Since the unfortunate death of my rescue GSD 18 months ago, I have been eager to rescue another one and then some. I have been limited by my living situation in that my current manhattan apartment doesn;t allow dogs at all. I am getting progressively closer to a move to NC, into a single family home with a spacious and fenced backyard that will suit 2 or 3 dogs nicely.

Here's my question: I am determined to adopt a male and a female. Is it advisable to acquire the male first? The assumption being the male will be dominant and therefore will the subsequent addition of the female be easier as she will be both the newest member of the pack and the Omega?

I hope I'm expressing this clearly?!? In other words, if I were to get the female first, would she then have trouble accepting a new addition who was larger, stronger more aggresive than her?

I have had some experience with dominant male GSD's, but I have never owned a female. As you can tell by my question, I am far from an expert on pack dynamics (although commited to learning).

Additionally, are there any guidelines on how long between adopting the first and the second?

Thanks in advance.

brock

I don't know the "official" answers to your questions but I own a female dog and then subsequently fostered a male (now adopted). They got along really really well. There weren't any dominance squabbles, actually for the first several months I could not tell which dog was dominant. In the end, the male dog was the dominant one, although it was the female who generally initiated play while they were outside.

My personal opinion is that it doesn't matter which sex you get first, as long as they are properly introduced (Ed has an article on this).

As far as the timing of how long to wait between each dog, remember that you want the dogs to bond with you, not only to each other, and they will be with each other 24/7 and they won't be with YOU 24/7 (since I assume you work out of the home, etc). Keeping all this in mind I strongly recommend that you have a good bond formed with your first dog before you get a second dog, and when you do get the second dog, make sure to spend some individual time with it away from the first dog in order to bond and train.

The first dog should be strongly bonded to you (i.e. you are its pack leader, and the dog looks up to you and respects you) and should have a good handle on its training (at least the basics, sit down, stay and come) before you get a second dog.

This was what I did and it turned out very smoothly. In my case I had the first dog for 5 months before accepting the foster.

Hope this helps.

Oh I forgot to mention that if you have any behavioural problems iwth the first dog, do not get the second dog until the problems are resolved - example, jumping up, manners, etc. Because the dogs will learn habits from each other, the first dog will help demonstrate manners to the new dog and you don't want the second dog to pick up bad habits!

About the time frame for getting a second dog, I read in "Fatal Dog Attacks" by Karen Delise (sold on this website) that it takes a dog an average of three months to get adjusted to a new home and bond with the owner, although I'm sure the longer the better.

Thanks for the replies. Your sound advice is appreciated!