Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I have two of each and love them all to pieces.
However, I prefer females and the majority of my dogs have been female.
I find them to be more independent than the males and they are more protective of the family and home.
There are some drawbacks - they are definitely more aggressive with other females and they sulk, just like, well, girls.
But overall, definitely if given the choice and all else being equal, I will always pick a female over a male.
In our experience, it seems to depend on breed. Our female GSD was very dog aggressive with males OR females in our neighborhood, but in the obedience ring was completely reliable even on a 5-minute out of sight down-stay. Much the same in the breed ring, she absolutely ignored all other dogs. The males got along fine unless somebody was coming into heat, then things could get dicey. Friends who have multiple of both sexes report that females would fight viciously amongst themselves to establish dominance, and some females really seem to dislike each other (they don't call them B*TCH*S for nothing!)
In poodles (standard), I find the boys to be absolute love bugs, willing to befriend people (strangers), other dogs, cats, anything that might possibly become a new best friend. And extremely bonded to me, to the pont of being velcro and NEEDING to be nearby at all times. Females tend to be a bit more independent at home and can be stand-offish with outsiders. Oh sure, they will stand politely be petted and fawned over, but don't necessarily return the adoration, whereas the males will fall all over themselves to get more attention.
I have an adopted male who was most likely not neutered before marking behavior got good and established, so that has been annoying. When you adopt, there is a lot you don't have a ton of control over.
I don't want to EVER look at red rocket. Period. Ever.
Ha-ha! We call it a tube of lipstick! Now that our boy is 2 - it hardly ever appears.
I'm going to vote for male. Our English Bull Terrier is the first male for both my husband and myself. We've had a female Giant Schnauzer (too protective), female Bouvier (didn't seem to bond), female Wire Fox Terrier (too independent and had a leaky bladder from about 5 till she died at 14- vet said it was lack of estrogen from being spayed). Our male is the most loving, devoted, least aggressive dog we've had.
We have both males and females-2 collies and a Newfie-Lab. The female collie is the protective little mother with the grandkids. She's sweet and loving but not overly demonstrative. The male collie and Newfie-Lab are total suck-ups and always are kissing and looking for pets and cuddles. Love'em all
We had a male lab mix while my wife was pregnant with each of our kids and both times he stuck to her like glue and was very protective of her throughout the pregnancy. I have always wondered if a female dog would have behaved similarly but my hunch says no.
I do believe that each sex exhibits different gender roles and instincts, but having grown up with female dogs and then having a male dog for the last 11 years, I believe both make equally great pets.
The three mutts that came to my house growing up just happened to be boys, so my mental picture of a dog is a medium-sized mutt, a boy, with border collie/brittany spaniel furs and markings.
Each dog I adopt extends my "type" but I always notice the herding mixes first. I always took boys because I heard they had more trouble getting adopted. I had two girl adoptions, both of whom decided to try and kill my smaller seniors. (One went back to Best Friends, one I had to put down after she opened my ankle up to the bone).
I now have, of six dogs, two girls. One is a very tough tomboy, formerly born into hoarding, and she clings to one dog or another to the extent of sitting on him if she can't get next to him. (This does not go over big with old Artie). The other is a graceful, dainty, ladylike Brittany type old diabetic blind girl, and she couldn't be more dainty. I don't know if the girls act differently or if I see them differently because I know they're girls.
The only dogs I've known since puppyhood were boys.
For some reason, in my mind, cats are girls and dogs are boys. Horses are in between (geldings!)
I do think people tend to take girls more often, thinking they are easier or sweeter. I don't know if that' true.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
