Dog question

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Location: Check your six.

I have a four year old intact Golden Retriever. I chose to leave him intact as that breed once desexed tends to bulk on and overweight GR's tend to suffer from heart and joint problems if obese.

He gets on well with other dogs.

A friend has a Golden Retriever female pup. When her dog matures she would like our dog to mate with her bitch as she would like a litter from her.

I would like a pup from that union as a companion animal to our dog but , I am unsure whether to select a male or female pup.

If I select a male would the father/son get on considering they will be both intact sharing the same family, surroundings? Territory issues?

If I select a female, I will have her desexed as I do not wish for them to breed.

From your experience, which combination generally get on better or is there no particular problem?

Joined: 03 Sep 2006 Location: where ever the track takes me

all dogs will fight, until the strongest comes through, after all they are a pack animal.

But for me, from experiance it realy doesnt matter, they will fight anyway. But my choice would be father and son, they will still fight, but once the bickerings done, they will get on. Youll still get the odd scrap here and there though!

Joined: 21 Aug 2006 Location: nowhere interesting

I've got a male and a female. They have a weird relationship. Get on really well - Jinks (male) is heaps stronger than Kyla (female) and she's very submissive when they're play fighting. But it's almost like Jinks realises that Kyla's the brains and he's the brawn, because she leads in most things and he follows. They share everything really well (food, toys, kennel) *except* for large balls. If one of them has their staffy ball and the other comes in for it, they'll both arc up.

So from my experience male + female works really well. They're both desexed.

Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Location: Melbourne

http://www.bulldogbreeds.com/discuss/index.php

Its not directly related to GR's but 99% of the information is still very relevant. there is a good section on breeding and possible problems and also alot of information on why not to breed.

May I ask why you choose to breed and not adopt? have you wandered around the RSPCA or lort smith or any animal shelter? I'm not going to push my anti-breed unless your "qualified" agenda but have a good thing about it.

Simon

Joined: 25 Oct 2003 Location: Melbourne Australia

There is no particular advantage for you with one gender or the other imho. You may find that one or both males need to be desexed anyway; some dogs are fine intact and some are difficult.

You may also find that your own dog changes a little once he has, well, had a root. Believe it or not their personalities can sometimes change quite a bit as a result.

Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Location: Wollongong

chimpboy wrote:

changes a little once he has, well, had a root. Believe it or not their personalities can sometimes change quite a bit as a result.

'Mans' best friend, the similarities are astounding. Laughing

Joined: 14 Oct 2007 Location: Perth, WA

chimpboy wrote:

There is no particular advantage for you with one gender or the other imho. You may find that one or both males need to be desexed anyway; some dogs are fine intact and some are difficult.

You may also find that your own dog changes a little once he has, well, had a root. Believe it or not their personalities can sometimes change quite a bit as a result.

Yes, he'll start to strut around with an air of confidence and a twinkle in his eye. Very Happy

Joined: 14 Nov 2003 Location: Wollongong

Lil'Loki wrote:

chimpboy wrote:

There is no particular advantage for you with one gender or the other imho. You may find that one or both males need to be desexed anyway; some dogs are fine intact and some are difficult.

You may also find that your own dog changes a little once he has, well, had a root. Believe it or not their personalities can sometimes change quite a bit as a result.

Yes, he'll start to strut around with an air of confidence and a twinkle in his eye. Very Happy

and tell all his mates! Smile

Joined: 27 Apr 2005 Location: Melbourne

I've got a male (old) and a female (young).. they usually get along fine.
been a fight or 2 lately though.. I think the old one is getting too old to care, and the young one is starting to think she's tough.. so the dominance is shifting..

Joined: 02 Apr 2004 Location: Central Victoria

If you chose the male and introduced it from an early age(pup), while its no threat to its dad you shouldn't have a problem, GR's are usually pretty placid, different maybe if it was introduced at 2-3 years old and a more agressive breed, they'll have a scrap anyway but the 2-3 year old won't be submissive like the pup, possibly resulting in a vet bill(been there)

Only problem you could encounter would be that if they were both inside dogs they may piss everywhere - trying to mark over the top of each other.
Also for males the vet can give them a yearly injection which will render him sterile, still may try and boink his daughter but just won't get anywhere....
Intact female will bleed when in season also.
You can get testicle implants for males to make them 'look' intact!!
Unless you're hell bent on having an intact pup, i'd get the male and get him neutered from an early age, may just be me but males seem to toilet train easier and be more loyal imho.

