New dog time - Boy or Girl

leaky5

leaky5

Suspended / Banned
Messages
1,824
Name
Richard
Edit My Images
Yes
We have always had bitches. Looking at a litter tomorrow of both sexes. We are tempted to go for a male this time.

What are the pros and cons of each ?
 
I've got 2 boys!
The male's do tend to grow bigger in each breed... so do you want a bigger dog? I have a boxer, and he's bigger than all the female boxers i have seen!

Jordan
 
Male seem to be forever scent marking every blade of grass,
and chasing every female on heat for miles around, once they become mature.

I find females more biddable too.
That said, my dogs are trained for a purpose
and not just as pets.

Though males do "tend" to be the bigger of the breeds.
As you can tell I am a fan of the females although I have had both sexes.
The only down side if you can call it that is the "season"
but on a good well balanced diet these are very light, and hardly noticeable.
Again, I am NOT a fan of neutering or speying ;)
 
I have only ever had males, Great Dane and two Dalmations. Never wanted females due to them having seasons and imagine it to be very messy, though I see from above that can be limited. Also had a negative experience of a friends female having a phantom puppy and being aggressive.

Cobra, what are your dogs trained for?
 
Alison said:
They choose you - resistance is futile! :)
Click to expand...

And with two nine year olds coming along I guess the choice wont be mine! !!
 
*nods* she had a phantom puppy and for days would growl and snap if we went near her basket and her teddy.
 
Samphire said:
Cobra, what are your dogs trained for?
Click to expand...
If I told you one was a lurcher and one was a pointer that might give you a clue ;)

leaky5 said:
And with two nine year olds coming along I guess the choice wont be mine! !!
Click to expand...
Well thats it then you've blown it :D

Samphire said:
*nods* she had a phantom puppy and for days would growl and snap if we went near her basket and her teddy.
Click to expand...

Did she also go through a phantom pregnancy?
Not always obvious but they do become a little bloated,
and usually the teats swell as well.
 
Yes she did get bloated, they though was was pregnant. They felt mean when they took the teddy away, but there were little ones in the house and they were concerned she would snap.

Met a stunning lurcher a few weeks back when walking my dally over the fields, he was soooo bouncy lol
 
Males all they way for me, have owned bitches in my time but find males much easier to train.
Contrary to belief they don't all run off after every female in season, only had one that tried, just keep your garden secure.
Nort a fan of nueturing either, never had one done
Also find bitches far less forgiving, if they get involed in a fight, with my dogs they have a spat and once
it's over it's forgotten, bitches can be a right pain if that happens
 
Last edited:
bitches here. Kept one dog pup a good few years ago and he was great but it did make things a bit more difficult :$
 
I think that with most breeds it doesn't matter much, as long as you haven't already got one, which makes the choice easy:)

There are exceptions though, for example when I was training problem dogs, every time I was called in to deal with a weimaraner it was always a male...
We only ever had bitches for years, they were obedience competition dogs (GSDs and Border wallys) and I could never understand why people had dogs.

Then I decided to have a dog for a change, and my last 3 have been dogs - a bit harder and yes, they're sex mad every day instead of for just a few days twice a year, but I find I prefer the tougher character. Having said that, my youngest son has a working sheepdog that is brilliant and every bit as tough as any dog.

I think the main thing is to buy something you get on with, after doing THOROUGH RESEARCH into the breed characteristics first - don't buy any breed because it looks nice, personally I wouldn't even consider a Siberian Husky, a Japanese Akita or any hound. And understand that something like a Springer Spaniel or a border collie will need to have work to do, and will need an unbelievable amount of exercise.

And sometimes there are two very different breeds within breeds. Personally I get on great with black labs but not yellow labs, working Cockers but definately not show cockers - in fact I wouldn't buy any dog from a breeder who breeds for show, they tend to dump their rubbish on the public.
 
Gremlin said:
Males all they way for me, have owned bitches in my time but find males much easier to train.
Contrary to belief they don't all run off after every female in season, only had one that tried, just keep your garden secure.
Nort a fan of nueturing either, never had one done
Also find bitches far less forgiving, if they get involed in a fight, with my dogs they have a spat and once
it's over it's forgotten, bitches can be a right pain if that happens
Click to expand...
All true. Males can have a scrap to find out who is boss, and then each accepts the other without problem. Bitches constantly go up and down with their cycles and will never forgive and forget.

And I agree about the neutering - I've never done that, but if you feel that you must, at least don't do it until the animal is sexually mature - otherwise it will be a puppy for ever.
 
Garry Edwards said:
And I agree about the neutering - I've never done that, but if you feel that you must, at least don't do it until the animal is sexually mature - otherwise it will be a puppy for ever.
Click to expand...

