Thinking of 3rd gsd.what sex/age should I choose? - Page 1

Hi everyone, I already have a 10 month old male and a six month old female as pets, which get along reasonably well. Am keen of getting a 10 month to 1 year old gsd as well.Firstly do you all think this thought is crazy and the age combination will be wrong and wont work out or if you think it is OK what age and sex should I get in order to avoid major problems between the dogs. Or should I wait till later? I am sure that any combination has its potential problems but what is the overall consensus to this. Interested in hearing thoughts . Thanks

Do not get another dog unless you can keep them separate from the same sex, all of the time. Odds are, they will not get along with a dog of the same sex. It can be done but it is difficult, time consuming and a pain in the butt, and you probably will never trust them to be together without you there to watch them. The question would be, why a third dog? You may haave your reasons for a third dog and if so, someone with more knowledge than I will have to address the age thing. I can see the benefits of them being the same age but I could also make a good argument for getting one younger or older. GSD's are especially bad at getting along with another of the same sex. Good luck, when they all are one year old or so :)

interesting comments! thanks for that. I have a large property, love the gsd dog, and could easily take another dog, although I need helpful comments like yours to make the right decision.

I would wait until your two puppies are much older - you already have two puppies, why get another? Plenty of time to add a third when your dogs are older and have some training, and you have time to devote to the raising/training of another. Collecting dogs just to have them is not good for you or the dogs. molly

Wait till dogs older amd u only need one male......another female would be advantageous maybe but always keep seperate.....only run in pairs.....

I have a 15 month old female and I want a male (not for breeding) so badly, like you klekoni, I want one now. I am thinking about waiting until I take my girl as far as I can before I start working with another. My GSD keeps me on the go and she is just one, she goes everywhere with me and I train with her often. When I get the male I so impatiently want I want to be able to focus 100% on him so that he can be that wonderful dog that she is. I don't mean to let the female just waste what I mean is that I will have her much farther along so I can start "seriously" working with him. Anyhow klekoi good luck and I hope that some of my blabble helped. Let us know if you get one, I would love to hear about it. Thank you Cassidy

I would wait until your pups are older and trained. I got Cheyenne, 6 months later I got DeeDee and 6 months later I got Lakota. I would never do that again. None of them are as well trained or achieved their full potential because of my lack of time.

They are so young, if you keep them together, they are not going to bond to you as much as they will to each other. They will like you but you are not going to be their be all/end all.

I think it really depends on the temperament of the dogs in question. I had a collie/shepherd mix (Gabby)as my first dog, then when she was one, got my first male GSD (Beckett). When he was 18 months old, I got an 8 week-old GSD female (Rilka). Gabby was absolutely great with Beckett and they were able to play together from the day we brought him home at 8 weeks. Neither was dominant and there were never any aggression issues. When Rilka entered the mix they both were pleased as punch to add a member to the group. Both would let Rilka play with their toys and were push-overs with her; sometimes to the point where I wished they'd put their foot down once in a while. Though Rilka was the most mellow dog with people, she was alpha and as she grew, plotted her coup, first with Gabby and eventually getting into scuffles now and then with Beckett. While she could take a tennis ball from his mouth as he was playing with it, he got attacked when he tried to show her where we had hidden her tennis ball during a game. Needless to say, Rilka would not have taken to another dog entering the picture, but this was totally due to her personality. Beckett loved puppies and small dogs particularly and we even "puppy sat" a female 7 week-old Rottweiler for 10 days straight who was able to play with Beckett and even climb on him without any issues. When you say your dogs get along "reasonably well" you have to have a clear idea just what this means. Do you have to supervise them in order to make sure no fights erupt? Do they get along during meal times? Are there currently any issues with sleeping arrangments with the dogs? If they have their own space and routines already stamped out between them, adding another dog might provide a spark that leads to aggression and/or dominance issues. One of your dogs might show some "alpha" attitude as well. However, if they get along in a relaxed way and are friendly with other dogs, adding another when they're both this young might be just fine if you introduce a new dog correctly. Realize though that you will have a "pack" to deal with. As WiscTiger stated too, you'll also have three dogs under a year that need one-on-one time for training and socialization. This takes time. You certainly don't want the headache of dealing with three boisterous, untrained dogs!

thanks for all the comments so far! My dogs now get into scuffles occasionally but not in a nasty sense.They do play well most of the time and are very affectionate with each other at times. Feeding is no problem they can easily eat from the same plate and have a common confined play area, each with their own dog house and does not seem to cause any problems. I would say that my 6 month female is probably an alpha pup and will ultimately get the better of my male in due course, but my male is generally easier going. In that sense I think it might be better when I do decide to get another dog, to get another male. Having said all that, although i do understand what all of you refer to when you talk about potential fighting when further animals are introduced but, I thought that once the pack order is established(yes after a fight or two probably!) the dogs would know their position and things would settle. Maybe however that is a naive thought!I have never had more than two dogs before so I have no personal experience.