Joined: 28 Mar 2008 Location: SYDNEY

I have friends who have a female older and male younger and the dynamics are interesting. for the first 2 odd years the older female was dominant and everything was fine, the the dominance changed and there were a few small squabbles but nothing major and the male became dominant, but as another poster noted the female was the brains and led the pack, but the male was the heavy lifter... so many similarities to people.

But now there are a few more squabbles again as the older dog doesnt want to 'play' unlike the younger dog.

We just had our male dog desexed and we didnt really want to but the vet talked us into it.

Apparently the life expectency of a desexed dog is far greater as they are far less likely to have prostate and testical cancer which is very common in male dogs and costs 1000's to treat.

But I hear you on the fatty reaction for labs and gr's. though a second dog will help that as they will play. do you have a large yard? farm? or intent to walk them alot? this combined with an accurate feeding volume should stop them getting over weight. (not to mention the one holding the lead)

Apparently also if a male dog matures and becomes a little aggressive but is desexed soon after then the dog should beome more placid as the agressive nature was a result of hormones. however if left to long the aggression is a learned reaction/behaviour and desexing will not help, as it is now the dogs natural reaction.

My main concern with male male would be that both dogs are likely to be a similar size, so when the younger dog decided to have a go at being top dog, it could be a even fight, which could last a long time (weeks, months) of tooing and froing until dominance is attained. whilst a male female fight will involve a distinct difference in size and should be settled quickly and without much fuss.

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Location: Check your six.

Thanks for the info. I have some time to consider my plans.

Also, I had looked at the idea of adopting a pound dog as it makes sense,but I liked the idea of continuing my dogs lineage via the next pup.

I guess I was being sentimental too that the offspring would be from my existing dog.

Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Location: Waikerie; SA

Weight can actually be controlled by adjusting food intake/availability. Rolling Eyes

In my experience, with more'n a dozen dogs over forty years, a nutted male is the most controllable of the lot.
Desexed females can still be a bit moody & sooky, Intact females are too much trouble all round, and intact males just wanna go looking for intact females, and if they can't find one of them handy, the nearest leg will do.
Desexed male don't give a rat's about all that shit.

Joined: 24 Dec 2002 Location: South Australia

Eddy wrote:

Weight can actually be controlled by adjusting food intake/availability. Rolling Eyes

In my experience, with more'n a dozen dogs over forty years, a nutted male is the most controllable of the lot.
Desexed females can still be a bit moody & sooky, Intact females are too much trouble all round, and intact males just wanna go looking for intact females, and if they can't find one of them handy, the nearest leg will do.
Desexed male don't give a rat's about all that shit.

I'll second this, apart from the intact female comment. my intact Malamute (i would have given her the chop had she been my dog before she turned 8), isn't moody or sooky. only detracter is that she bleeds a little when on heat.

fat labs aren't because of their nuts, it's because of the food put in, and exersize balance being wrong.

only reason a lab will fatten up once chopped is because they get a bit lazier, so won't exercise themselves.

i've never understood wanting a dog from the same lineage. too many variables to guarentee they turn out like their old man anyway, so your no more garenteed to getting a good temperement, and you'll always be holding him in comparison to his father, which isn't fair on the pup.

give a pound dog a go, and help prevent more unwanted dogs...

Joined: 07 Aug 2004 Location: Maitland

I dont think you`ll have too much of a trouble myself.We have 2 dogs

Mine a 6yo rottie/Mastiff(female) and my girlfriends a 6yo GR(Male)

We got the female desexed early this year (apart from a few drama`s witht his all was good) .When we moved in we put both dogs together,for the first time.We did expect a fight or 2 as my dog was usually inclined to do this .So far 5months down the track and we haven`t had a real fight.Only 1 when they where feed to close together otherwise they get on like a house on fire.Both our families cant believe how good they are.My dog is still a little posive of myslef and my family,when my girlfriends family come over she still goes nuts at them threw the gate/fence,but the kids go outside and play with her in the yard and no-drama

Joined: 30 Jan 2008 Location: SYDNEY

ferog wrote:

Lil'Loki wrote:

chimpboy wrote:

There is no particular advantage for you with one gender or the other imho. You may find that one or both males need to be desexed anyway; some dogs are fine intact and some are difficult.

