New dog - boy or girl?

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SnowandSunshine

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I have a very lovely Springer boy, about 2 yrs old we think. Hubby and I would love to get him some company in a few months time and are wondering if a dog or a bitch would be better.

We would be looking for a rescue, not a puppy but 2-4yrs ish so he/she could cope with Barneys Springer madness!
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Hubby would love a lab, something slightly calmer but also up for lots of running about and playing.

Does anyone have any opinions on whether a dog or a bitch would be best. Half of me thinks a dog cos he will play more but then will 2 boys be more likely to run off? (both will be castrated). Would a girly be less likely to be up for endless playing and rough and tumble?
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Hi There

I have a boy and a girl. My Retriever - the boy came first and is entire, my Irish Setter - also entire came second when Barn was 9month old. Both are completely mad and don't stop playing!!! I think the most important thing is that they are both socialised and therefore pleasant to be with. Barney is a dominant dog but with a wonderful temperment, when he was going through is adolscence (he's 3 now) he could be a proper little sod for running off
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but hours of training and makeing sure he knows that I am the boss has turned him into a super working trial dog!
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Twiglet the Setter is much more clingy and although not trained to the standard of Barn is really quite easy! I guess if you get 2 dominant dogs, male or female there will always be competition, but in my experience it makes no difference to how mad they are!
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Another Barney!
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Thanks, I think personally I would prefer a bitch but good to know there are no big issues I need to look out for. I guess the level of madness is down to the individual dog!
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i'd get the girly spade - more health implications in girls than boys. My Twig is supposed to be done but she got meningitis last year and nearly died
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Shes back to to her mad Irish self but due to drugs suppressing her immune system she can't be operated on. Mind the drugs stop her seasons anyway
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I have 4 bitches; including a mother Springer/collie and her pup. All of my girls get along fantastically well. I have had a couple of dogs in the past; never again I'm afraid. I was brought up with bitches and I much prefer them.

At one time I had a dog and a bitch and they also got along perfectly well, almost too well really. My dog used to bonk my bitch whenever she was in season, didn't bother me as he was castrated, but some people do seem to have a problem with this. Of course your dog may not do this; my dog was a rescue and was 4 years old before he was castrated by the rescue centre, so I believe he had probably been a Daddy at some point in his life, as he was experienced!
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My little Springer plays alone most of the time, she has a different agenda from the rest of the dogs, including her daughter. My shepherd is too sensible to waste time playing all day long, although she will play with the giant Akbash I have. She also loves the puppy. The Akbash plays with the puppy a lot too, probably because she is just a puppy too.

My dogs have total freedom to do as they please here and they do have a massive area to go wherever they wish, so are never contained. Mind you even if they were, I still think they would all get along just as well as they do now.

Hope your new addition works out perfectly no matter which sex you end up choosing.
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they say ideally a dog and bitch
then a dog and dog
then a bitch and bitch together

I went opposite with that idea and have the latter!!! although i'm lucky as both of mine are very submissive,when i get a 3rd bitch soon i'm not sure how that'll go!
 
Interesting. None of my bitches are submissive but neither are they dominant. They are all below me and tend to work on a very close scale; they are all just slightly below each other. They are all fairly confident, pretty sensible and easy going though - bit like me
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It might depend on the breed as well. I've read a lot of guides, for example, that say bull breed dogs should probably not be kept with another of the same sex. In Stella's instance, she does very well with my SIL's little dachshund mix, plays with females at the park every day, and defers to older female dogs, but she will try and get the upper hand with a dog of the same size, same breed, and same temperament--I think it's just a hard-wired tendency within the breed.

I personally know two BT breeders, and one regular person, who had to re-home a female dog because of constant, and very ugly fighting with another female in the household. (On the flip side, my good friend in CA owns two female Bostons and the dogs are glued at the hip.) And now I'm just waffling...
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I think that a dog and a bitch is the safest bet but having said that I've had only bitches (Dobes and a lurcher) for the last few years, they have all got on very well, they also quite happily have my friend's lab bitches and dog to visit.

I'm always careful to introduce new dogs carefully in a controlled (by me!) situation and this seems to work well.
 
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