Puppy picking and which sex should I go for?

[Pipsquiggle]

Hello I am hoping for some advice. We will be picking a puppy in the next couple of weeks.

We get 2nd pick after the breeder. The litter is 5 boys and 2 girls. At this stage I am assuming the breeder will pick 1 of the girls. As part of the puppy contract, we will neuter whichever puppy we get at the appropriate time.

I live in a house with DH and 2 DS (age 9 & 6), we want a great family pet who will be the boys buddy and great companion for the adults too.

Any advice on whether we should go for a boy or a girl and what characteristics should we look out for. Thanks in advance.

What breed?

Australian labradoodle - essentially a cross of 5 different breeds - labrador, poodle, Irish water spaniel, American cocker spaniel and an English spaniel

So a Heinz 57 then?

Australian labradoodle - essentially a cross of 5 different breeds - labrador, poodle, Irish water spaniel, American cocker spaniel and an English spaniel

I have two female dogs. I'm not going to lie, I don't like the possibility of male dogs trying to hump people/legs and was petrified of taking a dog to the park and them cocking their leg on something/someone. There is a year between my two and they get on fine.

I have only known boy dogs and picked a male because I didn't want the hassle of seasons.

I got lucky as my dog has never cocked his leg, has never marked in the house and has never humped anything or anyone.

Out of interest OP when has your breeder stipulated your puppy must be neutered by?

@Pipsquiggle how exciting! I am on a waitlist for an ALD too. I am hoping for a male only because my last dog was a male so it’s what I’m used to. Which breeder are you with?

@DiddlyWiddly have a if you are interested here is information about the breed
www.wala-labradoodles.org/

@mintbiscuit to be fair, we haven't had an indepth conversation about it with the breeder, as we haven't stipulated which sex we want. I am assuming if we went for a girl we would let her do 1 season and then book her in - but I would absolutely follow advice on this.

In my head I would like a girl as I am in such a male dominant household and I think I could cope with the mess until we got her spayed.

I have had both a male and female dog in the past growing up but lived in a household which had more of a mix of genders.

Am I talking complete madness?- does it actually matter what sex they are?

@youdontnome good to know. Surely the male attention would stop after she was neutered though?

I would get which ever puppy I wanted when I met them regardless of sex. I think compatability is more important than gender. With a choice of 1 girl and 5 boys chances are I would be going home with a boy.

With 2 quite young children in the family, wouldn't it be better to meet the litter and try to make a choice based on which one was the happiest and most relaxed around the children?
I'd think that mattered more than the sex of the puppy?

[quote Peachylovesherpoochy]@DiddlyWiddly have a if you are interested here is information about the breed
www.wala-labradoodles.org/[/quote]
Im good thanks.
I have other things planned to do tonight rather than read about puppy farmers flogging mongrels for thousands of pounds.

@DiddlyWiddly definitely not puppy farmed - I have done my due diligence.

We tried the rescue centre route but unfortunately due to my DC's ages there were no options.

I love mongrels which is what appealed about this breed. I would have virtually any dog breed (probably not very small), anything from a terrier upwards.

I share your concerns on puppy farms

I think it's a personal preference - we always had females growing up and I have one now. I have also fostered 10 dogs which were a mix of male/female. Personally, I prefer females because I don't like seeing dog erections (which happen even with neutered males) and don't like the constant leg cocking out for walks. But, if you're only going to have a choice of one girl in the litter, make sure she's friendly and confident with the kids.

Also, my vet spays dogs at around 6 months, so before the first season.

We got a girl even though I'd originally wanted to avoid the fuss of seasons. I'd thought it might be easier, plus the male neutering is apparently less recovery time. However I also read that female temperaments can be more gentle so we went with a girl as I have 2 young children. Actually her first season wasn't as messy or stressful as I'd thought, it was long (bled for 4 weeks!) but she's been brilliant since the sharky teething days passed. We've recently met a range of boys at dog class now they've reopened and all of them, entire or not, seem really high maintenance. Obviously this is just based on what I see of their personality 1 hour a week, but the trainer did comment on it last week that in her experience females seem to be easier going and her most problematic cases are always unneutered males.

I prefer bitches, I have one of each

does massively depend on the breed, but just preference. Seasons arnt awful, males can be a pain in the arse humping too (mine never has) but still you can get the odd ones which are a fricking nightmare!

@DiddlyWiddly aren’t you a treat! Off you go then

I would choose a Girl (Bitch) Puppy, but definitely not the last one to be born, known as the Runt of the Litter, as they are often the weakest and smallest and prone to more health issues.

@GeorgeandHarold66 yes, ideally I wanted to take the children when we picked the dog but unfortunately, I don't think this will be possible due to the pandemic. The breeders did tell us about this, at the start of this process.

So apart from the gender, are there any good or bad traits I should look out for? They will be 4 weeks when we see them?

We have had 3 bitches and 1 dog.
I would go for a bitch any day if the week. With a boy, they are forever cocking their leg on walks, despite emptying their bladder and being neutered.

I had the runt of the litter, along with her sibling. They both lived to a grand age, the runt died at 16, her sister at 14. It doesn't always follow that the runts are weak.