I have a female 1 year old husky and want to add dog for companionship for her and also, for sledding and bikejoring for me..

I have heard so much information on how I should try to adopt a male because of the female dominance thing....I do realize that in most animals, males and females typically do get along better.

I brought Evelyn to meet a potential today which was another female. At first, the sniffed each other and then seemed to not be too interested in each other. I was at a shelter and we had my female and the other dog on their leashes.....We left the kennel area and took them for a walk.
they played just a bit but seemed they were not too interested in each other......Not sure what to make of that behavior. Of course, my dog was so distracted by all the smells, it was hard for me to tell if they would be a good match.

What have your experiences been with male/female, or female/female households?????

Thanks...

Claudette

Thank you for considering to adopt a husky!

I HEARD that females usually don't get along with each other (especially during heat cycles...), too. But, at the same time, I have friends who have multiple females and they're fine with each other. It just depends on the dogs' personalities.

And, while I've never had more than 1 dog before, my boy usually gets along better with females. With other males, he's quite the handful...very dominant and very much a 'bully' towards other males.

Although, again, that depends on the dogs' personalities. A friend of mine has an all-male dog household (all fixed), and they're awesome with each other.

From their first interaction, without actually seeing them, I would say they are uncertain about each other. They performed the usual butt-sniffing social greeting, exchanged a few minutes of play time, and now they aren't sure what to do with each other. "Should we interact more or will 'Mommy' be taking me home now?".

If possible, take her out a few more times on neutral ground, if the shelter will let you. Once they get a little more used to seeing each other, you'll be able to see if they're a good match or not.

I have 5 Female working dogs that live together in a pack(for this, Lucy doesn't really participate or count). They were two seperate two dog packs, and when they got comfortable with each other as 4 we added Panzer. In my experience with adding a new female, you have to watch them closely at first, but a well socialized pair of girls can work out who's. The boss between the two non-violently, but not without a little rough and mouthy play.

When we combined the 4 dogs, obviously the alphas and betas of the original 2 dog packs had to figure out what the pecking orders were amongst themselves, and they did, with rough play, keep away, and some racing.

Even adding Panzer, she just made her rounds with all the dogs, and found her rank.

I guess to make it short, female/female has worked for me with well socialized dogs, but I always keep close eyes on them for the first couple weeks.

I think it really depends on the personalities of the dogs. Although, I think people generally have more problems with multiple females. There's a thread somewhere discussing this in depth.

Also, while I think it would be beneficial to have them meet again, them ignoring each other isn't necessarily a bad thing. It doesn't mean they'll always act that way, but they weren't acting aggressively at least.

When we got Kerian we took Blaze with us to introduce them to each other at the shelter. We took them out side in the meet and greet area they hit it off right off the bat. Now I have a male and female. I have a friend who had two females and they are best buds.

I think it depends on their personality. If you have two dominant females like me they'll have some issues at first. Sophie is pretty submissive and let's Maya and Kay push her around. Maya and Kay have had a lot of issues and they still have some now because Kay is really annoying...she'll continually bite Maya's cheek even after Maya have her a warning...

Oh and Maya and Kay cuddle more then Maya and Sophie or Sophie and Kay do. Sophie doesn't really cuddle with anyone. Right after Kay and Maya have a fight they'll lay right next to each other and usually roll around and play.