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Pro's and Con's of females vs. males


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And my two are just the opposite of what Journey describes! my female is the suck up and my male is the "oh did you say something?" dog. As far as work or sporting ability goes sex doesn't really make a difference - both male and female have pretty equal potential. Just pick the one you prefer.

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If you don't plan on neutering then I believe that in the agility world you would not be able to trial while the bitch is in heat. Obviously that's not a problem with a male dog. I like my males and my females for different reasons, but all things being equal some females will be affected by their heat cycles, FWIW.

 

I personally don't think one gender or the other is better for stockwork; I've had success with both.

 

J.

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It's just a personal preference which sex you choose, unless you are keeping the dog intact. Females can be very moody and inconsistent with their work when they are coming in season, but you fix that problem by spaying them. Males are slower to mature but eventually are just as good as the girls.

 

I like my males because of their straight forward loyalty. I like my females because of their attitude. I have a few of each. :D

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I like what Liz said. Toby would lay down his life for me in a heartbeat. Izzy and Zoey have I'm the queen of the world attitude. I had never had a male dog before, just females and would definitley get another male.

 

Though if memory serves, multiple females in the same house can be a problem. Not sure if that applies to you.

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Boys are my preference, hands down. Before Secret, I'd never owned a girl anything. Boy dogs, boy cats, boy horses, etc. I'd never felt bonded to anything female and was actually afraid to get one because I worried we wouldn't get along.

 

I like how my boys are devoted to me. They want to please me. They are goofy and fun. Boys are very easy to live with and very easy to train, IMO.

 

Girls..... I love Secret, I really do, but she was a very difficult dog for quite some time. I had a difficult time building a relationship with her because she just didn't care about me. She didn't care about toys, playing, etc. She's just very independent and she knows what she likes and doesn't like -- and once she makes up her mind, god help you to change it.

 

She made me improve as a trainer, that's for sure. I've learned a lot about motivation, drive building, etc. from working with Secret. But god help me, my next dog will be another boy. I need a break and want a fun dog! :P

 

FWIW, my opinions have only been solidified by my fostering experiences. Last puppy was a boy -- Easy as pie. I have never known such a joyful, fun, easy dog. Loved to work with me, loved to play with me. It was hard to let him go because I really adored him (and he adored me!). Current foster is a female puppy. And red, which just makes it worse. ;) She is independent, strong willed, bossy and doesn't really give a rip about me. I will likely not shed any tears when she finds her forever home. lol

 

Boys. I love boys. I think it's good to have a girl around and am not crossing them off my forever list, but boys are definitely my preference. I happen to like having a dog that is 100% devoted to me.

 

FYI, my experience is only in agility....

 

And FWIW, I know plenty of people who will only have girls because they feel the girls are better workers. I think it's all in your personality and how you click/work with dogs.

 

Once girls have something, they have it. Secret is steady as a rock in agility these days -- but her serious nature sucks her speed down because she never wants to be wrong. As a result her Q rate is through the roof, but she rarely wins anything. My boys are more "fly by the seat of their pants" kinds of dogs who blast through courses and have fun.

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I would agree that in general the males are more the people pleasers. I have always preferred bitches, but there's a reason that term has come to have the meaning it has today. My girls all love me, but the boys, hoo boy! they just turn themselves inside out over me (and other people too). The boys are the ones people will refer to as goofy or goobers--they just seem more happy go lucky than the girls (that's not to say the girls can't have fun, but they are also more likely to put an end to the fun). The males are definitely slower to mature.

 

Of course these are generalizations, and you will find super loving bitches and standoffish bitchy males, but IME the males are certainly the bigger suck ups and goofs. (Right now I have 7 bitches and 3 males. The imbalance is largely the result of my original preference for females.)

 

But if the dog/pup was good for me in every other way, I wouldn't let the fact that it was one gender or the other stop me from taking it.

 

J.

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I've always been a male dog person, but Tessa is slowly winning me over to the girls!!

 

Generally - from my experience - I've found that in Agility, the boys are softer and don't have the same degree of toughness. The girls have been able to handle much more rigor and challenge. Again, this is my own experience.

