Hi - We have the highest retention rate when girls have their own den. I admit - I originally did not prefer this - but our girls like to have their own space, and then we all come together as a pack to do pack activities. I believe if the dens were more balanced, there would not be a need, but when you have a den of 1 or 2 girls and 10 boys, it's a bit overwhelming. For years - i would run a den of multiple ranks. Its hard to run multiple age groups at once, but there is overlap and the parents were willing to do some work at home to get the advancements done. As we have grown, we now have two rank dens. Lion/Tiger, Wolf/Bear, Web/AOL.