Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on February 5, 2012 at 9:28pm

I personally prefer males. In my experience they are more of a goofy, sweet friendly, love-everybody, wanting nothing more than to please you type of dog. I have found females to be more independent and stubborn. This of course will differ dog by dog, but this is my experience. I think if you just tell your breeder what you are looking for in a dog they will be able to pick a suitable pup for you and when doing this gender often makes no difference. l will never own another female (unless she is absolutely perfect in every way lol), but I have a friend who will never own a male, so to each his own :-)

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Permalink Reply by Kayla and Mason on February 5, 2012 at 9:34pm

I second Melissa in every way. Males are goofy good old boys (even more so cardi boys) and females are sassy talk backers. This is all in my experience as well. The female I owned and the females ive met all have an attitude and tend to 3/4 of the time be dominant. The males always seem agreeable and friendly and cuddly. The females seemed to have a higher energy level as well...I think it also depends in the dog and what you prefer :) I think (minus the one girl who belongs to my boyfriend) I will ALWAYS have boys. 

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Permalink Reply by Beth on February 5, 2012 at 10:29pm

See, and this is what I mean about how our individual experiences shape how we view the sexes.   

My male is way more dominant than my female.  He's a back-talker.  He will out-and-out refuse to do what he's asked sometimes.   He is smart, easy to train, and generally willing to please but if his agenda does not match yours, you really need to convince him that he should listen to you.

My female would never dream of arguing with a person.  You can do anything with her.  She would by far be the easier dog for a novice handler.   She takes longer to train than my male, but you hardly have to train her because a stern look will send her ears back and stop her in her tracks.

On the other hand, she will happily break rules if you are not there to enforce them.  Once the male is convinced a rule is in place and he's learned to follow it, you don't need to be there to enforce it.  You can leave food on a low coffee table and walk away and he would not dream of touching it.    

But from all I've heard, that's the difference between dominant and submissive dogs.  Dominant dogs are much more work early, but are more of a sure-thing once you've convinced them that you are worthy of their loyalty.  

My male hates to cuddle.  Will grumble and jump down if you try.  My female loves to cuddle.  Most of the dogs we had when I was a kid were females, and they all loved to cuddle.

In dog-to-dog relationships, my male is dominant to my female.  My male is dominant to most dogs.  But he's very good-natured about it and rarely feels the need to assert his authority.   He's submissive to two dogs of all the ones we know, and both are males who weigh in excess of 100 pounds.  The joke among our dog play group is "don't mess with the Corgis."  

My male easily has twice the energy of my female.  The girl is mostly quiet in the house.  The boy never stops.

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Permalink Reply by Jenna, Jasper and Cersei on February 5, 2012 at 10:46pm

I second all of this...except for the fact that my male is almost as cuddly as my female. :)

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Permalink Reply by Bev Levy on February 6, 2012 at 8:22am

Beth, It never fails to amaze me how similar our males are...you would think they were twins!

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Permalink Reply by Beth on February 6, 2012 at 10:16am

I know!  When you tell stories about Sparty, I think "That sounds like Jack!"    Jack can be a pain in the butt, but I love him to death and he is such a good boy.  I sometimes believe that he thinks of himself more as the co-captain than the dog, though.

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Permalink Reply by Beth on February 5, 2012 at 9:41pm

There is not a huge difference between the sexes with Pembrokes.   Our breeder, though, said that with the males it's "What can I do for you?" and with the females it's "What have you done for me lately?"

Our female is more cuddly but our male adores everyone.  We call him "The Mayor" because of they way he glad-hands around the place.  There are no strangers, only friends he hasn't met yet.   Our girl can take or leave strangers.  She likes kids and puppies.  She will go up to people if they call her name but otherwise usually ignores them.   She will practically bury herself underneath us at home, she loves to cuddle so much.  The male likes having his neck scratched but that's about it for physical contact.  He won't tolerate hugs from us (but does with strangers).

The male is easier to train, wants to please.  The female is looking for a handout.  

Also, my male is very concerned with everyone's safety and well-being, a real nurse dog.  I trust him to come running if I say "Ow," sit by me if I'm sick, and break up squabbles between Maddie and the cat.  My girl really doesn't seem to notice differences in our moods or how we feel the way the male does.  

My male is my more dominant, stubborn dog and my female is submissive, but that is not gender-related; there are submissive dogs and dominant bitches too. 

One consideration is how often you plan on taking the dog to other people's houses.  Many males are never quite 100% inside some one else's house; they can be totally housebroken yet if there are other pets around they just might mark inside.  I never totally let my guard down when Jack is in a strange indoor place and I don't allow much sniffing.  Girls are much less likely to pee in strange places.  In fact, my experience is females are more likely to get distracted or stressed and refuse to potty at all away from their normal spot, where males will pee when they hit the first tall thing.  So the boys are easier in the rain.  :-)    With girls you might wander around for ten minutes til they decide to go.  

There are also many handlers who feel that a dog that is the opposite sex to themselves bonds with them more strongly.

If you are planning on having two eventually, it's usually easier to bring a female into a male's home than a male into a female's;  our breeder knew we wanted to have two at some point and suggested getting the male first.

Finally, remember that almost everyone's experience here is just based on a few dogs.  We all tend to develop sex prejudice based on what might actually just be personality differences.  When I was a kid we had a Springer Spaniel who was the most sensitive, caring, gentle, willing-to-please dog, and she was a female.  

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Permalink Reply by Melissa and Franklin! on February 5, 2012 at 9:56pm

I have to say my experience with the housebreaking is not the same. ALL of my males have been 100%, they know inside is inside and outside is outside. My females (and my friend's female corgi) ALL have marked in other people's houses, I think this too has more to do with dominant vs submissive personality than male vs female. My friend's female is very dominant, my brother's female is also dominant, and my shepherd was dominant. These were all dog's that would mark over males when out on walks. I've NEVER had one of my male dogs mark inside, but my friend's dominant male dog has marked inside my house before. 

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Permalink Reply by Beth on February 5, 2012 at 9:59pm

Yep, my male is a bossy boots. My female is very submissive.

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Permalink Reply by Ciara & Macy on February 5, 2012 at 9:48pm

Thanks for all your help. Im not gonna lie I forgot how helpful the breeder could be! Silly me! (:

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Permalink Reply by Beth on February 5, 2012 at 10:29pm

Yep, ask the breeder.  She'll know the litter and she'll know the lines.  We insisted we wanted a female and came home with a male.  :-)

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Permalink Reply by Anna Morelli on February 5, 2012 at 10:14pm

It's not about male or female, it's all about the individual dog.  In both sexes you have the full range of personality traits and disposition, then the interaction with you kicks in to bring out the best or the worst in that particular dog.  A good breeder is your best adviser of which pup may be best suited to fit into  your lifestyle.

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