# Introducing a male to a female (Huskies)



## PolyKing (Aug 26, 2008)

Hi everyone 

I am the owner of a 3 year old female siberian husky, I got her when she was 12 weeks old. She has a very dominant personality and is spayed. I am looking to add another dog to be her playmate and know my best bet is to get a neutured male. I would like to get an 8 wk old puppy and am considering another husky.

I do have one concern and I wonder if someone here could tell me if it is a bad idea to introduce a male to a dominant female dog? I have been trying to research this for awhile and I only seem to find instances where people either introduce them both as pups, or they have first had a dominant male, and introduced the female 2nd. I am opposite: I have the dominant female, and want to introduce a puppy male sibe.

There was a time in my dogs life where she resided with another female dog, once my husky grew larger than this dog, they got into fights constantly and blood was shed (nothing MAJOR but there was blood, and it was very very scary to me and I do not want to see dogs go through that again). This was about 2.5 years ago. I can not bare to go through anymore bloody fights like that and would like to be stopped dead in my tracts if someone feels I am headed for disaster by introducing a male pup to an adult female.

I definitely do understand there is a correct way to introduce 2 dogs, and I will follow that strictly. But I still do not know if bringing in a male pup to a dominant female is a bright idea? Would it be best for me to get a male of a smaller breed? (my reasoning behind this question is that when the sibe grew larger than the other dog, that is when the fighting began. If I got a breed that remained smaller than the sibe, maybe she would not feel so threatened and there would be less of a chance of fights?)

Any guidance would be much appreciated. We (dog and I) just moved out of a house full of people and my dog is really lonely and I would love to add a 2nd dog for companionship but if there is a big chance of fighting I can not live through that again.


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Some more background on the dog:
-Plays great in public with other dogs
-Non aggressive behaviour towards cats/smaller dogs
-Extremely demanding alpha personality
-Comes when called, obeys commands great


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## Mackonsomecupcakes (Aug 23, 2008)

MHO is this: You (the human) gets to do what you want to do, and the dog has to learn to accept it. It's never up to your dog how you are going to live your life or who you bring into your family, she is the one who has to adjust to YOU, even though this will take patience and consistency on your part in training her to adapt. If you want to get a puppy, get a puppy. If you want to get a monkey, get a monkey, it really doesn't matter. Whatever you choose to do, you have to teach the dog to adapt to it and trust me, if you are consistant with what you expect from her, she will. 
My dog used to be EXTREMELY aggresive toward any kind of animal she considered "prey" and had even gone so far as to kill two (big) racoons and attack several cats who had the misfortune of coming into my backyard. I used to think that I could never get a cat because she would eventually mangle it, but once I realized that it wasn't up to her, everything has worked out great. I got a kitten and told myself that they were going to be friends. I approached it with the mindset that it wasn't up to my dog what I did. Yeah, at first she tried to get at the cat, but I swear that in a matter of minutes, they were peacefully coexisting (still with supervision, of course) and by the end of the week they were sleeping together and eating out of the same dish. Patience and consitency and the right attitude is all it takes. My dog and new cat have never had any problems at all with eachother, because I decided that I wasn't going to let that happen. If after your pup grows larger than your dog and you notice her warning signs of aggression towards him, put a stop to it. Don't let her act in a way that you don't like. If she does, correct her and keep a close eye on them to correct any future aggression. Of course you need to make sure that she respects him from the start, don't let her bully him even as a little baby. Eventually she will get the point and you can all enjoy eachother without problems.


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

Getting a male is a good idea. Adult females are more tolerant of puppy bratty behavior than adult males...actually, they both are but, the females do score higher.
As a general rule, the resident adult will almost never be challenged for their status, whether they are male or female makes no difference....senority rules. 
If you do the right introductions and treat each of them fairly and honestly you should be fine.


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## harrise (Jan 9, 2008)

Blood is common around here. I just clean it up after play and they go about their business. My biggest bit of advice would be: Don't ignore alone time with each. I have found that *KEY* in my multi-dog house.


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## PolyKing (Aug 26, 2008)

*@ Mackonsomecupcakes:*

That is awesome and proof dogs feed off of our energy. I will definitely do this with an in control attitude. 

I am hearing many different standpoints while doing research, some say whatever you do, do NOT get in the middle of their scruffles and let them sort out who is dom and who is not. While others, like you, say to correct it. I guess if I am the pack leader, I get to choose who comes next in line, is that what you are saying?

*
@ TooneyDogs:*

That is very good news. So my elder dog, even being a smaller female, probably *will not* be challenged by a male dog even though he will grow larger than her?

You mention "treating them fairly"... Do I give attention to the alpha dog first or both simultaneously?


*@ harrise:*

lol is the blood from aggressive fighting or play fighting? The 2 dogs for me, was definitely aggresion, I honestly thought they were going to fight till death, luckily I managed to get one inside the house (while they were still gripped onto eachother) and shut the door between them and they let go. I felt completely devestated after that.. One was inside cleaning wounds, the other was outside cleaning her wounds.


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## TooneyDogs (Aug 6, 2007)

*
@ TooneyDogs:*
You mention "treating them fairly"... Do I give attention to the alpha dog first or both simultaneously?
[/QUOTE]

Don't get too caught up in the Alpha stuff. There isn't a '2nd in command' for all situations. For example: my male always goes out the door first...but, my female always comes back through first; My male 'owns' the tennis balls....my female 'owns' the squeaky toys. The female usually defers to the male (he was here first) and she follows him wherever he goes. 
They each get lots of one on one time...I frequently pet both at the same time; we play fetch together (he always gets the ball...she likes to run with him), we take walks and naps together, I take them out separately for car rides even though they ride very well together.


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