Keeping entire dogs and bitches in the same house?

EllieBeast

EllieBeast

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Our current setup is 2 neutered bitches and one entire male (youngest of the 3, 2yrs old- bottom of the pecking order and currently unaware of what his balls are for).

We’re thinking of adding another bitch to the gang- what’s one more, right?! 🙄😂

We would get the newbie spayed at the appropriate time but, of course would need to navigate a number of seasons first.

I don’t really want to neuter the boy just yet unless he gives me a reason to, all of our dogs live in the house.

They will all be crate trained and we have plenty of space, if he gets really upset I can ship him to my parents but would rather not if possible- he’s my emotional support dog 😂.

This is all hypothetical and very much in the future as potential pup isn’t conceived yet. Just something to mull over as Erik is my first dog of the male variety and I’ve never had to cross this bridge 😁 so interested to hear of other peoples experiences!
 
I have an entire dog and unspayed bitch. The dog isn’t neutered because he’s a young Dachshund and research proves that the longer you leave them entire the less chance of IVDD they have.

It’s a nightmare when the bitch is in heat. Percy’s head doesn’t leave Penny’s arse unless physically separated… He loses any sense of togetherness, stops eating and gets selective hearing. Would not recommend!
 
Sounds entertaining! Maybe me and Erik can both move to my parents for the duration. 12 miles of distance should be enough, right?!

I know me and T would be on the ball regarding keeping them apart but wouldn’t want to leave any responsibility with anyone else. He can take Erik to work with him at least to get him out of the house and save my parents the stress when they’re in daycare duties.
 
Petalpoos said:
Someone I know now has 7 retriever puppies after leaving her husband to watch the dog and bitch for half an hour while she went out…
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Oh dear, That’s quite a fail!

Thankfully I CAN trust my husband with this sort of thing- it will be his bitch so he’ll be protective as hell and her and our dog will be related so puppies are an absolute no.
 
Having always said it was my worst nightmare and I’d never do it, my desired ideal dog combination meant it had to be done at least on a temporary basis. Four seasons in and it really hasn’t been that bad.

One is very small so a stair gate, me being in the same room (WFH) and being handbagged under my arm if I needed to move around the house has proven sufficient.
 
Roasted Chestnuts said:
I wouldn’t have said it would be fair to either the bitch or the dog and would cause undue stress IMHO. Also run the risk of the male peeing everywhere, drinking the bitches urine and dominance issues.

If you don’t intend to breed or show then just get the boy the snip.
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This is not my experience having had two large entire male dogs, both used at stud and an entire female in my house, and no need to remove parts of anyone's anatomy. I live in a rental property so I can't have and never have had soiling in the house

ETA there was a bit of bitching in the garden but no worse than they would do out and about. One had a bit of a howly bark but he would bark at mealtimes/when another dog was going out anyway.
 
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Dogs are very good at breeding through fences and crates. They also occasionally go through windows and you be surprised at how many climb very well. Its pretty imporessive to hear how some accidental litters occur.

Two locked doors between the intact dogs is a good idea, sending the boy on a holiday if he does fret,whine, starve and fuss is often the kinder option imo.

I deliberately chose not to have both sexes at home because its a pain in the behind to manage seasons for all involved, though managing 4 girls instead does have its moments . Superlorin takes 6 weeks to kick in and does eventually wear off so even chemical castration as a management tool needs a careful timeframe choices as well.
 
Roasted Chestnuts said:
I wouldn’t have said it would be fair to either the bitch or the dog and would cause undue stress IMHO. Also run the risk of the male peeing everywhere, drinking the bitches urine and dominance issues.

If you don’t intend to breed or show then just get the boy the snip.
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He does show and I’ve been encouraged to keep him entire for now as he’s a nice example of a numerically very small breed in this country- with European lines that give him a good COI with some of the lines already here. He needs to prove himself as a useful working dog first (gundog) and pass all health tests but it’s a bit too soon to be able to decide either way at the moment- hence my reticence to castrate just yet.
 
Roasted Chestnuts said:
I wouldn’t have said it would be fair to either the bitch or the dog and would cause undue stress IMHO. Also run the risk of the male peeing everywhere, drinking the bitches urine and dominance issues.

If you don’t intend to breed or show then just get the boy the snip.
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I wouldn't say mine are distressed. We get about a 12h period where they howl a bit when she's at the top but otherwise they get to hang out in the house from 9-4.30 with the usual walks and training then head to the kennel room for raw bones to chew on from 4 30-10 and are served this dinner out there. Both dogs come in at 10pm to sleep on someone's bed. A hard life!
 
druid said:
I know Erik is on at least one irish breeders possible sire list so you have very valid reasons for keeping him entire.

We can't FT a neutered dog in Ireland so bear that one in mind also.
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Yes he was being sized up at the game fair 😂 he’s got a way to go to prove himself worthy of passing on his DNA just yet but time will tell so I’d like to allow him that.

I didn’t realise that about Irish FT either!

He’s currently a very respectful lad, I’m sure we’ll be able to work the logistics- even if he goes to stay with my parents for a few days at the height of it. It’s really interesting to hear such a mixture of experiences though- Seems to be quite the divisive subject!
 
