Do dogs have a gender preference in humans?

[allhailtheaubergine]

In my experience of the dogs I have known, many of them have appeared to have a marked gender preference in humans.

What do you think?

Our dog luuurves everyone. Male, female, young, old. I am topdog in his books though [hgrin]

Mine does. She prefers women. There are only three blokes in the world that she'll let get near here. She runs a mile from others. However she's an ex racer so I suspect may have been ill treated.

my newly acquired female rescue dog loves me bestest - her previous owner (who was very kind to her) was male. I am the only female in our household.

If a dog has been mistreated by a man it is understandable that she will be wary of men I suppose.

And if a dog has one favourite in the family (usually the food and walk provider!) then it's not really gender preference.

I suppose I am wondering about the extent to which dogs are aware of human gender.

Our new rescue dog loves everyone, but goes absolutely potty for the only two men who regularly visit. Is it a gender thing? Or could it be simply that she adored her previous male owner? Is there a difference?

My parents always talk about "a man's dog" or "A woman's dog" but are they just projecting? It does seem to be true of many dogs.

ah but she was NOT ill treated by her pervious owner.
DH and I do equal walking duties, I feed her in morning, he feeds her in evenng but she likes me best, because i am female, i think.

DD's dog is definitely a man's dog. He used to belong to my nephew but he had to give him up, ( long story).
He goes potty when he sees DH, and just the sound of DD's boyfriend's car pulling up will have him pacing the floor and whining in excited anticipation.

One of my dogs, whom i have had since 7 weeks old, has developed a dislike for certain people. I have to say they are all men. This dislike has only happened in the last year or so (he is now 4). I don't know why this is. he generally loves everybody but he can be unpredictable around men. He has never had a negative incident with men that i am aware of.

The other loopy lurcher loves everybody, no matter what! In the house the loopy lurcher is my dog for sure.

My greyhound LOVES men. She's also an ex-racer, but the rescue told me that she came from a good trainer and was well cared for. Whenever a man comes round (she lives in a gent-free household) she gets really excited and prances round their legs like she's saying 'please take me running, oh PLEASE take me running'.

I don't like the racing industry at all, but I have to say I can't fault the way they've brought up my little doggy.

My dog seems to love everyone but respond differently to different genders. He is calmer around women and loves a cuddle but he ADORES men especially DH and is manic around them

All I know is that I´m last on the list in this house

One of our three, an ex racer, is petrified of tall men. After a number of years he is now very fond of/relaxed with DH and FIL, and is OK with our nephews but that's about it. The source of this fear became apparent when he came home with us. He was terrified by anything like a tie, belt etc - very clear what these tall men had been doing to him. [hangry]

Women, on the other hand - he is an utterly shameless flirt who will do the lean, gaze up with big brown eyes and you can practically hear "Helloooo" as he twirls his moustaches...

Lol @ flirty moustache dog . My parents have a Jack Russell like that - he leans against you and grins winsomely, waggling his ridiculous ginger eyebrows suggestively.

So it seems as though most people do think that dogs can be men's dogs or women's dogs. It's not very logical really.

One of mine is a sexist male-obsessed git! Father-in-law, husband, step-father, next-door neighbour... anything with a willy he's all "oooh lord and master me loves you master me is good dog adore me please master" - little arselicker! This despite having a fan club of little old ladies who think he's beautifully behaved and gorgeous (and cross the road TO say hello to him).

Greyhound - total tart going nuts for anyone!

Our dog is more of an all rounder and loves everyone. He probably loves dh most because he is at home with him all day, but is currently snuggled up with dd, spent the afternoon gardening with me, and romped with ds too. When we went on holiday he stayed with our neighbours, and now he loves them too - they visited last night and he went a little potty

Our family dogs loved my mother so much they didn't have much time for anyone else. It was very annoying if you were looking after them when my mother was away as they'd spend all the time pining for her (this was when we were living at home and giving them walks etc).

my trainer says 80% of problems happen with female prime care giver and male canine