Are female dogs easier than males?

[slinkyboo]

We have a five month old rescue pup. He is becoming extremely boisterous in the morning and quite hard to manage (even with a good walk first thing). Off lead hardly ever happens as if he sees another dog he is off...not even the best treat will get him back. After about 4pm he is like a different dog, though - so much calmer etc.
A friend commented today that their 4 month old pup was much easier 'because she's a bitch'. They were slightly 'smug' about it tbh. I thought there wasn't really any firm truth in that but now I'm wondering. DH wanted a bitch but we fell in love with this little boy pup at the rescue centre.
I just want to hear positive stories about people with calm, lovely male dogs I think!!

we had 3 rescues
1st when we were in 20s male, entire, nightmare with other dogs but fab at home. Died around 11 of prostrate cancer. Husband thought it was cruel to castrate.
2nd when we had kids and were in early 40s male neutered great at home but nightmare with other dogs. Really really bad. Kept him for 5 years then gave back to rescue - been tried to be rehomed twice, and returned within 2 months due to bad behaviour and unsociability.
3rd bitch - concurrently with 2nd dog after we had him for 9 months as a companion, she had been picking up on his bad behaviour. Since not had him which is about 2 years, she is the best dog in the universe behaviour wise. 100 percent dog friendly, 100 percent people friendly, can take her any where - used to have to go somewhere we knew there would be no dogs, and now we can go to any park or pub or down the street and know there will be no trouble.

me - i expect it is personality related not dog versus bitch - and breed related, but for me - yes i would probably be more inclined to go for a bitch next time.

beertrickspotter -

our bitch was silly when younger, but still very sociable and not aggressive

I have 2 'done' males. A Staffy and a Doodle.
They are in their 'teenage years' 19 mths and 16 mths.

Completely crackers at home. Laps of the now destroyed garden, launching on each other from the sofa, constant arguments over a favourite toy.

But out of the home they are cheerful, puppy playfulness but not OTT. They are just beginning to respond to recall stubborn bastards.

I have 3 males, all rescued, only one as a pup. He is a GSD.

And he is a fruitcake.

Thankfully he's well trained - nothing I can take credit for, he just learned so quickly, picking it up from my elder dog. But nutty... oh lordy! He believes that nothing should be left uninvestigated and all things in the home should be greeted with a wagging BUM as well as tail. Luckily he doesn't do it whilst out walking!

He's four years old - and I think I have a while to wait before "calm" enters his canine brain!

One thing you said worries me, without meaning to be rude, and that's your pup's recall. Please work on training and keep him on a long lead (a training lead can be bought for the purpose) until his recall is at a good level as otherwise you'll risk losing him/him following another dogwalker/getting attacked or hurt. I know I'm a worrier but I've seen this sort of thing happen to others' dogs more than once and I'd hate to think it happened to yours.

Thank you for the replies.
We are due to have our pup castrated in the next few weeks. I'm hoping this will help to calm him to an extent but I hzce also heard it doesn't always change anything at all...
Any tips for what I can do with hugely over-excited pup in the mornings, when I cannot give him 100% attention as I have two DCs and two cats to feed and dress etc? (not dress the cats ) he gets a walk first thing, but then he is so exuberant and just charges about or gets into mischief. We tried a long line on a stake in the ground but he digs huge holes. If I put him in his crate he whines non-stop (even with a pig's ear to chew ). Currently I'm tying him up just outside the back door on hard ground so he can't dig, with toys and a chew, and praying he settles for a bit...

DBF- my Doodle does the bum wiggle too! You tell his mood from the speed of the tail wag and you KNOW he's happy when the butt goes too!!

DBF I totally agree re recall - and since a hugely episode when pup ran off while at a lake, soaking wet and rubbing himself on other peoples towels and totally deaf to my calling him - DH has rigged up a 6m length of rope as a long-line lead which works a treat (I started a thread about the Lake Escape a few weeks ago and other posters suggested a long line)
Trouble is....with visitors we have to keep him on short lead or tied up as when children play he gets completely over excited and bounds about, frightening them or knocking them over I'm desperately hoping he just calms down as he gets older but sounds like he may not. Which worries me

BeerTricks- he is finished with a kong in 30 seconds. We have the puppy size kong tho and it doesn't fit much food...but the food (kibble) just falls out really. I've tried peanut butter but he rejected it completely!

That looks good - I will have a look for it! I'll try anything. I do feel pretty dense but I honestly never knew pup would be so high-maintenance in the mornings

Frozen kongs work well for us, my lab tends to be hyper in the mornings so we started giving them from about 4 months. He used to have 2 small puppy ones, now has the big black extreme kong. He has 3rd of his daily kibble allowance for breakfast, soaked kibble stuffed into kong with small amount of peanut butter or cream cheese, frozen overnight. I make him sit and wait while I hide the kong and rest of kibble in the garden. It keeps him occupied for about half an hour, then he waits in the utility room till walk time.

