Are your dogs or cats often mistaken for the wrong gender?

[zanyshihtzu]

My mia gets called a boy alot even though she often wears pink bows and a pink collar.

[cloverfdx]

Yep all the time. Clover is always called "big fella" by strangers hehe, even though she has been wearing/ using a pink collar and lead for the last 8 months or so. Elvis has been mistaken for a "pretty girl" aswell, but he has realy put on some manly muscle in the last few months so he does not look girlie anymore .

Everyone else is pretty obvious.

[Zippy]

Pumpkin is called a boy a lot sometimes even after they have been told she had kittens(only happened to my relitives(sp?) Tiger(Zippy's RB brother)was alwas called a girl and Zippy a boy.

[finn's mom]

I think, in general, people seem to think dogs are male. Not sure why. And, it used to be, before everything got so "politically correct", and it became "he/she", people referred to anything where the gender was unknown as "he." If I remember correctly, that was the "correct" way in English class. I still do that when I'm writing or typing or speaking although people think I am just assuming, when all I'm really doing is going by the way I learned in school, even if it is not as "PC"... I refer to everything as "he" unless or until I'm told otherwise. Or it's something obvious like a feminine name or color or something...but, even then, I've seen people put pink collars on male dogs. I know I'll sometimes just ask "is your pet male or female?" just to avoid annoying people. It has never bothered me in the past, though...my dog Bruno was small, so, I think that's why some people thought he was a girl, but, even then, that didn't happen often. I don't think anyone's ever asked if Finn was a girl...they just always call him a "him." But, it wouldn't bother me if people thought he was a girl.

[chrissycat21]

Snowy has been called a boy several times while wearing a pink collar and pink harness.

Although, it might have been because she has a blue leash...

[zoomer]

Sometimes people thing my kitty is boy because she sprays on everything , and some people mistake Alaska for a girl because he has pink and blue on his collar, I don't think people have mistaken Georgia or Buddy before...

[Roxyluvsme13]

YES! Everyone calls Roxy he all the time..

[bckrazy]

Kay, that theory cannot be completely true. Gonzo is always called a "she" or "pretty" by everyone! =P I think it might be because he's such a softy. Even 2 ladies on our Flyball team, who we've known for over a year, call Gonzo a "she"... and they have a male BC. It does get annoying, after you've said "No, he's a boy." 10x.

Strangely, everyone knows Fozzie is a wittle boy. He must exude masculinity

Cali, I think the show you're referring to is "the Facts of Life". My best friend is a girl named Blair! So I also associate it with females.

[K9soul]

My current dogs don't get mixed up. Tommy is so large he's just obviously male .

But with Willie and Cody it was different. Sometimes both were called she, but Cody was ALWAYS called she. Because he looked like "lassie" I suppose. There may be something to the black dog thing as Willie was called she far less. I still remember one lady's response after I told her Cody was a boy "Oh but she's too pretty to be a boy!" Never forgot that one LOL. Ironic too considering males generally have the thicker/longer coats.

[beeniesmom]

All the time.

[vinjashira]

Yes. Snowy gets mistaken for a boy quite often, even here at Pet Talk
a gentle reminder for everybody, Snowy is a girl

[kissy73179]

we got a kitten aqnd was told it was a female and wenamed her Nala. # weeks later at her 1st vet visit, the doc told us she was a HE!!! So now we need a new name and have to train our selves to stop calling him she and Nala. Also the pretty pink with stones collar looks silly now..lol!