Have you raised two male pups together?

[ChickenFanaticAB]

I agree that male-female pairings are best, but I also think that same sex pairings can work just fine...depends more on the disposition of the dog than the sex. I would be concerned about Jax being aggressive to another dog if he has not been well-socialized with other dogs. You mentioned that he isn't familiar with other dogs, and I would recommend that you take him over to the breeders place or to another house with dogs and work on socializing him. He may not be aggressive, but he will likely be scared of other dogs, causing him to snap and growl, which typically leads to aggression. Definitely begin socializing him heavily with a variety of other dogs...even if he accepts the pup that you bring into the house, he may be aggressive to other dogs. (I'm a big proponent of heavy socialization at a young age and for the rest of a dog's life, as you can probably tell...) Good luck!

 

[redhen]

Gritty..
start taking Jax to places where there are other dogs..
petco..
parks where people walk their dogs..
try to find doggie play groups.. hehehe..yeah, they actually have those..
OR even just bring him over to a neighbors house (that has a dog) for short visits..

 

[Brindlebtch]

Quote:
Not possible! I think they broke the mold after Jax.

I sure you are right! But I bet junior will be a genius dog in his own unique and wonderful way!

redhen has a good idea about taking him where he can learn there are such things as other dogs.

 

[ducks4you]

Lots of good advice here. BTW, Bec, I answered this post because I had been advised ONLY to pair male with female for two dogs. The older dog I own now was bought to be a friend to my 9 year old GSD mix. (They got along very well and she mourned my older dog's passing.) The younger dog was taken home from an unwanted litter abandoned at a horse sale. My two current female dogs are inseparable---something I was told repeatedly WOULDN'T WORK. The ONLY two dogs that I was unable to keep over the years were NOT puppies, and had incurable bad habits. AND, I'm STILL open to an older dog that nobody wants and needs a good home. I've had many more horses than dogs over the years. A new horse is always quaranteed in a separate turnout (where they can visit the herd over the fence) until they've been worked and travelled together enough to be put together. Most dog owners don't have that kind of luxery, so it pays to be careful.

 

[wombat]

Quote:
That's been my experience with GSDs too.

 

[Haviris]

I think the best pairing w/ the least amount of risk would be male female. I'm not saying two males or two females can't or won't get along, but in general one of each gives the least amount of risk.

Currently I live in a house w/ 6 dogs and only one is male (3 of them, including the male are mine). My dad has a male and female that we often "babysit", and my sister lives one house over and has one male and 3 females. Currently the only two that are having an issue is my sister's male and my dad's male. (it's started kind of a family feud)

My sister in law has a female that is very dominate and can be a problem, even w/ submissive dogs, mostly females. She even gets into it w/ her full sister that belongs to my dad (she's not the one we baby sit, he actually has two females, this one's outside).

I was always partial to males, but I got my female dane because I already had two male dogs at the time, and me and her bonded stronger then either of the others! I was quite suprised what a great match we were! I now have two females and one male, and still Iris (female dane) is "MY" dog all the way! So I don't put as much stock in male vs. female.

So male/male can work, it just has more potential for issues (as does female/female), if your heart is set on another male, then in order to minimize risks neuter both! That will help alot. Also socialization w/ both people and other dogs is very important, I expose my puppies to as many different things as humanly possible in the first year of life. At 6 months your pup should have already met 100s of people and dogs, but it's not to late, and I would make sure the new pup gets lots to!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
Jax has been heavily socialized. We take him every single place we go, short of the grocery store.
It's just he has never been anywhere that other dogs were present; even at the vets. When we've gone to the vet there's been cats (and the vet's young GS) in the waiting room, but no dogs.
We've taken him to the park, no dogs other than him. We took him on a six hour round trip to Hot Springs last week where he met lots and lots of people, no dogs.

Petsmart is over an hour away, but we've been meaning to get down there.
We don't socialize much (due to DH's schedule), but we do know one other couple that have a dog for the pure pleasure of it and it's a female GSD. Most people around here have dogs for work and/or hunting; few have them for pleasure.

I'll talk to DH about taking Jax to meet this GSD this weekend when he's off.
Threy are seriously the only people I can think of with an house dog.

 

[gritsar]

I've heard back from the breeder. Jax's dam is not due to be bred again until late next year (18 months from Jax's litter). However, his aunt (dam's sister) has been bred to his sire and is due to whelp in December.
I think that is the litter we will pick from, so we'll need to get busy on the dog socialization issue.
Also, the breeder told me given Jax's current size, they would expect him to top out at 90+ lbs. His dad is a big boy too. DH and I have a bet going and my guess is 90 lbs.

 

[Skyesrocket]

You might want to look into an obedience class to use for socialization. Even a conformation class would work. Just to get him around other dogs.

 

[NancyDz]

I had a male pup then added another male puppy 2 years later, they were best of buds.. I really think it depends on the personality and socialization of your first dog and then again when you get the second. My first dog went everywhere with me, met tons of other dogs, was neutered and he was fine with all other dogs. When I got the second he followed the first's lead and we continued the socialization . I then added a female a year later, and all went well. I lost my first boy 2 years ago at 8 years old and just recently added a female puppy, my older female has totally bonded with her and they all have a blast. Just socialize the heck out of Jax , don't keep him sheltered at home and have him interact with as many dogs male and female , old and young that you can.

Nancy