 

In training and performance, I've found the boys to be more "shoot first and ask questions later" and the girls to be more "make it clear and then I'll decide if it's worth my while!!!" The girls have also had more of an independent spirit.

 

In everyday life, I've found that the boys are sweeter and more eager to please. The girls have been more independent. I like having a mix of boys and a girl, actually, but if I had to choose one or the other - as a sport partner - at this point, I would be more inclined to look for a girl. Of course, if I found the right boy, I would not let that deter me.

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Females can be very moody and inconsistent with their work when they are coming in season,

We have not found this to be the case in our lines; our girls are the same no matter what time of the year.

I've often wondered how many of these gender related "trends" in behavior are specific to certain lines.

 

Based upon the number of male dogs that get shown teeth for having their noses up the wrong butt and then chattering (no mater what the status of our females), I would say male dogs are always in heat.

 

BTW I don't have a gender preference but I do have an attitude preference.

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To save myself some typing, I will go with what SecretBC has written. I also do agility, not herding. I love my goofy boy. He will do anything for me. And at 4.5 years old, I think he is finally maturing to where his little brain doesn't explode with ecstasy on an agility course - i.e. he can finally begin to focus. He is also loving - to EVERYBODY.

 

Having said that, I have had 2 female BC mix fosters who were the absolute sweetest dogs. Incredibly well-balanced personalities.

 

Jovi

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Generally - from my experience - I've found that in Agility, the boys are softer and don't have the same degree of toughness. The girls have been able to handle much more rigor and challenge. Again, this is my own experience.

 

And my experience is the opposite. My agility boys are tough as nails and can take me drilling them on something over and over again. My girls are soft like little flowers and get all stressed out if something goes 'wrong.' Spring will pee if I so much as frown at her on course.

 

In life, however, the boys wanna know "how high, boss?," and the girls wanna know why the eff I want them to leap at all.

 

RDM

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I've had lots of dogs come through my hands in rescue and I've owned several different breeds. Though there are no hard and fast rules, I find the males to be goofy and really into being petted and fussed over, especially neutered males. Intact males often have less of the sycophant about them. Females tend to want things in order, and are more serious. They don't fawn and go into "bat mode" when you come home. They are quietly affectionate and undemonstrative. Also it's been my experience that males tend to be more territory protective and females more protective of people, rather than places. That said, the female I have now is very place-conscious in the protective department and an "equal opportunity ignorer" when it come to people.

 

I've found that males do more dog-to-dog posturing and their squabbles involve a great deal of noise and very little damage - whereas females fight to do damage.

 

As for training, I see no major difference, except that neutered males have a slight edge as regards endless repetition. Anything for pets and praise. Females benefit from a more varied routine and are much more apt to want a reason for doing things - spayed or intact.

 

Of course this is only my personal view - YMMV.

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The only true predictor is each dog is different. I have personally seen examples of every type of attitude in both genders. For every person who says "boys are this way" I can find you examples of the opposite. Same for girls.

 

The only way to pick is to go with the personality of the pup. If you can't see it, have the breeder tell you. A good breeder will match you and your pup based on both of your personalities.

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We have not found this to be the case in our lines; our girls are the same no matter what time of the year.

I've often wondered how many of these gender related "trends" in behavior are specific to certain lines.

 

I have one bitch who could be a real flake on sheep when coming into season, but she never got moody with my other dogs. I also own a female who works essentially the same no matter what her hormonal state, but off sheep she can be short tempered with other dogs while in season. I sold a bitch who never acted any different during heat cycles (and never seemed to stand either). They were all related.

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Again, thanks for all the great replies. I was pretty set on getting a female since that's all I've ever owned and worked with. But seeing as we have a alpha female GSD I feel it would be best to get another male. We also have a male (neutered) ACD who's a big goofball and gets along awesome with every dog he's ever met! With that being said, the new guy will be spending most of his time inside with us versus being outside all day like the other two. We have a very small house and our GSD is HUGE! I swear she takes up a 1/3 of our living room when she's in here lol

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