I've never had a female before...

Okay, so I have Charlie, male blenheim. He's about 1.5 years old and just the sweetest dog ever. He's neutered. We are getting him a little sister so he's not so lonely. The mommy goes into heat next month which means the new pup should come home sometime in Feb or Mar. We want to name her Lucy.

Anyway, I talked to the vet and he suggested we get a female. 1) he said that although Charlie doesn't mark territory in the house he might start if we got another male. 2) sometimes having 2 males can be hard because one has to be the dominant one. So he suggested getting a female that way we don't have any problems.

So here's my worry... I've always had male dogs! Besides the obvious, a female going into heat, etc., is there any difference? I plan on spaying her, before her first heat. Any advice will greatly be appreciated.

Well, I can't say enough good about my sweet Pixie. She was such an easy dog, SO sweet and loveable...not a mean bone in her body. Smart, easily obedience and house trained. She never chewed anything that wasn't hers to chew, got along with every animal we encountered, and I am just convinced she was an angel sent to spend her short life with us. Our family was made better by her presence. We loved her to pieces, and we still miss her so much even though she passed away 4 months ago. There is a huge hole that no dog will ever fill. Now we have Bandit, a boy. He is a very different dog from Pixie, but much more work. We love him for his own merits, and he is a sweetheart. I will say, some people say females are less affectionate. I think maybe the individual dog's personality determines that more. Pixie was SUPER affectionate. Bandit has grown more cuddly, and does love to cuddle, but I wouldn't call him more affectionate than she was. So, enjoy your little girl!

To tell you the truth...when it's a Cavalier it really doesn't matter what sex you get!!! Jake would have been fine with a male. I've had both male and female fosters in my house and the dogs are the same with either sex.

My choice:

Today I finally brought my 4 mo. old Alfie male Blenheim home. Casey is 8-1/2 yr. male, and I had the same question. He was so easy to train -- no chewing -- super cuddly -- great dog! I went with another male because the breeder and this board both said as long as both are neutered it makes no difference and I had such a good experience with a male. Casey is definitely letting Alfie know who's boss.

I have two boys and two girls and the transition period of adding a new dog has been easy for the most part. My older male accepts the younger male just great and they play well. My younger female (5 years old) was the baby until Oz came along and usurped her position. Even a year later, she still seems kind of grumpy around him and doesn't seem to care for him.. But she has her half-sister so she's happy. So, in this house I'd have to say, I've noticed no difference in ease of house training, regular training and cuddliness. They're all just wonderful sweethearts who all want to sit in my lap at the same time!

I'm glad you posted this question. I'm in the same boat--about to add a little sister for Jasper in early January. She was born on October 4. Jaz is 11 months old and a spoiled rotten mama's boy. I don't know how he's going to react to some competition...I'm nervous that I'm doing the wrong thing by adding a second dog.

I've never had a female before and have no idea what to expect. (Heck, I have two sons, too, so I'm the only female in the house!) I would've been perfectly happy with another male, but there were all females in this litter.

The breeder did tell me that in her experience, girls were "less clingy" than boys, but I'm not sure about that. I've seen plenty of very affectionate Cavalier females. I don't think gender makes much of a difference. She also said that two neutered males would be fine together.

Good luck to you! I'll be sure to post how things go when we add little Maisy (at least that's her name for the moment ) to Jasper's life.

Lori

Thanks everyone! Your answers have helped me. I was worried that a little girl wouldn't be as affectionate, but as Cathy said, they are Cavaliers so just the breed alone will make them affectionate. I think we'll be okay.

Lori - keep me posted as to how everything goes. You'll be bringing Misty home before I bring Lucy home, so I'll be interested to hear how Jasper does. CHarlie is very attached to me, but loves to play with other dogs, so I'm hoping everything will go smoothly.

BTW, we had a Jasper too. He was a black cocker spaniel and we had Teddy, a chow mix. Both males, neutered and they did just fine. Well most of the time. Jasper loved to eat and Teddy was more picky. Sometimes Jasper lost patients with Teddy smelling his food that he'd go over there and start eating Teddy's food. Most of the time Teddy didn't care and would walk away, but sometimes, he'd give Jasper a little growl and Jasper took the hint! LOL!

Anyway, I talked to the vet and he suggested we get a female. 1) he said that although Charlie doesn't mark territory in the house he might start if we got another male. 2) sometimes having 2 males can be hard because one has to be the dominant one. So he suggested getting a female that way we don't have any problems.

Click to expand...

I have 2 un-neutered males (1.5 yrs and 1 yr) and they are the best of friends! Neither of them mark inside, although Miles does pee on top of Truman's pee sometimes when we're outside Truman will be 1 next month and still pees like a girl They like to wrestle and play, but have never gotten into a fight. Mine are both from the same breeder and she suggested that the boy in the litter would be a better match for Miles since Miles is such a softy. The girls in the litter kind of bullied Truman, so he was a bit on the shy side at first, which was fine with us since we wanted Miles to be the dominant dog. Truman definitely isn't shy anymore, but he knows that his big brother Miles is the boss

Good luck with whatever you decide, and as most people on here said, Cavaliers are so sweet that it probably doesn't matter if you get a boy or girl. Personally, I would ask the breeder her opinion on which puppy would be the best match for Charlie (especially if Charlie is from the same breeder) - once their little personalities start to come out the decision might get a lot easier

Thanks Carrie!

No we aren't getting Lucy from the same breeder. When we got Charlie, the breeder was close by, but she has now moved to TX. I just didn't want to fly the puppy home, etc. so I found a breeder that's about 4 hours away. We can drive up and get Lucy. We have some friends that have a house near the breeder so we can make a weekend out of it.

I'll plan on taking Charlie up there to meet the breeder and for her to get to know Charlie better. That way she can help picking out the right girl for us. Great idea!! Thanks!!

cy1266 said:

I have 2 un-neutered males (1.5 yrs and 1 yr) and they are the best of friends!

Click to expand...

I too have two un-neutered males (3.5 yrs and 2 yrs) and they are best of friends and great play buddies - I'm still not sure on who is boss as Merlin "lets" Oakley steal toys from him, yet when they are play fighting its definitely Oakley who "thinks" he is boss