Which sex is easier to train?

[bwawryk]

I am planning on getting a dog in the next 4 months or so. It's going to be a yellow lab retriever. However, I initially wanted to get a male (it's a guy thing I think), but when talking to a couple people, they informed me from their experiences that female lab retrievers are smarter and easier to train then their male counterparts. Is there any truth to this?

[carrie]

Hi,
There is generally no difference in intelligence between sexes. Males tend to mature later than females, so can appear to be less smart. Many people prefer bitches as they are seen to be more affectionate and loyal. I prefer bitches purely as they do mature earlier on the whole. But any other difference tends to be more of a difference on the handlers attitude to the dog.
Males tend to be a little more dominant than bitches but castration as and when the pup reaches emotional maturity and proper obedience and handling makes this a non issue. Saying that I have met a good few really hard bitches in my time! Bitches should be spayed after their first season.
Enjoy your puppy and good luck!

[RachelJ]

I think the individual personality of the dog is more important than whether it is a male or female; however that said, my observations of our own dogs and others I have known are that the females adore the man of the house. He can come and go without very much interaction yet he is treated as a GOD. The male dog likes him a lot, but his devotion is to Mom.

I have seen male dogs obscessed with marking, one of my friends has a male that can't wait to lift his leg when he comes in my house, a neighbor dog circles our property, lifting his leg every two feet. These are both neutered males. Also I have seen a male and a female, both yellow labs and raised in the same household at the same time, with the female being a congenial friendly dog and the male being super territorial and has an aggressive nature.(Don't even look in the direction of his property!) They are also both neutered.

So in my humble opinion, all other things being equal, I would recommend to you, a guy, to get a female dog. Even if you end up with an Alpha female, she will recognize you, as a guy, to be Leader of the Pack.

[carrie]

Hi again,
A nuetered male that acts in the way discribed above is not trained. Any animal with any amount of dominance in its character will act in this way if it is allowed to. It's human error not sex difference that is the issue there.