How well is it to have two bitches together??

My concern is two bitches together..
My mother had two bitches (german shepards) twogether and they ended up fighting, and this is what i am worried about.
My experience is that bitches often fight to the death and if not they will fight again? Where male dogs fight for dominance and then its settled??

Am i all wrong here, could i get another female or is that a bad idea??

Hoping for some good advice

I have 2 female most the the time but they get on fine but i'm always around and can stop anything before it happens if you are with your dog all the time i cant see a problem. But if you away for hours i wouldn't have 2 same sex dog because they may end up fighting.

I have been thinking that too... But have also thought about if you can keep them appart when you are not home..
But it is something i will think about for some time before jumping into it.

Is there any age it is best for first female to be, before getting another one

Thx for answer

I'm getting a bit worried after reading similar posts this week. I have 2 bitches now, one old girl and the other 18 months old. They get along like a house on fire and as both of us work, we have to leave them alone. My 14yr old grew up with a male bull mastiff for the first 3yrs of her life, I separated from my ex and moved back to my hometown where she then lived alone for the next 3 years but spent a lot of time with a Rhodesian Ridge-back bitch without any fighting. Her next family was a male JR for 7yrs and the last 16 months have been with her staffy sis. (I'd planned on getting a male staff when I moved back to Adelaide when she was just turning 3, but the best laid plans don't always come to fruition and it didn't happen). I can't imagine Kita & Izzy fighting and Kita is just so tolerant of Izzy, but if it happened I know Kita is no match for Izzy and I don't know what I would do. We have discouraged any dominant playing or competitiveness from both of them and I so hope that Iz has picked up some of Kita's "very laid back" nature (hard to believe she's a staff sometimes ), and we take Izzy out to exercise with other dogs to burn off some of her energy and learn socialisation skills. I do believe that having a gentle natured staff has certainly helped as well as the fact that we give them so much love and affection to hopefully prevent any competitive issues.
On top of this, everyone in my household both 2 legged and 4 legged ones know whose "TOP DOG" and they're all too scared to put a foot wrong!

i have two females (one staffy one lurcher) never ever have to worry about fighting even though my lurcher is a very stressy dog.

Infact the only dogs that live together that i know that keep fighting are a male and a female.

I have never had two females at once, but experiences from friends and people on other boards I am on show the following tendencies:
- once two bitches snap it tends to be a more severe fight (to the death vs to a clear winner)
- once two bitches have a serious fight it's only a matter of time before they go at it again

That doesn't mean you can't have two females, but it's certainly good to be aware that this can be an issue. It might also be good to make sure you have a good age difference between dogs of the same sex, to help prevent tension. But I think the right (or wrong) dogs can get in a fight no matter what..

I wouldn't leave two staffies of the same sex alone together, it's asking for trouble! If you have the means to seperate them when you're not there (different rooms or crates) then it shouldn't be a problem, but you should always be aware that there is a tendency for bitches to fight.

It's often best to let your first dog get to around 18 months - 22 years old before getting another dog so that it's mature enough to accept another dog but young enough to want to play.

We were only just discussing this yesterday at work, funny huh.
I have never had two bitches at once, but I had a freind who had two and they were always fighting. We came home one day and the fight had been that bad that the two could hardly lift their heads and were both covered in blood and spit from the attack.
I haven't seen the dogs in years now, so I don't know what happened, but after this experience and talking to others, I don't think I would have two females together. Boys are a different story though coz one always seems to back down before it gets out of control.

I have three bitches living together, two staffords and a JRT. I also have phoebe who is my dog really but lives with my mum and stays a couple of times per week. Not to say we dont ever have problems, but then me or my OH can always interrupt them before they start, we dont let them have problems! However all the dogs have different personalities and have taken different positions in the pack.

Skibadee is Tali's mum too and lets her get away with murder. When Tali acts dominant Skibadee lets her which no other dog could ever do to her usually, Meg is happy to just move out the way of confrontation and will only defend her food. Tali has taken on the role of protector in the pack and behaves well apart from trying to nick the other dogs food occasionally (obsessed with her belly). Phoebe is the non-tolerant one and also the smallest, she doesnt like the other dogs too close to her of her toys/food which would cause problems but instead earns her respect from the rest of the pack.

Just so you know it can be done, you just have to keep an eye on them and make sure there is no bullying or stand-offishness, any issues need to be nipped in the bud. did you say you have a male and a female already? I think one boy to two girls is a good ratio, and will be easier than simply having two girls together.

Wow I am soo happy i found this forum

I can see there is both for and against, and many of the comments support my first fears of having two females together.
My fears comes from my childhood where my mothers bitches took some fights and once they did she had to rehome one as they would always do it again... Then she got a new bithc and those two never fought.. But she has now said she will never have two same sized bitches again.

One of my friends lost a bit of her finger as she was dogsitting nabours dog, she has a bitch and the other was also a bitch, same age and always happy together. Until that day, when she gave them a bone each and they wanted the same bone, it took seconds and they where fighting and she couldnt seperate them.. got a finger in the middle and oops :S She ran to the streets for help and the door slammed behind her by accident. A neighbour then looked through the mail thingy in the door and the bitches was sitting happy wakking tales behind the closed door...

But i think that i might try it in a years or two, and just make sure to always seperate them when not home and not feed them together... Some i know have 7 dogs and they manige, how i dont know lol...

Guess its all about beeing top dog

I have two bitches together and they were never fights together. And they'll never gonna do that. They love eachother, they sleep together, eat together and play together.
And I'll tell one thing - I would like to have Bullterrier or French Bulldog in future and it's gonna be bitch as well.
It's not about dog, breed or sex - it's all about pack leader

Kolgrim wrote:I have two bitches together and they were never fights together. And they'll never gonna do that. They love eachother, they sleep together, eat together and play together.
And I'll tell one thing - I would like to have Bullterrier or French Bulldog in future and it's gonna be bitch as well.
It's not about dog, breed or sex - it's all about pack leader

And my whole family know who that is,

Kolgrim wrote:

i see yours mehow too lol

Hi to All, we currently have a Female, 2 years old, American Staffy, we had two Jack Russel Females who passed away in the past six months due to age. Mia, our Staffy has been with them for the last two years, we have never had any fights, they were the best of friends, sisters rather. We have now been given another Staffy as a gift from friends of ours, we are getting her in 2 weeks time, she will be 8 weeks old. We chose a female. I am reading all over of people warning about two females in the same home, but I struggle to agree, for we have not ever experienced such fights between our Baby's (Dogs) We always have them fixed when the Vet says they are old enough, so there is never a male near them, nor puppy's except for their siblings when they were born. Mia is our first Staffy, Brindle American Staffy, the new one is the short legged Staffy.
My Question to You for I know most of You definitely have more experience than us with Staffys, are we heading for trouble here? Or is it really the way you bring up your baby's that will determine the future?

Would really appreciate your input in this, Thanking you in advance, kind regards.
Paul, Adele & Mia

Hi, and welcome!

From my own limited experience, bitches can be more 'unforgiving' so if they really fight, there could be future problems.

However, if they get on well, there shouldn't be a problem

Thank you, I really also believe that we will be ok, our Dogs live in a friendly home, they get almost all our attention when we are home, we work 9 - 5 week days, but weekends they go where we go, they are 200% part of our family, our kids, for we do not have human kids, jip, I am sure they will be ok, I hope so...lol..
Kind regards