Yep I'd never recommend having one done until they were at least 2 years old.
It's where rescues and I fall out because they seems to want them done as soon as possible and see it as cure for every damn problem the dog has, most common being aggression, which in reality if it's fear agression in males can be made worse by the loss of testosterone in castration :thumbsdown:
 
Gremlin said:
Yep I'd never recommend having one done until they were at least 2 years old.
It's where rescues and I fall out because they seems to want them done as soon as possible and see it as cure for every damn problem the dog has, most common being aggression, which in reality if it's fear agression in males can be made worse by the loss of testosterone in castration :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

Agreed. And, being a cynic, I can't help wondering whether some vets recommend neutering puppies simply because they don't want someone else to get the money...

Behaviour problems are prevented by responsible ownership, a high standard of basic training and, to some extent, by good breeding. Castration of adult males just takes the edge off of the sexual drive and very rarely cures problems as such and, as I said above, if it's done too early the dog never actually grows up and will spend its life being bullied by other dogs.

I do see the point in speying bitches once they're getting old, it can prevent pyometra.

I once had a GSD with pyometra, she woke me up just before 7 on a Sunday morning to tell me about it and then I went through every vet in Yellow Pages until a real voice answered the phone. I told him my bitch had pyometra, and half way through describing the symptons he said "I can be at the surgery in 20 minutes"
I said "So can I"
and that was the end of the conversation - I wish there were more vets like him about:)
 
Had that experience with my first dalamtion boy. Due to his nature (now know it was just him being a dally) we had him snipped at about 9 months :( .. he was horrible to other dogs after that, could not come off his lead and was bullied by other dogs.

My new dally is intact, 2 years old and will stay that way :)
 
Are male Jack Russels ok? Looking at one for my 5 year old daughter. Not sure though.
 
I've currently got a pair of jack Russell bitches and they are great :) dogs are so much better in twos
 
They are ok with kids? I guess it is all down to how you train them and how you look after them etc.
 
cam1986 said:
They are ok with kids? I guess it is all down to how you train them and how you look after them etc.
Click to expand...

What is it they say?
there are no bad dogs only bad owners ;)

That said of course there are the instances of poor breeding,
that bring out recessive (aggressive) gene.
That is unless any given breed is particularly bred for that trait ;)

Or the odd medical problem,
that goes un-noticed, such as brain tumours and the like.
But thankfully this is only a very small percentage.
 
And the result is ..........







............ A little Lhaso Apso / Cairn cross boy. It was a hard choice, the owner still had all five pups.

Pick him up in about 2 weeks and then it's camera time.
 
Nice one :thumbs: I'm glad you made a choice "despite" all the (not so) "useful" advice :D
 
Gremlin said:
Yep I'd never recommend having one done until they were at least 2 years old.
It's where rescues and I fall out because they seems to want them done as soon as possible and see it as cure for every damn problem the dog has, most common being aggression, which in reality if it's fear agression in males can be made worse by the loss of testosterone in castration :thumbsdown:
Click to expand...

the reverse is true about the labrador trust, they are actively against neutering.

but going back to some comment above about males chasing females, never seen it in any of our family male un-neutered dogs. but they have never "known" what to do with it so never aquired the taste :lol:
 
Forget about the litter.

Go to your local dog rescue and choose a dog you can get on with irrespective of sex or age. These dogs really need a home.

Dave
 
cam1986 said:
Are male Jack Russels ok? Looking at one for my 5 year old daughter. Not sure though.
Click to expand...

Hope this doesn't mean you are actually getting one for your daughter as opposed to a family pet ?
She's far to yhoung to take responsibilty and you really should only think about it if you want the responsibility of a dog for life, not that your daughter wants on
 
leaky5 said:
We have always had bitches. Looking at a litter tomorrow of both sexes. We are tempted to go for a male this time.

What are the pros and cons of each ?
Click to expand...

just saw this exact thread over at airgunforum uk, small world.
 
Well he seems to be all there so I guess thats the "full Monty" ? :coat: :D
Congrats :thumbs:
 
Gremlin said:
you really should only think about it if you want the responsibility of a dog for life, not that your daughter wants on
Click to expand...

:plusone:

not everyone fully understands the commitment that getting a dog is - my wife and I went through a rough patch last year because she wanted us to rehome our collie and I absolutely refused to consider it

I understand that some people have to rehome pets if there are issues with the safety of a new child etc , but this was trivial - the dog disgraced herself and crapped on the inlaws carpet (if they will let her eat the catfood what do they expect) and my father in law banned her from the house.

My wife reckoned that this meant we wouldnt be able to visit the inlaws and that meant the dog had to go - but I pretty much reached the stage of if the dog goes, I go - we got passed it with the marriage still intact and if we need to visit the inlaws these days kim goes into kennels or off to barking mad, or swimbo just goes on her own.

Kim comes to work with me everyday and spends virtually her whole life with me (except for sleeping in a crate at night), and shes not an item of property to be disposed of , she's one of us and she's with me for life
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top