Are female dog owners better off with male or female dogs?

[BeautLady]

I'm planning to bring home a puppy. Are male dogs or female dogs more suitable for women?

Makes no difference. Why do you think it does?

Apart from the recovery time from castration/ spaying it makes no difference.
Have you owned a dog before?

I find I bond better with female dogs. We have more in common, nice girly pamper sessions, picking out matching coats, none of this running around in muddy fields like boys do.

seriously though, like pp, it makes bugger all difference.

although if you’re getting a doodle you will be spending more time doing it’s hair than your own, regardless of sex.

I would prefer a female dog because they might be a bit smaller/lighter than a male dog if it’s a larger breed. Plus you don’t need to deal with it humping things or showing off their “red lipstick”

The only other thing is with a female dog, you may need to take into account they have a heat cycle

Oh, I disagree. From my experience,
male dogs bond with women more, and female dogs with men.

We've had a lot of dogs and this seems to be the way. Also with cats.

@FamilyPhoto No.

Breed is much more important than sex. Have you researched the breed traits ?
Dogs are wonderful in the main , puppies are cute but hard work .

Some people perceive male dogs to be more dominant and therefore difficult for a woman to manage.

I’ve never found that. We’ve had three male dogs and they all do what I tell them. I think the breed is much more important than the sex.

Breed is much more important than sex. Have you researched the breed traits ?

And within that, each dog is an individual- we've had two of the same breed, same sex but they were quite different (both lovely, one easier/more laid back than the other).

This is hard to assess when they're a pup, and their early experience makes a difference too. If you can find a breeder with a young adult they kept for stud/show that didn't quite make the technical grade, you can see what the character is like and they should be socialised and housetrained. Or a well matched rescue dog, obviously. I'd really recommend trying this rather than a pup for a first time owner.

Fwiw my male dogs - the first castrated, the second laid-back one not - basically believed I was some sort of mother-goddess I think.

I have had 4 of the same breed and only 1 female, she was much more stubborn than the males but that might just be down to personality.
I prefer males so I don't have to deal with seasons but I don't think having a dog the same or opposite sex to you makes any difference.

That’s interesting, we are the opposite, Exdh bought the female dog and she was supposed to be his. She loves me though so I kept her in the divorce.

That's nice. I'm glad she loves you.
I'm sure all dogs love both sexes, whoever loves and cares for them.

it's just my experience.

I never had a male (but family members do now) but as a child, I was very close with our female dogs. They were so loving, so affectionate, so loyal and always so excited to see me, and me them. We had a very close bond, as close as it could get. I still miss them dearly all these years later. They were Dalmatians and one in particularly thought she was a lap dog. She loved nothing more than to cuddle me🥲 they were such sweet natured, gentle girls too. Brought up around us kids and lots of small animals. The cat ruled the roost.

Ah I would say after a lifetime of working with horses and dogs, that you DO have a sex you click with more. I've always had dogs and worked with a lot of stallions. Always struggled a little more with mates, even though I worked in the breeding industry. Freely admit that when I was young it is because they tested my more limited patience!! I'll love both and have both. But I tend to work better with males.

Not all male dogs hump etc. mine never have. Especially if they’re neutered.

i’d rather be dealing with that than heat cycles any day though.

I've got one male dog and one female dog, makes no difference to bonding ime.
A lot is breed and temperement.
My female lab follows me around more, my male weimaraner cross is more strong willed more independent, but still loves cuddles.
It you don't neuter then females dogs will bleed,/ go into season and whilst in season will need to be very very careful where and when you walk them and entire male dogs will roam make a break for it if they sniff out a female in season from quite a wide radius - we have a dog breeder half a mile away and before neutering my male dog would always be trying to escape and go up there when her female was in season. Although we live rurally so mainly fields between us so that may not have helped possibly not such a problem in town.

Males tend to be bigger than females and if not neutered until maturity (recommended these days to avoid joint problems) they will have more muscle.

If the breed is mid sized or larger you might find a female easier to handle physically for these reasons. So things like lead pulling can be managed easier if the dog isn't capable of pulling you off balance. It also becomes important if for example you need to pick up your dog when it's elderly or unwell and can't jump into the car.

Agree 100%

From my experience both dogs and cats bond most with the person who feeds it/gives it attention/does the training.

not sex.

dh isn’t particularly interested in animals. Wouldn’t harm them, happy for them to sit on his lap or next to him, will care for them well if I’m away. But if we didn’t have them would be fine.

i’m the animal person, I look after them in the main, do all their care. 30 years of cats and dogs of both sexes and they all bond best with me.

the only exception was one rescue cat who’d been abused by a female so chose dh as her person.

I've had a dog and currently have a bitch. I found the dog easier to manage, tbh. But, there again, I did have two sons!

Female DDog prefers women, she seems to find them less intimidating. Or maybe because she lives in an all female household. She tolerates my brother when he visits for Xmas.

DDog prefers me from DD, probably because I do 90% of feeding and food MATTERS!

I prefer dogs to bitches but it is a personal preference. Cheaper and easier to neuter, no seasons. Humping and spraying reasonably easily fixed with a neuter too if done at the right time. Breed is 100% more important though and finding one that fits your lifestyle. I don't recommend a rescue for a first time owner unless very young. They can come with issues that can take a lot of work to fix.

If you can’t handle a dog physically you should be looking for a different breed, not a different sex.

From my experience females are less likely to run off on walks and more likely to listen to me. They have also been a bit more strong willed in the home compared to my polite male dogs. The male dogs I’ve had I would be more likely to loose on an off lead walk.