My golden retriever was very boisterous and bouncy and slightly out of control from around 6 months to 18 months. Then he calmed down at about 2 and is now 2.5, calm when we need him to be and still bouncy but controllable out on a walk or in the garden.

He hasn't been castrated on vet's advice. Not because we want to breed (we don't, even though he is from a good line and people have asked us) but because the vet thought it wouldn't make much difference to his behaviour. I don't know if that was good advice, but his recall is excellent (as long as we have a treat for him) even when near bitches on heat (we have females in the gardens on both sides of the house). Vet had lots of other reasons too.

Anyway, all that to say he has calmed down, not to get into an argument on to castrate or not. From what I can tell famales are not necessarily easier than males.

Exercise first thing before he is fed then a short break so that he is not too hot and bothered and then feed him. Guaranteed sleepy calm puppy (for a while anyway!)

I think it's entirely down to personal preference. I got irritated recently when a friend (who knew I'd chosen a male pup) managed to slip into the conversation that when she'd been choosing her dog, she only went to breeders who had bitches as she wouldn't have even countenanced a male. Yes, her dog is well-behaved, but then actually so is mine (bearing in mind he's 4.5 months old) but I think that's down to training in her case, not gender.

As a vet and from growing up with many, many dogs I can honestly say there are nutty dogs and bitches out their. My personal preference is for neutered male dogs.
But the single biggest factor that gives you a lovely calm dog is training. You may find your smug friends feel that as their bitch is so well behaved that they don't concentrate so much on the training and then suddenly have a nightmare dog at a year old - it happens way more often than you think.
My current canine is the mobile mop who can be as nutty as a fruitcake on a walk or playing the garden, but in the house or office at work he knows that calm behaviour is what is required. None of this is due to being a boy, but a factor of the hours of training I have put in so that he knows when nutty as a fruitcake is appropriate.

I've had three lovely calm loving male dogs ( 2 entire one neutered) and one nutty over energetic devious bitch, she even flirted outrageously with my boyfiends ( pre- marriage) coquettishly making eyes and showing how clever she was with a potato. She was the best though......

Higgle - at your bitch showing off with a potato!!
Thank you for these extra replies. They have made me feel much better! The lady at the rescue had said the same things really, when we were considering our pup but had 'wanted' a bitch. She said it was more about specific animals than sex...we have good friends with the maddest Cocker bitch ever - so there are no guarantees.
As for the mornings, I really like the frozen kong idea. What do you soak the kibble in and how long for? (water?)
Thank you again to all who posted

it all depends on the breed, i have a dogue de bordeaux bitch, who is a lovely dog, but slightly moosy and stroppy at times, i follow and support the charity regarding these dogs and they do say they boys as a rule are more loving and chilled out than the girls, certainly fits with mine. but would say its down to many factors, environment, breed, and pure luck with some! good luck with ur pup, and it sounds a little like my kids iq is better than urs sort of rubbish that some ppl just cant help but brag about! as for the hyper in the mornings.. enjoy it they dont live forever :)

Slinky - I think we have the same dog. Even the same age. He is exactly the same - runs off, won't recall if sees another dog, obsessed with other dogs etc. Still very excitable and jumps up when excited (despite constant training not to) Handful. But calms down after dinner and sleeps all evening/night. Have just posted on the "my dog runs off" thread! Will be getting ours chopped soon! Feel your pain

Definitely separated at birth, Kings...(sorry, just seen your post!)

Ours has started to look at us in utter bewilderment when we say basic commands...ones that he did perfectly a few weeks ago. 'Sit' for example. Either we have the most dumb dog on the planet or he has hit the dreaded ADOLESCENCE....

I have two bitches and one dog. The dog is a pain in the arse and can be nasty when the mood takes him. The two bitches are literally dream dogs.

My Dad has two dogs and a bitch. The two dogs are so laid back they barely move and are perfect with the dc. The bitch is snappy, dog aggressive and a bit slow on the uptake when it comes to training. She's also very, very, very bouncy. She is the same breed as my bitch (Whippet) - but the polar opposite of her character wise. Breed counts for something but the vast majority of it is down to the individual dog and their upbringing/training.

I have border collies. There is a saying that male collies want to be your mate, whilst female collies think they are your mother. Certainly, our male collie is very gentle, docile and compliant. We have had 2 female collies and both have been/ are quite bossy little madams.