We chose a male when we got Kito, because in all of the pictures of Shibas I had seen, I liked the looks of the male. They had his sister also, but I wouldn't even let them show her to me, so I didn't end up taking 2 dogs home that day.
When we went for a second, a female was what we were looking for, because Kito tends to be agressive.
With Riley, he just happened to be there, and I figured with a pup Kito would be alright--so far so good!!!