Have you raised two male pups together?

[gritsar]

If so what, if any, issues did you encounter with regards to pack order/fighting issues?
We now know that we are definitely getting a brother for Jax (GSD). We just haven't decided yet whether we will get him a half-brother - preferable since we could get one immediately while Jax is still young or wait until the breeder has a full brother - which won't be until next year some time; if then.
Although Jax looks like an adult dog now (6 months old, 65 lbs.), he is still very much a puppy mentally.
TIA

 

[Brindlebtch]

I bet you will look at Jax in a year and realize that now he still looks very much like a pupple.

 

[wombat]

The first dog will be more bonded to you. The second one will be attached to the other dog, and more doggy in behavior.

I would suggest neutering them, too.

You are far better off with a male and a female if you must have two.

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
I know! DH came home from work last night and was watching me and Jax play. DH said Bleep! Jax you managed to grow while I was at work!

 

[redhen]

I have 2 males and an older female...
My Saint is about a year & 1/2 older than my Mastiff. So far we've had no problems..I brought the pup in early though...
My Saint had to show him who was boss a few times...(when the pup played to rough or whatever) He would just walk up to the pup and hold him down with one paw...

And give him a little warning growl..
So, my pup knows his place in the pack from a young age and there are no problems as of yet. (the pup will be a year old on Thanksgiving).

 

[Bec]

I have always had males, never females. I grew up with my mom showing boxers and we always had 2-3 whole males without a problem...ever. I have 3 males now (2 dobermans and a minpin) and have never had a problem. My 2 older boys are neutered, my youngest, not yet, but still no problems! I got my 2nd boy 2 years ago and my older male was 7, never had an issue.

If you get the second as a puppy, you won't have problems. A lot depends on the dog too and their background, but being that it will be his full brother, you will already be familiar with how they react to other dogs, males in particular.

In the boxer world of showing and breeding, some breeders are bringing english lines in and seem to be having problem with aggression. So with dogs from that line of breeding, for example, you may want to be wary of. Like I said, you already know the breeder and you have a GSD from them, so you will know what the personality is like.

 

[Amyable]

Quote:
And acts like one too. My parents' big GSD is 13 and he JUST started behaving like a senior dog last year or so. He had that puppy mentality for nearly his whole life

I think the trick is to pick a dog that will get along with Jax; if he is dominant, find a submissive dog, for example. Our male GSD mix is an alpha and dominates aforesaid parent's dog, who outweighs him by 30lbs. Both are male and get along. When we had 2 dogs, both male, they were best buds. Their personalities just meshed well.

Good luck finding a perfect match!

 

[gritsar]

Quote:
That's what I was thinking. We'll be able to spend time with the pup(s) before we decide on the right one, so we'll go for a more submissive, but not overly shy pup. Jax is only dominant with the cats.

 

[wombat]

Quote:
Re what I underlined ...

You can't be certain of this. Someone I've trained with for years got a female pup, and had a female adult in the home. The pup turned out to be very alpha, and very toy driven. The adult got too close to a toy one day and ended up with over 40 stitches, and they'd never had much more than a growl between them prior to this.

A lot depends on the level of agression of both the lines and the individuals, and the social perspective of each. Even one alpha and one very submissive can still have an accident.

A male and a female pair would be much safer, esp. with large breeds.

I'm not saying two males or two females can't get a long, but I am saying that a same-sex pair of house dogs ups your chances of problems.

 

[Rusty Hills Farm]

I've had several entire males, both Dobie and GSD, in the house at the same time. They were raised together and got along famously. However, when there was a female ANYWHERE on the place that was in season, it was a WHOLE nuther story. If you know now FOR SURE that you only want the 2 males and do not intend breeding later, everything should be fine. Having 3 males gets a little touchy, but 4 males also seem to do fine. Of course, we were competing in schutzhund at the time. Training is always the key in my book.

HTH

Rusty

edited to add that adding unsupervised toys/bones into the mix, no matter what the breed or sex of the dogs involved, can lead to aggression. I never leave toys or bones laying around the place. In the crate is the only place my dogs get their bones. This may also be why we never have fighting issues.