Male or Female? Does it matter?

[arbitraryarsehole]

Just wondering the reasons you might favour one sex over another?

Over the years it’s been 50/50 male and female for us, mostly because they have nearly all been rescues, so we picked the dog, not their sex.

We now have a pedigree toy breed male. Dh and I both agreed we wanted a boy if possible, but either would have been fine. As it turned out his litter was mostly boys anyway.

We have found our girls were more independent and less cuddly than the boys we’ve had, but that’s just our personal experience.

None of our boys have humped and until our newest addition, I don’t think we ever saw any ‘lipsticks’ either. New boy is currently adolescent and we’ve still only seen it twice. None of our boys have scent marked either, but two of our girls did.

My girl scent marks, and makes a big effort to wee as high up as possible. Quite funny to see the ridiculous positions she gets into

Different breeds so i can't accurately compare but the best dogs in my life have been the female ones. Many people claim they are generally more loyal.

At first glance it's definitely personal preference.

But once you have experience with a specific breed, I'd say there is a difference! (They should be all similar in their traits ...)

I would say for Tibetan Terrier the girls are little Divas ... while the boys are more of an "Lovable Rouge"

In the end, I prefer the girls, they are more independent, less "sneaky" (current boy will chew the corner of a cushion without you nothing! He will be looking you in the eye all cute and loving ... and slowly nibble at the dam thing! )
My girls would not do anything like this, it's well beneath them!

I've had three bitches that do this - the balancing act is hilarious - the current one often manages to pee on the terrier's head at the same time

current boy will chew the corner of a cushion without you nothing! He will be looking you in the eye all cute and loving ... and slowly nibble at the dam thing!

My female pup will do this, I think most of these things are just down to individuals rather than sex based behaviours.

For the breed I have (greyhound) it is generally accepted wisdom that the boys are soppier and dopier and the girls are more intelligent and independent. I have a boy and I would say he somewhat fits this description. Male greyhounds can be very large and strong though (ours is 37kg) and he does have stubborn moments out on walks when it is hard to wrangle him. So I think a lot of people choose girls for this reason.

I was just browsing through Spaniel Aid today and found that many more male dogs were surrendered than bitches. Read into that what you will!

Some people don’t care, some people do but it’s personal preference- there isn’t a ‘better choice’. Personally my choice has always been boys- I don’t want to deal with seasons, I find boys a bit more affectionate and where they take longer to mature I find them quite entertaining.
humping isn’t an issue- I train my dogs that it is not acceptable and I only allow them to scent mark on “free time”, walking to heel then no marking.

There is a saying: If you want a good dog, get a dog. If you want a great one, get a bitch and hope for the best"

In reality I think it's swings and roundabouts. I have had both and would have either again.

I find boys a bit more affectionate

I always find the boys a bit "take care of me" and the girls a bit "let me take care of you". But I suspect that's just me

We've ad three females since our male dog died. Adult daughter commented today that our male was more biddable than our three females since.

It might be the breed. Male was a schnauser, two females were staffies and latest female is a Jack Russell.

Daisy, our tiny Jack is so very intelligent, but also barky. And she also humped any thing that stayed still, until our vet felt she was big enough to be spayed.

So, I too, think it's more about the breed than the sex.

We currently have a girl, but she’s a rescue and the sex wasn’t as important as other characteristics, however DP wanted a boy because then it would be easier to know if the dog did a poo or a wee (which I thought was a bit of a silly reason!)

There is some research saying that girl dogs are more judgemental than boy dogs though which I find quite funny - www.bbc.co.uk/newsround/63312358

In general my bitches have been more selective, more stroppy, more feisty but much much more loyal and easier to train. My current female is a dream…except for taking no crap from random dogs running up to her and being too intelligent for her own good. She thinks for herself where the boys follow what she does and copy!

The boys seem to be more goofy and silly, less focused and lazier. I’ve also found the male adolescence period much harder, especially challenging other males etc.

My preference would probably be female if I had to pick but for fairness I try to keep one of each 😄

I hate boys lipstick , it's so gross when it comes out . We always had girl dogs when young and they were always lovely ..

Never had one of them hump anything ( around 10 in total)

We have a boy for our first dog - based purely on the dogs we had growing up. Various breeds but the boys were easier to train, gentler and more loving but higher energy. The females were equally amazing but more independent and stubborn but calmer.

I prefer girls as you can pat their little tums without encountering anything untoward.

I think once they’re spayed/ neutered it doesn’t matter really. Our boy is as soft as butter, extremely affectionate but a little needy and a very good boy but he’s a lab so it’s probably his breed. Before he was neutered the negatives were marking around unspayed females and spraying green goo all over the walls from his willy. That’s completely stopped with neutering but it has made him even softer.

Either are lovely. Just make sure you rescue. No such thing as a responsible greeder

His ‘lipstick’ hasn’t made an appearance since neutering either 😂.

Thank you! Met some today & both m&f were lovely, so it's good to know whichever we get doesn't matter too much!

My dogs have all been males. That wasn't intentional on my part, it just happened to work out that way. They have all been delightful. My current dog is so sweet and friendly to all, human and canine alike. He does occasionally hump other dogs in play but females can display that behaviour as well. He hasn't had any issues specifically related to his sex. I've never seen any unpleasant discharge and he doesn't seem particularly bothered about female dogs. He views all dogs as potential playmates, male and female alike.

I would like to have a female dog someday. Though I agree with PPs that most differences are down to individual personality and temperament, rather than being determined by whether dogs are male or female.

Pefectlystill, I hadn't actually thought of that, but my Vet had Borders, and said that's the very reason he prefered bitches, we rub our feet on ours!

@Perfectlystill yes! That in a nutshell is why I have always had bitches. It doesn't matter in cats but, in dogs, the whole thing just seems so in the way!

I think the answer to this is very breed dependent.

In my main breed, which is very amenable, I love both and all are generally easy to live with, being generally sociable with other dogs and people. The girls are cleverer but can be a bit hormonal, so the males are probably a bit more easy-going. As with most (all?) breeds, our males are larger and male coats are heavier. This can make them more impressive in appearance, but there is obviously a coat care consideration, and they don't seem to do that proper once a year clear out that bitches do. (Neutering can make the coats much harder to deal with in both.)

In some breeds, males are far more challenging, significantly stronger, less sociable with other dogs both in the home and outdoors. As a poster up above said, look at rescue centres and note the balance of males to females that have found themselves there. It is no coincidence.

Primarily though, you need to investigate this as just one of the elements of the breed(s) you are considering.

(Also note that many not-so-good breeders will convince you that males are easier, purely because bitches are easier to sell!)