although it is said that a male and female are a better mix, i would never have a male dog its just my personal choice, all my dogs are and have been bitches as have my mother in laws and we have never had a problem.

Well that got a varied response ! As for daisy,s temperament around other dogs, she loves them infact she is a good all rounder with both people and dogs. she has seen puppies and small dogs and behaves accordingly, she knows when to be submissive and is playfull with everyone she meets so maybe either sex would do her best friend at the moment is another male lab of the same age .

Well you know your dog better than us - If you get a male please make sure you get him seen to as soon as hes old enough
Good luck with whatever you decide to do and keep us updated

good luck whatever you decide, and remember we will need to see pictures of your chosen puppy,

Thanks guys I guess it will be pondered over for a little while longer , thinking maybe towards the spring as the weather gets warmer and its easier to keep the door open to the garden for toilet training purposes. Hopefully by then Daisy will have had her first season and she will have been done and recovered , ready for a new play mate in the mean time if anyone knows of any family bred labs let me know. not looking for show standard or top pedigree just a nice labby babby .

Andrea, you are right to give this matter careful consideration. We can only advise, some of which is based on experience, and some of which is based on case histories.

In my working life and studies, I have witnessed numerous cases where dominance aggression comes from same sex pairs. The majority of trainers and behaviourists will always advise where possible, to select a dog and a bitch. If you do decide however, to have another bitch, I would strongly suggest that you do not return to the same breeder.

Dogs invariably give in to bitches, whereas same sex pairs will vie until rank is established. It is also worth remembering that dogs are not democratic and therefore need to establish a hierarchy.

Good luck and happy choosing.

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I was raised with labradors...always dogs. They were all brilliant dogs.
We have our own bitch now, she's the most gentle kind hearted lab I have ever come across (biased of course!).
I have heard it best to keep opposite sex (unless one bitch is much older than the other bitch)...so I would go for a dog if I were you. (having said that...I'm no expert!). Good luck!

Breda

Up to a few years ago I have always kept bitches together without any problem. I had 4 bitches and one dog. He was the boss and used to lie on the rug like king tut while the bitches gathered round and washed his face and cleaned his ears
I still have 3 bitches living together now.
At the end of the day the choice is yours. What about the breeder who you purchased your girl from do they have more than one bitch? Perhaps you could speak to them and see how theirs get along together. Most of my friends have multi bitch households with no problems and if you are going to have them spayed then I thing either sex would be ok.

good luck with whatever you choose to do.

This is just my opinion and i would be interested to hear any response but i believe that you are more likely to get problems with some breeds than others, ie although my setter is the boss over Anoushka she is still very submissive to other dogs and even if she was challenged she wouldnt fight.

Nina, i was interested in your comments about not returning to the same breeder, is this because you believe that 2 dogs who have close genetic links are more likely to fight ? My advice is usually if you have had one good dog from a breeder, sound health, sound temperament, well socialised and habituated whilst with the litter, get another one from the same breeder.