Arwen said in rec.pets.dogs.behavior:

So my question is this: Do female and male dogs eget along
or do they get into fights too? What should I expect whenI
bring him home?

The odds are with you when you have a male/female combination -
that's always been my preference, though right now I have two
male dogs that get along extremely well. There are *way* too
many exceptions to make a hard'n'fast rule, though.

My suggestion would be to have the dogs meet on neutral
territory, not at the shelter if possible - someplace lower
stimulus. I met with my newest dog at a wide open off leash
park in an area where we were the only ones. I brought my older
female and younger male, the fosterer brought New Dog. They met
on leash (except for old girl Murphy) for sniffing and such, and
quickly progressed to on leash then off leash play. There was
no posturing and it worked out really well.

If you progress to the point that you want to take the new dog
home, make sure that each dog has a "time out" area, whether
it's a room or a crate. Avoid competitions over toys or
anything valuable (like a rawhide) and keep a close eye on them.
I've seen two relatively submissive dogs -- both on their backs
seeing who could get the lowest -- go from submission to
scrapping in the blink of an eye.

At some point, one dog is going to seek a more dominant status
over the other - and this can change day-to-day and situation-
to-situation, flip-flopping back and forth for no apparent
reason. Let them settle it out between them. (I'm not talking
about fighting.) Avoid taking sides with your favourite
(usually the dog you've had the longest) and treat both dogs the
same. You'll hear lots of stuff about feeding the dominant dog
first, petting them first, etc. - do whatever is convenient for
*you*, and don't worry about things like "dominance" or "alpha
dog" and the like.

Good luck - I think that two dogs is a good number.

--
--Matt. Rocky's a Dog.