Trainers & Vets Out There…Question

[Anonymous]

We would like to get a second dog. Our first is a female pitty mix, around 5. She is very good with other dogs. We’ve been reading things that say it’s best not to get two females, and for the bully breeds, not to have two of them.

Is this what you see, or is it more based on the dogs’ personalities?

We will foster first but we want to set ourselves up for success. One issue is we can’t have a long haired dog, so that will limit options plus pretty much all the dogs at the shelters have some pit in them.

What do you think?

[Anonymous]

I have two female pit mixes, both shelter rescues, that sleep on each other, share a crate, and became besties in a few short weeks. My older dog was actually kinda neurotic (abused to near-death as a puppy), which is why I got her a friend to help her 'learn how to dog' better. Ask the shelter/breeder/vet/whoever to recommend dogs who are pro-social and easygoing, and listen to their recommendations, even if you think the dog might be the wrong breed/mix. The sex or breed matters less than the dog's temperament, and what matters most is how you introduce them. Read up on that process, be ready to keep them totally separate for as long as it takes for the new dog to settle in, and have competent handlers ready to hold each dog for introductions. Don't rush that process! Make sure your working relationship with your current dog is solid, that you know their fear and aggression cues and warning signs, and that you'll have adequate time to spent solo attention time with each dog. Get out in front of any resource-guarding or territorial concerns. If you don't know how to do that already, research it and work with a qualified trainer BEFORE you get another dog.

A crappy introduction can be really hard to overcome.

[Anonymous]

And don't believe 95% of what you read on the internet about "pit bulls" because it's usually written by anti-pit trolls, not people with experience with the breeds. Be prepared for this thread to go WAY off the rails because you said "pitty".

[Anonymous]

Where do you live? I’m in MoCo and there are local rescues that are constantly advertising adoptable dogs that aren’t pits on Nextdoor.

[Anonymous]

OP here.
Totally understand, our current pitty mix looks very pit and we get comments and don’t care.

[Anonymous]

Same sex aggression is a real thing, yes. If you are looking at trends 2 males or 2 females will tend to have more tension than opposite sex.

Dogs are individuals though. My two females basically ignore each other, and my male has scuffled with one of them a few times and never with the other. None have ever cuddled each other, but they generally coexist fine and go through spurts of playing together. All 3 will choose human interaction over each other though.

There are trainers who can help you integrate a second dog if that’s something you’d like help with, or to evaluate dogs in shelters to see who might be a good fit. Or you can tell the rescue you are volunteering with for fostering that you’d like to find a good fit buddy and they may be able to funnel certain personalities your way until you find the right fit.

-trainer

[Anonymous]

Oh I didn’t know trainers would help with that sort of thing (help evaluate dogs, etc.) but it makes sense.

Growing up we had two dogs but we lived in the country and they were out roaming most of the time. Our dog now is basically an indoor cat. 😂