Living with other dogs

[daniel rimmer]

I'm currently looking into getting a bullmastiff puppy for my family, my wife is south african a grew up having a boerboel around the house all her life, so when we discussed getting another dog a bullmastiff was an obvious choice, my only concern is we also have a male english springer spaniel, and when doing my research on mastiffs alot of people are saying they don't tend to get along well with living with other dogs of the same sex. I wouldn't have thought there would be a problem as the new puppy would grow up having our other dog around it, my wife's family always had 2/3 dogs at the same time and talking to my father-in-law he couldn't see any issues with getting a mastiff, if any one could pass on their views of this it would be greatly appreciated.. thanks in advance, Danny!!

 

[glen]

Hi and welcome to the forum, I have 3 male ccs. I think it depends on many things, is your male springer OK with other dogs, and have you the time to make sure it goes OK. I can't see there being problems, stop any behaviour you don't want from the start, my sons got a bullmastiff and a rottie no problems

 

[daniel rimmer]

My springer is fine with other dogs he just doesn't like them sniffing around him 2 much when he is on his lead, once he's let off his lead he'll happily greet other dogs then just goes and does his own thing and runs around like a headless chicken, lol... but he's never aggressive towards other dogs. My wife works permanent nights and with me working permanent 6-2 days there is always some 1 around the house so it would be very rare they would be left on their own, it also gives us plenty of time each day to spend walking snipe our springer, being a springer he needs atleast 2 fairly long walks a day, luckily we live 2 minutes away from a river and plenty of fields for him to run wild in... I'm pretty sure we won't have a problem bringing a mastiff into our home both our kids 17 and 13 have been brought up around dogs

 

[Elana P]

My springer is fine with other dogs he just doesn't like them sniffing around him 2 much when he is on his lead, once he's let off his lead he'll happily greet other dogs then just goes and does his own thing and runs around like a headless chicken, lol... but he's never aggressive towards other dogs. My wife works permanent nights and with me working permanent 6-2 days there is always some 1 around the house so it would be very rare they would be left on their own, it also gives us plenty of time each day to spend walking snipe our springer, being a springer he needs atleast 2 fairly long walks a day, luckily we live 2 minutes away from a river and plenty of fields for him to run wild in... I'm pretty sure we won't have a problem bringing a mastiff into our home both our kids 17 and 13 have been brought up around dogs

 

[Elana P]

Hi there,

In October of 2016, I brought home a Boerboel/Bullmastiff puppy (9 wks old).

At home, I had a twelve year old male Husky/Shepherd/something/something mix.
Also an almost six year old female Jack Russle/Japanese Chin cross.

The initial introduction, was made outside of the house in the front yard, and both older dogs were told, that Charlie is MINE, and that he is a BABY, with him standing between my feet for the overall sniffing.

There have been no major issues or icidents, other than very minor squabbles over bones, toys, and such, which are stopped by me, with either a big NO!!! or by removing the desirable object.

Danny, my oldest, has told Charlie off a few times, gaining the respect due to an elder. They will play together however, especially outside, but it's on Danny's terms
Katy, tries to gain respect, but because she's tiny, Charlie (now around 60lbs and almost five months), just laughs at her. He does however love her very much, but has to be reminded quite often, that now she's LITTLE and not to overdo the rough housing.

Dogs on the whole, are very Social creatures, and most usually enjoy having other dogs around.

That said, you have to be the ultimate leader, and let them know from the start what's acceptable and what is not, in their intereactions (as with all behaviors).

 

[Nik]

It depends on the dog, their personality, etc. Some dogs can have dog aggression. Some dogs only have same sex dog aggression. Even with opposite sex dogs you still have to watch them carefully and introduce them slowly. Our older dog who passed last year was male as was our second dog (Diesel) and they never had any issues but that was because neither of them has an ounce of dog aggression in them. The older dog was very submissive and sweet and the younger dog is just a happy, friendly guy who wants to play and be friends with everyone.

However, our newest puppy is a female and she has some dog aggression. It took her a little bit (although not too long) to warm up to Diesel. They are best friends now but I still don't leave them alone together unsupervised as she has a tendency to resource guard and will get aggressive if he tries to steal whatever toy he has.

If you have only one dog right now you could get a dog of the opposite sex to increase the chances of no issues but that still isn't a guarantee. You just have to be prepared to go through the introduction process and have enough area to have them separate when you aren't there to supervise. Even if they have zero aggression it is good to have that separate space so that the older dog can get a break from the younger.

