Male or Female which do you prefer?

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Besides the obvious, do you find much difference between a male or female dog. For many years friends would tell us don't ever get a male dog you will be sorry and he will lift his leg on everything. We had always had female dogs, I think for at least 25 years, then two years ago my husband decided he wanted a male Schnauzer and I was not happy but Perry came into our lives. I have completely changed my mind about males. He is the sweetest, most loving dog, if he sees you are sad he will come sit with you. Before Kona crossed the Rainbow bridge, he would lick her eyes and face and outside he would drag out a pillow for her to lay on.
On the other hand our little female Daisy is very independent, maybe will come if you call her or maybe not, she is loving in a differnt way. We love our dogs more than life itself, both of them, but I would never hesitate to get a male again.
By the way Perry only lifts his leg on a tree or our backyard fence!

[This message has been edited by jackiesdaisy1935 (edited February 17, 2001).]

[Logan]

I chose girls...don't really know why, just thought they would be calmer. I think breed and genetics matter more than the sex. I correspond with many Golden Retriever owners, and it seems like there isn't a common thread. Some females are wild as bulls and some males as gentle as can be. You just don't ever know! If I have an opportunity to take in a rescue Golden, I will not worry about male or female, just whether the dog can exist with Honey and Lilly, the cats and us! Any pet I have will always be spayed anyway.
Good question, Jackie.

[Angels3]

I always thought that male dogs would be stroppy...fighting their owners for dominance and doing lots of doggy things like marking their territory, digging holes & being generally uncooperative. But when we got our male sheltie, Danny, I realized that was a stereotype. Danny was biddable, cooperative, sweet...the works! It was the female sheltie with whom we had the battle for dominance...& still do. So now I believe there's no general answer to the question...which is best, male or female...and that it may even depend on the individual dog. And on how it's treated & trained by people, as well as on its temperament.

[jackiesdaisy1935]

Logan
Thats a good reminder, all of our pets have always been spayed. Hopefully most everyone on this post has had their pets spayed too.

[Pam]

That's a good question! Possibly you could start a topic just polling us folks here at Pet Talk and see, for the fun of it, how many males and how many females are represented here. Out of the 4 dogs I have owned, 3 were female. The male was as sweet as he could be, and to tell you the truth there was really no difference in temperament or behavior. I agree that once they are neutered the major concerns just fade away (females' heat cycles and males that might "grab onto your leg"(if you know what I mean). I think it's probably best just to go with the pup that "connects" with you.

[Genia]

I've never given it much thought. I've always had males. My mother had a female GSD when I was growing up but I think that's the only female dog owned by my family. I don't think there was ever a preference. You know, now that I think of it....My father has 7 brothers and 1 sister. My parents have 7 grandsons and 1 grandauther. Male dogs and 1 female...hhmmm, maybe there's a hidden message here....

[KYS]

I have only owned one male dog, so I
really can not compare.
My whole family prefers females.
When I got my male they all got up
in arms about it. lol
Now that I have him everyone loves him.
I still prefer females because
they are smaller and I like their (plumbing better) lol
I taught my male as a puppy, that leg hugging
on humans and other dogs is not acceptable behavior.
Other than that I have not noticed
much of a difference, and all my dogs are spayed.

[RachelJ]

I too had a "females only" attitude as I have known nuetered male dogs owned by neighbors and friends that are obscessed with marking. I don't even know why I agreed to look at Tucker being he was a male, but when he was brought to our house and squatted to urinate, I had to give him a chance. He tried so hard to please and work his way into our routines that the very first day he was with us, it was if he had been our dog all along. Like your Perry, Jackie, Tucker is the most loving, cooperative little boy, while Hannah is the independent one who will decide when and if her love is to be bestowed. Tucker still squats 95 percent of the time, urinates all at one time as opposed to a little here or a little there and has never 'marked' anything indoors. And as far as the leg hugging, Hannah was the one that had to be deterred from that trait. She was crazed with it as a very small puppy, and every once in a while she will still try it, but knows it is not allowed! I think it is more a sign of dominance and she only tries it with me as I am the one she has issues with.

So if another dog should ever grace our lives, gender will not be an issue with me. I will keep my eyes open to personality traits and a dog that has to mark every two feet on a walk would have to be given a second thought.

[This message has been edited by RachelJ (edited February 18, 2001).]

[Daisy's Mom]

Well this is kind of gross to admit but when we got Daisy my youngest sister Rachael was only seven. She saw how low and droopy Bassets are, and said, "We are NOT getting a boy basset! What if YOU KNOW WHAT drags on the ground since it's so low to the ground!!!" We never had a real reason to get a girl dog, besides Rachael's reason, and I just felt since I am a girl I might bond better with a girl.

[ownerof3dogs]

I have two males and one female

[AdoreMyDogs]

It's going to be hard picking out my next dog (GSD) because I really like the temperment of the females but the males are SO beautiful! I like the added size, fuller coat of the males, but yet I really want a female, although I am not sure why. I guess I just really want a baby girl when I have kids, and so does my husband, I guess that's why I want a girl dog. When we are ready to get a GSD I think we'll just go to the breeder and pick out a puppy and get one that we have a connection with, regardless of the gender.

[aly]

I judge dogs on their personalities. When I was young, I had always heard that female dogs were a lot sweeter than males. Since I was so young when I heard this, I believed it for a long time. But now I have two boys and I couldn't be happier. I think the generalization is true in many cases but it is also possible to find a sweet, gentle male or a dominant, bratty female. I also heard male cats are friendlier than females but my female kitty is one of the exceptions to the rule.

[Bernedette01]

Over all i prefer Ferrets the are so loving and generous. Plus they don't bite hard, just enough to break through the skin.

[AdoreMyDogs]

Female humans tend to have a longer life span then male humans...is the same true for dogs I wonder? I wonder if there's ever been a study done on the life spans of different gender dogs of the same breed? If female dogs do tend to live longer then it just raised my chances of my next dog being a female by a huge amount!

[Rottie]

I prefer males. I don't really know why though I guess because males are usually bigger and fuller, and my male is so cuddly. It really depends on each individual dog, what he turns out like.