New Dog - Sacramento,CA

don't worry about the sex in terms of getting along with your existing dog....
we have had 1 boy/1 girl, 2 boys/1 girl and 2 girls/1boy. In college we had three female dogs in the same house with zero issues. we had issues with one of the dogs in the above combos not knowing how to meet and make friends with other dogs, but it wasn't a male/female thing. I know some say that two females is the worst combination but I think if they're spayed it's not really an issue.

I'm a much bigger fan of female dogs. I think they tend to be friendlier, less aggressive (even than neutered males), and there is much less territorial behavior (again I've only had fixed animals) such as peeing.

know that if you get a male dog and he's neutered right before bringing him home it will take 3-4 weeks for all that extra testorone to leave his system - that kind of surprised me ( not sure why.... ). so there will be urine marking adn some aggressiveness those first few days/weeks.

so look for a dog that is friendly to other dogs. take your current dog with you to meet the new dog at a neutral place (most shelters have play yards that are essentially neutral and they can be off leash to truly interact).

and if your son wants the dog to prefer him - he has to work at it - do the walks, do the playing, do the treats, do the training.

good luck!

It depends on what she is like around other dogs, and how protective she about her people.

We have on GSD mix that loves people, but we knew she wanted another dog, so we adopted a retriever-mutt mix, another female. Both are neutered. Interestingly, the retriever mix is actually fairly territorial (she was not when we got her, but she was lost/without a home for several months before a friend found her & took her in). Anyway, they get along great.

Male dogs tend to be more territorial, and female dogs tend to be more protective (or even jealous) of their people (ie, the girl might not like "sharing" you with another dog). But those generalizations are not set in stone, and there are lots of exceptions.

Talk to your vet--the vet knows your dog at least somewhat and may be able to ask you pertinent questions about your dog that will help the vet get a good idea of the dog's personality and what would be better suited.

We currently have a spayed female (boxer / shepherd mix) and a neutered male (beagle / basset mix). The female is definitely the boss!

For a number of reasons, we've been a multiple dog family for probably the last 8 or 10 years. We started with a golden retriever, added a black lab (both neutered males), added our current female, lost the golden and kept it at two dogs for a couple of years. About 2 and a half years ago we added the beagle-basset and then last year lost our old black lab. We've not noticed any dominance issues or any thing else based on gender (though I like female dogs better, myself). It's all about the individual personalities AND making sure that the dogs know anything with two legs outranks anything with four. In other words you, your husband and your kids need to be consistent, loving and firm "top dogs" ALWAYS.

Have fun!

Even tho they're neutered male dogs tend to be dominate. I'd have two females.

This is a good question to ask a veterinarian.

Male might be better, but really depends on each dogs personaility. Most people I know with multile dogs have mainly males, females tend to have issues with each other sometimes. I know plenty off peoplevwith mor than one female too though. Some males will still try, but moat grow out of it, I have had a female dog thatw did it too, since it can be a dominance thing.

We had a spayed female and an intact male (he was a show dog, otherwise we would absolutely have neutered him) - they were Boxers, which can be a pretty intense breed of dog. Anyway, as much as you'd think the intact male would have ruled the roost, it was the other way around. Our scrappy little female was definitely the Alpha dog! The male never acted in a sexual manner toward the female (she'd probably have bitten his head off for trying, LOL), probably because she was spayed and was therefore never in heat. Long story short, if both animals have been spayed/neutered, I don't think it matters if you have males or females. I do think you should ensure that both animals like each other and have met on neutral ground before you adopt a new pet.