You may also find that your own dog changes a little once he has, well, had a root. Believe it or not their personalities can sometimes change quite a bit as a result.

Yes, he'll start to strut around with an air of confidence and a twinkle in his eye. Very Happy

and tell all his mates! Smile

he won't call the next day either

Joined: 30 Jan 2008 Location: SYDNEY

Quote:

give a pound dog a go, and help prevent more unwanted dogs...

x2

Joined: 11 Jan 2004 Location: Adelaide

reprise wrote:

ferog wrote:

Lil'Loki wrote:

chimpboy wrote:

There is no particular advantage for you with one gender or the other imho. You may find that one or both males need to be desexed anyway; some dogs are fine intact and some are difficult.

You may also find that your own dog changes a little once he has, well, had a root. Believe it or not their personalities can sometimes change quite a bit as a result.

Yes, he'll start to strut around with an air of confidence and a twinkle in his eye. Very Happy

and tell all his mates! Smile

he won't call the next day either

Of course he won't. He's a dog. He's not allowed to use the phone. Rolling Eyes

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Location: Check your six.

reprise wrote:

Quote:

give a pound dog a go, and help prevent more unwanted dogs...

x2

I hear you, but it is not what I am after. I chose the breeding pair for my current dog so I knew the history, lineage, hip score, eye socket score...nature of the pair etc

In fact my current dog is similar in nature and looks like his dad.

Very noble taking on unwanted dogs but it is not everyone's choice.

Joined: 17 Jul 2004 Location: Waikerie; SA

reprise wrote:

give a pound dog a go, and help prevent more unwanted dogs...

RoadNazi wrote:

Very noble taking on unwanted dogs but it is not everyone's choice.

Nor mine. Have been the victim of to pound dogs ... no more.
I want to have full say in how my dogs grow up FROM THE START. Don't wanna have to correct months/years of crappy previous owners.

Joined: 17 Sep 2004 Location: Melbourne

RoadNazi wrote:

reprise wrote:

Quote:

give a pound dog a go, and help prevent more unwanted dogs...

x2

I hear you, but it is not what I am after. I chose the breeding pair for my current dog so I knew the history, lineage, hip score, eye socket score...nature of the pair etc

In fact my current dog is similar in nature and looks like his dad.

Very noble taking on unwanted dogs but it is not everyone's choice.

seem's like your thinking thing's through properly and not just jumping in blind. all the rest of the advice above is tops. make sure you search around that forum link I gave too, there is alot better mind's there than on here when it come's to breeding and introducing and living with 2 dog's.

Also alot of information on what can go wrong and how to deal with it.

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Location: Check your six.

Thanks. I spent a lot of time researching some local breeders before I chose my current dog. I was on a waiting list due to problems with the bitch having phantom pregnacies.

I am very pleased with my dog. He is tough as nails, intelligent and eager to learn. You have dogs for a long time and making sure that the breed has no inherent faults takes a lot of research. ( and some good luck)

Joined: 24 Dec 2002 Location: South Australia

Eddy wrote:

reprise wrote:

give a pound dog a go, and help prevent more unwanted dogs...

RoadNazi wrote:

Very noble taking on unwanted dogs but it is not everyone's choice.

Nor mine. Have been the victim of to pound dogs ... no more.
I want to have full say in how my dogs grow up FROM THE START. Don't wanna have to correct months/years of crappy previous owners.

goes both ways. the two rescues i have at the moment are the best dogs you could ask for, while i've had experience with purebreds that you wouldn't want to live within 50 k's of

Joined: 12 Dec 2002 Location: melbourne victoria australia

A very cool dog Very Happy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjgVpV2v3AQ

Joined: 05 Feb 2005 Location: Check your six.

christover1 wrote:

A very cool dog Very Happy

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UjgVpV2v3AQ