Difference between owning a male Irish setter to a female?

[Charlotte Hood]

I already own my lovely 3year old Irish setter bitch Rosie, my family are now wanting another Irish setter. We have decided on a boy over another girl, however I've owned boys in the past and would always prefer boys but never had a male Irish setter.
How does a male and female get on in the same home and what are the pros to owning a boy? X

[Lesley Gilks]

We had girls when we were growing up and I've now had two boys and the only difference I remember is how they relate to other dogs. We never had any dog aggression issues with the bitches but I've had more trouble with the boys.  Both dogs have been well socialized and have had obedience training but however well you train them, there will always be someone else's hooligan looking for a rumble.  I won't allow them to mix with dogs I don't know or trust because I won't take the risk.

Also, I've been advised by several  breeders that unless you want to have puppies, it's best to stick to one sex as it's a nightmare when the bitch is in season.  

I'm sure there are others who will have a different perspective...

Lesley 

[Charlotte Hood]

Rosie is spayed so no risk of pregnancy, but do setter have a lot of problems humping? Because the boys I've had in the past like golden retrievers and Lhasa apsos never had a problem, but didn't know if setters do it often? X

[Jean Lippett]

We have a seven year old male and an almost three year old female setter, both entire, and have no problem with them, they love each other.  We have friends who also have mixed families of setters and when one of the girls comes into season the boy goes to the other home, to stop the night crying because they are in separate parts of the house. In between seasons they don't interact sexually, so I'd expect you'll have no problem that way with your spayed bitch. Of course, each animal is an individual so it may be different for others.

[Sue Paterson]

We've  had multiple Irish boys in the house for about 40 years and also have had bitches since 1990. All entire except on the odd occasion when one was neutered for health reasons. Maximum at a time has been 7 with a sex split of 4 males and 3 females. Currently we have 3 boys and 1 girl. They all get on well together with only one problem in the past . One of the girls has always been the boss. Never had problems with excessive sexual urges. Never had problems with boys when bitches in season...just kept them apart and let them into different parts of the garden when girls in season due to scent.

Both sexes will hump each other from time to time but will stop when told to...part of the play and pecking order I think.

The one issue we did have was with bitches. We had 3 at the time and the 2 oldest started to fight...possibly over food and probably due to bringing the youngster into the home and setting off the pecking order thing.

For a year we kept the 2 apart but sadly there was a bad fight when Amber nearly had her throat torn out. A week later, a bad mistake on my part and they got together for another session. This time both were hurt, and me, so finally we had to rehome one...the worst time you can imagine. At the time many other owner/ exhibitors we spoke to, told us that bitches, kept together were far worse than boys, and certainly this is born out by our own experience. Scarlett, who was re-homed, went on to live happily with 2 other castrated Irish boys.

I'm sure you'll have a good time if you get a boy to live with your neutered bitch. Help her to teach him to respect her, and don't let them get overly excited in play and you should be ok re the sex thing. However every dog is different and hormones and sex drive is unique to each one!