Scout is probably similar to Erik, naive and a good boy.
The beagle is currently rampantly in season and being a complete pita. Scout is mildly interested and a bit dribbly.
It’s a nuisance, especially as my OH is far more relaxed about it than I am. He wouldn’t leave them together but he’ll shut her in the crate and wander off.
Scout had his staples removed yesterday so he’s now going shooting every single day until February. Hopefully he’ll be too tired to fret when he’s home and it’ll all be over by then.
He did eat his kennel last night 😢
 
EllieBeast said:
Yes he was being sized up at the game fair 😂 he’s got a way to go to prove himself worthy of passing on his DNA just yet but time will tell so I’d like to allow him that.

I didn’t realise that about Irish FT either!

He’s currently a very respectful lad, I’m sure we’ll be able to work the logistics- even if he goes to stay with my parents for a few days at the height of it. It’s really interesting to hear such a mixture of experiences though- Seems to be quite the divisive subject!
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I'd persevere especially as he's a good example of a numerically small breed. It is manageable, just a little logistics and they're fine.
 
Roasted Chestnuts said:
I wouldn’t have said it would be fair to either the bitch or the dog and would cause undue stress IMHO. Also run the risk of the male peeing everywhere, drinking the bitches urine and dominance issues.

If you don’t intend to breed or show then just get the boy the snip.
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We kept entire dogs and bitches together all through my teenage years. They were just never left alone together if we had a bitch in season. We had kennels outside and obviously could leave either dogs or bitches in the house if necessary. Nobody seemed to be stressed. I wouldn't want to castrate a young dog before full maturity.
 
Petalpoos said:
Someone I know now has 7 retriever puppies after leaving her husband to watch the dog and bitch for half an hour while she went out…
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I had 6 lab puppies and a filthy C-section bill after leaving my husband to watch the dog and bitch for an hour while I rode the horse. To be fair, I was carted off in an ambulance because while I was riding an ovarian cyst chose that moment to burst and I got off the pony mid session and passed out with pain. On coming round I heard someone say 'Tell James we've called an ambulance'... to which I replied 'For F's sake, tell him if he's coming he needs to make sure the dogs' doors are locked...' but I was too late...

Sigh. Men, eh?

ETA. Neuter the bitch down the line. That's a health measure. Keep the boy entire, he'll benefit in the long run from the testosterone. It has positive health implications, too.
 
IME it really isn’t as dramatic as all that - I went into the experience expecting the worst and it ended up being nothing more than mildly inconvenient. Nobody peed anywhere they shouldn’t, 48hrs of whinging at the point of ovulation was solved by telling him to knock it off, and the same 48hrs of being off breakfast was miraculously solved by dinnertime each day. And I live in a mid terrace.

Do back the stair gate with cardboard though, I know a lovely young dog conceived through the bars. 😂
 
I bought a female Mini Schnauzer was being retired from breeding following a Caesarian. She was not not neutered & came into season before I got her spayed. My entire male Mini Schnauzer was 8 when I got her, and when she came into season, I don't think he even noticed😀

I separated them with a baby gate, and it was the female who jumped over it to get to him. Nothing happened between them and she was spayed as as soon as I could get her done.

Since then, I've only had females😀
 
Petalpoos said:
Someone I know now has 7 retriever puppies after leaving her husband to watch the dog and bitch for half an hour while she went out…
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15 Great Dane puppies because a vet changed their policy on castration of giant breeds, switching from 1 to 2 years. I imagine they were trying to book in with another vet but it was too late.
 
Clodagh said:
Scout is probably similar to Erik, naive and a good boy.
The beagle is currently rampantly in season and being a complete pita. Scout is mildly interested and a bit dribbly.
It’s a nuisance, especially as my OH is far more relaxed about it than I am. He wouldn’t leave them together but he’ll shut her in the crate and wander off.
Scout had his staples removed yesterday so he’s now going shooting every single day until February. Hopefully he’ll be too tired to fret when he’s home and it’ll all be over by then.
He did eat his kennel last night 😢
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Yes Erik definitely fits that description, always wants to be a good boy and is very biddable. He’s not defiant at all.

I like the plan- put him to work and tire him out 😂, T definitely won’t be in any way relaxed about it. He’ll be more paranoid than me!
 
blackcob said:
IME it really isn’t as dramatic as all that - I went into the experience expecting the worst and it ended up being nothing more than mildly inconvenient. Nobody peed anywhere they shouldn’t, 48hrs of whinging at the point of ovulation was solved by telling him to knock it off.
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This. I live in a built up area and am conscious of my neighbors anyway so they're generally quite well behaved in and around the (pretty small) house.
If you don't tolerate nonsense the rest of the time then it shouldn't be too much of an ordeal for them.
If they generally are allowed to get away with rude behaviours then they will be more inclined to continue them.
If I think of/look back on my most stressful moments of dog ownership, a bitch being in season ain't it. I think once mine realised after the first or second time that nothing was happening, they got over themselves.
 
CorvusCorax said:
This is not my experience having had two large entire male dogs, both used at stud and an entire female in my house, and no need to remove parts of anyone's anatomy. I live in a rental property so I can't have and never have had soiling in the house

ETA there was a bit of bitching in the garden but no worse than they would do out and about. One had a bit of a howly bark but he would bark at mealtimes/when another dog was going out anyway.
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That’s good to know, he has never marked indoors and is not a noisy dog at all as it stands🤞🏻

We have had to wrangle a situation where a family member brought their ‘not quite out of season yet’ (they though as she’d stopped bleeding it would be fine 😳) bitch to a family bbq. He called away from her and sat and waited on command out of the way when required whilst waiting for them to catch the thing to put it away 🙄. That’s the only real experience he’s had of an in season bitch, he’s well trained and well mannered in general life- we absolutely don’t tolerate rudeness from any of our dogs.
 
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