Sasha ,just in case Cas gets to bossy and i feel better knowing that Sasha is secure and safe. Nora ,Cas and the gang

Nora I think that you have "Hit the nail on the head" re sighthound and sighthound xs. Generally they will seem to get on okay together in their "Pack" so long as their owners are around...but in some instances it is advisable to take precautions when the dogs are left alone.

I can only talk about lurchers but some "experts in the field" have trusted the wrong dogs unsupervised together and the outcomes were bad...so if we "pet rescue" peple tend to be cautious? C'est la vie and in my book? no bad thing

Eleanorxxxxxxx

Archie · Old Hand

Thanks for all the input on our query. We went to Langbank today and took a squad of dogs out and met the lovely Bob - now who would have thought we would have bumped into Bob! He's a beautiful boy and only has eyes for his foster mum.

We came away empty handed as poor Levi had had his "plums picked" (is that the phrase) and had to go back for more so didn't get to walk him. We didn't get to meet the old boy we saw on the website although Dave did point out another old boy who wasn't the 4 legged kind.

We ain't that desperate Dave.

Spoiled for choice. It'll happen eventually. Had a brilliant day and the cakes were great.

chrissy j · Old Hand

I actually have 3 bitches and a dog 2 of the bitches are litter sisters I have never had any problems with them they even share food from the same bowls.