RE: [IceHorses] Re: pure love
Hi Karen, >>>Virginia, sometimes I think the people who make up these gender rules haven't had many animals. It is interesting some of the 'rules' or beliefs that people have. I guess they are based on someone's experience but I think so much is about the rules you make and what you expect. The idea that the 'alpha' dog has to eat first is IME a human thing. We have 5 dogs living here right now and Christine's dog Benson is here everyday. The dogs are very polite around feeding time and it changes who gets fed first as to what is convenient. I also have several friends who free feed their dogs kibble and they have bowl and the dogs just take turns. There is no quarreling, they just share. I have also been in shelters where dogs live in groups of 5-10 and they have a couple of big buckets that always have food in them and the dogs don't fight at all. So like most everything, it depends Robyn Hood
Re: [IceHorses] Re: pure love
> > Virginia, sometimes I think the people who make up these gender rules > haven't had many animals. I see gender rules apply quite often as a professional dog trainer. It doesn't have as much to do with mixed groups as it does with same sex groups. The worst pairings seem to be same sex and same (or very close) in age. Or when a younger animal is introduced there may be conflict between him and very old same sex dog. Usually females do the most harm to each other and often require medical attention. It doesn't seem to matter what breed. Part of the reason could be how the household is managed. Sometimes there is no structure. Often there are exercises that they can do to help maintain the peace. And then there is the times where one dog's life is at risk and one of the dog's must be removed from the household. Usually this kind of severity is between two females (altered or not). >I've always heard that hooey about not > having multiple females, and we've ALWAYS had multiple girls. It isn't hooey. Perhaps you've just been fortunate or you are able to adequately manage your group to keep things nice and peaceful. But there are many dog owners that do have issues and most often it is with same sex/ same age pairings. Most of the dog owner's that I have worked with have had multiple dogs their whole lives and never had an issue until this particular dog came into the household. It isn't always the new dog that is aggressive either - often one of the resident dogs becomes aggressive towards the new dog. And it can happen to anyone experienced or not. When my oldest male was 12 I brought in a new male dog that immediately had issues with him. My old guy was losing his hearing and did not read dog signals well anymore. I had to be very, very careful with those two. The youngster was always looking for a fight. And I consider myself not the average dog owner with lots more tools. The youngster hasn't had an aggressive moment in the house since my old guy died two months ago. I have two female dogs as well that get along famously. When asked I always recommend that people get opposite sex if getting a second dog. When getting into multiples you just have to take your chances. Sarah in MT
Re: [IceHorses] Re: pure love
Of course, I don't go for > the more aggressive breeds generally - we typically have had hunting > dogs, mixes of various hunting dog heritages, and general purpose > mutts. I do think this has some bearing on the issue. There are some breeds that are more dog aggressive than others. We have tried to keep two unneutered male dobes together and there was just no way it was going to work and we have had lots and lots of experience with dogs. Neutering early is key also. Our male we have now is the least dog aggressive we have ever had but we didn't show him so we neutered him early and did lots of early socialization with big groups of dogs. All that being said, we had a friend that raised Rotties and would have 3-4 unneutered male Rotties at her place running lose all the time. There was no doubt, though, that she was head dog - she kept a tight rein on things. -- Laree in NC Doppa & Mura Simon, Sadie and Sam (the "S" gang) "Yet when all the books have been read and reread, it boils down to the horse, his human companion, and what goes on between them." - William Farley