 

[DennasMom]

I think the puppy will adjust just fine. If you work with a breeder, make sure they know you want a dog for a family with another dog, so they pick one with a more social temperament, and not the most dominant, solo-protector attitude (which might still be fine, just might have more potential for scuffles).

I'd be more worried about the spaniel being ok with having to share his home with a new canine companion. I'd be doing some research on how to prepare the elder dog for a new canine addition, to make sure he feels open and welcoming to the new puppy.

And, as others have mentioned - staying on top of training for both of them, setting rules and limits on behavior, and enforcing those rules consistently. You should be fine.

 

[Gharvey]

We have a 5 yr old Rottweiler and a 14 month old Cane Corso both females. From the moment the Corso came home at 10 weeks they have been absolutely perfect together!! Could not ask for a better pair of dogs!!

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[Nik]

Elana P and Gharvey - I love your pics!!!!

 

[dpenning]

I've had challenging experiences and easy ones. Not necessarily gender related. My oldest dogs are two pomeranians, a male that is 13 pounds and a female that is about 10 pounds. when they were about 4 I brought home a female english mastiff puppy. I never gave two thoughts to my male pom being an alpha dog but boy howdy, when that puppy started to grow up the two of them would get into some scuffles. The pom would attack the english mastiff and not give up. She would have this little shit dog hanging off her lips with her front paws pinning him to the ground looking at me like "what do i do now". It took a year or so before there were no more issues but during that year mama made it clear who the top dog was.

I lost my english mastiff at 3 so when the poms were about 8 I got another dog, a bull mastiff, somewhat worried that I was going to go through the same experience but have never had any issues. The new BM is a total baby, no dominance in her at all and have not had a single issue. The pom is obviously older too so that may have helped.

I don't think you will have anything to worry about, just keep an eye on them for the first few months to make sure there are no dominance issues or resource guarding type problems. Bones were the initial instigator for mine so we quickly did away with all bones but they still had attitudes with each other for a while.

Go for it and post pictures!

 

[Jeremyd1960]

We have 5 at home at the moment, our 3 and 2 long term fosters. The dynamics are very interesting. While they all get on really well, Diesel the Daniff and Thor the American Bull Dog x (he is a permanent foster as he has a degenerative neurological condition) are nearly inseparable and have been since Thor arrived.
Fergus the Labrogie and Wilber the Kelpie / Mastiff cross still waiting are the same.
And there is Mia the female terrier who just bosses everybody about.

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20170113/eb4bca31ce2b613198257b4fedda4519.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/

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[dpenning]

We have 5 at home at the moment, our 3 and 2 long term fosters. The dynamics are very interesting. While they all get on really well, Diesel the Daniff and Thor the American Bull Dog x (he is a permanent foster as he has a degenerative neurological condition) are nearly inseparable and have been since Thor arrived.
Fergus the Labrogie and Wilber the Kelpie / Mastiff cross still waiting are the same.
And there is Mia the female terrier who just bosses everybody about.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/
20170113/eb4bca31ce2b613198257b4fedda4519.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/

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I LOVE these pictures! None of mine will sleep together. I may see two on the same bed but never touching. Pom in one corner and mastiff in the other.

 

[Nik]

We have 5 at home at the moment, our 3 and 2 long term fosters. The dynamics are very interesting. While they all get on really well, Diesel the Daniff and Thor the American Bull Dog x (he is a permanent foster as he has a degenerative neurological condition) are nearly inseparable and have been since Thor arrived.
Fergus the Labrogie and Wilber the Kelpie / Mastiff cross still waiting are the same.
And there is Mia the female terrier who just bosses everybody about.

https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/
20170113/eb4bca31ce2b613198257b4fedda4519.jpghttps://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/

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Oh my goodness! That is a puppy pile to be envious of! That is the happiest most snuggly pile of puppies. <3

 

[Jeremyd1960]

Oh my goodness! That is a puppy pile to be envious of! That is the happiest most snuggly pile of puppies. <3

We luv them all.

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[smarterchild]

Ive been looking into getting a NM or CC as a friend for my male german rottweiler. Every breeder has told me not to get 2 dogs of the same sex. Especially a NM

Still debating on what kind of mastiff i want