Bo Obama has a new Little sister!

[happyslug]

52. Male or Female?

I once owned a male border collie that went through separation anxiety whenever we left him home alone. We ended up getting a female Australian Shepherd mix (i,e, not full blooded Australian Shepherd, but enough to pass without to much dispute).

After we had the female (Both were fixed, I was NOT going to breed), the female quickly laid down the law. She was top dog, and he better accept it. That he was bigger and stronger was NOT important, every time he started to look like he would object to her biting of him (Which she did extensively, no blood just nips) she would turn around and throw her butt into his face in effect telling him "I'm a girl, you can't touch me" and he would lower his face in a look best described as "Yes, my love" (from an old Daffy Duck Cartoon) and accepted his place.

Now, when I took them through the woods off lead, the above remained, but the Female stayed near me, while the male would run ahead and to the sides. Every time he would come in to check in (Which he did every so often), the Female would dash out to him and bark and nip at him saying in effect "Get out they and round something up for me, and if it is dangerous, you get sniped, I be safe".

When the male dog meet other dogs away from the female, he would approached them in play, smell at them and act like he was willing and able to play with them. The Female was different, she wanted to control everything and would bark at most dogs to chase them away from her and her pack.

Now, when the two dogs were together, the male dog followed the lead of the female as to other dogs, i.e bark at them to chase them away. If she thought the dog was dangerous, he was going to support her. This was true even of dogs he had meet earlier the same day (often within the same hour) that he had been willing to play with. She called the shots, he followed the tune.

Now those two were shepherds. After they had passed on, I had a large sized female Standard poodle. Poodles come in three sizes, Standard 45 pounds and over and body is at least 15 inches off the ground, Miniatures which stand between 11-15 inches between their body and the ground, and Toy which has less then 11 inches of clearance. I had the LARGE Standard poodle, not the smaller poodles.

Now when I had the two shepherds, the male would go much further afield off lead then the female. The poodle, even being female, went much further afield then my old male shepherd (I am guessing, but 2-3 times further). All my dogs weighed about 45 pounds, so size was NOT a factor. The difference is type of dog.

Now, I also ended up with a full blooded Australian Shepherd along with the poodle. At home the Australian Shepherd wanted to be boss and would try to boss the Poodle. The Poodle being female would NOT submit like my old male border collie would do to his female companion, but being a poodle would not stand her ground either. Both these dogs were female and thus the temperament was who was to be atop between them, unlike a male-female mix where the home roost was her domain, and she expected him, and he did, go out to explode for any dangers or anything interesting to bring to her.

Now, both dogs would bite each other, but shed no blood (The Australian Shepherd being much more aggressive in this then the Poodle). The Australian Shepherd would follow the Poodle when the Poodle was off lead, but would cut back sooner. Given she was running with a Poodle not another Shepherd, the Australian Shepherd would go further then my old border collie would, but once she was at that range, she clearly would be uncomfortable and break off following the Poodle and head back to me.

Just some comment on a second dog. Here are some general rules to go by:

1. Males will go afield further then females of the same breed.

2. Hunting breeds (which includes Poodles) will go 2-3 times as far away as a Shepherd breed.

3. If you have two dogs, and it is a Male and Female, the female will dominate the male.

4. If you have two dogs, of the same sex, they will dispute who is boss till that is decided, but any settlement of the dispute will NOT come at the expense of harming the "pack" as a whole, i.e. they will fight between themselves, but draw no blood AND will not object to any superior (which should be all of the humans in your household) stopping any and all fights between them.

5. Most of the fights will appear to be more play then fight, for that is what it is, they are fighting over who will dominate each other, but they do NOT want to harm each other. It is complex dynamic going on, and can change daily, but just because they are "fighting" every day mean they hate or want to harm each other, they are being dogs. If the fighting gets out of hand, put your foot down hard, they will get the message to do such "fighting" in a way that you do not object.

6. DO NOT FEED THEM OUT OF THE SAME BOWEL. They can use the same water dish, but NOT the same food dish. Wolves, when they eat together often fight each other as they wolf down their food. The reason for this appears to be that wolves are often superior at taking down game, but being smaller then most other predators can be driven away by larger predators. Thus wolfing down the food means they get more of the foot before other larger predators drive them away from the kill. This desire to eat their food quickly makes then not want to share what in front of them. Thus two dogs sharing the same bowel will snap at each other as they eat, including drawing blood (i.e. it is NOT play biting as when most dogs interact). Studies have shown if food is in their face, a wolf will view that food as theirs alone. Dogs have the same attitude to food that is in their face, it is "theirs" and it will cause them to fight each other. The best way to avoid this is two different food bowels (and this will not be play fighting as in the above dispute over dominance).

7. Dominance is over played by several "dog handlers" on TV. Dominance among wolves and dogs is more first call or first ups, then control over another dog. Dominance is more who goes FIRST then total obedience to a superior. Dominance can change depending on the circumstances, if one dog is in the lead the other dogs in that pack will follow that dog, even if he is NOT the dominant dog on a day to day basis.
For example, inside my home the Australian Shepherd rules, on walks it is the Poodle AND both accept this change based on what is going on. Dominance is more what is the best way to operate at this moment in time, then dominance of one dog over another.

Like all general rules, these are more guidelines then rigid rules, but it will give you an idea of what you will face if you bring in another dog.