Advice on Getting Second Lab

[SnowDog]

Hi All - I'm looking to get a second Lab and would like to get some opinions on a couple things. Right now I have a 4 y/o well trained upland / waterfowl neutered male Lab. He is a great easy going dog with tons of drive. He lives to hunt and is also a great family dog.

My question is on getting either a male or female for eh second dog. Any help from folks with two labs, would be greatly appreciated.

Cheers!
SD

[rtspring]

I have two. Male and female.  Seems to work for me! I have always been s fan of female dogs, they arent stubborn like many of the males I have seen. 

No expert for sure, just my thoughts

[L-ofalab]

I have 2 female labs plus a female vizsla. They all get along because the younger, smaller vizsla thinks she is boss and the labs don't care. Males are more of a problem, I wouldn't get another male if you already have one.

[Stilly bay]

IMO gender doesn't matter as much as temperament. I have a male and female lab, the male is low man on the totem pole and constantly gets pushed around by the female - he also gets pushed around by a five Lb yapper dog and sometimes even the cat.

But I would rather have multiple males rather than females- too much drama with the bitches.

[Goldeneye]

I agree temperament is the thing.  As long as you don't have 2 alphas, it'll be fine.  I do dis-agree with the drama comment with females from Stilly.  Seems like I've had more issues with males in my past lab's. 

Here's my two current females.  Neither is an alpha.  Both hunt hard.  The old one is in good shape except for a weak elbow.  So she keeps getting to go on the hunts, I just protect her a bit from going into difficult terrain.  Not bad for 13...

   

[LittleHunter]

I have three labs and have no problems with them. Two males witch are mine and one female witch is the wifes and they all hunt just fine together but every now than then my younger male witch is only a year and a half and my wifes female witch is allmost a year old play around more then they hunt but their still pups but you seperate them and oh man watch them work. trianing the three of them to work together work a little difficult but now i have no problem with them fighting of a bird or what not and now i can send all three dogs after different birds and they dont bother one another. Lots of work with them in the off season and to top it off both of my males are lab and chesapeak mix. Their a little more subberen but they live to hunt.

[akirkland]

We have 2 Labs. One female ( and one male (4). They are two peas in a pod. The females brains and the males brawn work well together. Gonna stud my male for pick of litter so we are gonna add another one to the mix. Not sure on if I want another male or female. BTW... they both hunt upland and waterfowl, go on trail rides (my male just did a 15 mile trail ride), go to the dog park and sleep in the same bed as us...from time to time. Dont wanna live a single day without my labs.

[Song Dog]

I have two labs one female age 7 and one male age 11.    Although they hunt well together I only hunt them one at a time.  The advantage is I leave one in camp and I always have a fresh dog in the afternoon and evening hunts.  When my male was younger it was a little bit of an issue because he did not want to be left behind but now that he is 10 years old some days mostly like the 3rd  or 4th day he is more than happy to stay by the stove in the duck shack.  This will be his last season but I will get another one and start the cycle all over again. 

[tr122]

Don't laugh, but I went on a Dog Whisperer spree and watched about a dozen episodes on Netflix the other night.  One thing that he said that stuck with me was that when adding a new dog to your home, match temperaments up with their opposites.  If your male is more of an alpha, get a dog that is more submissive.  From my experience getting a lab as pup will make it easy for the two to get along for life.

[h2ofowlr]

Get a female and you probably will be fine.  I have two males and for whatever reason, the pecking order ends up in fights between the two and I have had to break them up a few times.  Two dominate males has been a challenge.