Male or Female

[johndavidcrow]

Quick question, when you are looking for a hunting dog would you recommend a male or female or does it matter? I would appreciate your help

[kninebirddog]

they both have their good and not so good qualities...I find it is the individual dog breeding training etc which makes the better dog not the gender

[baileydog2007]

I think gender is a personal preference. I HATE the fact you cant just let a male out to go to the bathroom, he needs to piss on everything. Some hate females cuz of heat cycles. Each might have their strengths/frustrations, but IMO, neither gender is "better at hunting". Pick a good breeding, if gender is of no difference to you personally, a male or female from that breeding will be fine.

[CowboyBirdDogs]

they both have their good and not so good qualities...I find it is the individual dog breeding training etc which makes the better dog not the gender

x2 You won't get any advice better than that!

[Buckeye_V]

For vizslas - male. Hard to explain, so I will simplify.

The good females I have seen love you are very independant and hunt more for themselves (generally speaking). The males are in love with you and hunt for you, at least in my experience.

My 2 girls fit this mold, as well as about another dozen females I would consider to be good field dogs.

Justin

[Sharon]

they both have their good and not so good qualities...I find it is the individual dog breeding training etc which makes the better dog not the gender

x2 You won't get any advice better than that!

x3

[Ron R]

when you are looking for a hunting dog would you recommend a male or female or does it matter? I would appreciate your help

To answer your question, I personally prefer males.

[Born2Hunt]

I personally prefer males as well, but now I have 3 of them peeing on everything so my next one is going to be female.

[tommyboy72]

Other than the heat cycles I prefer females.

[nhachman]

I chose a female for my first birddog, mostly because I liked the way she was bold and curious. I had pick of the litter so I chose her over 7 other pups. So far, I think I made the right choice. She does have a strong desire to hunt and to please me. The only downside is the heat cycles if you don't spay, it can cut into your hunting/trialing time.

[Ahumphers91a]

males for outside and females inside LOL.....I had both inside and just crated them when I couldn't keep an eye on them, worked out great. They are both outside dogs now, well one is the other has hit rainbow bridge. I have a new female that is gonna be my boy's pup and she's inside dog.

[displaced_texan]

I HATE the fact you cant just let a male out to go to the bathroom, he needs to piss on everything.

That can be trained out. Turbo is almost 11 months, he hasn't hiked his leg. And he's not gonna start.

[Hunter85]

Like others have said, I would look at the pups in general and make the decision based on the dog's individual personality, attitude, drive, etc.

That being said, I prefer males. I grew up with my dad owning nothing buy females and pretty much all of them were independent and moody. We also found that two or more females together is a recipe for trouble. No matter how sweet the females were, they always seemed to find a reason to go at it a couple of times a year. Nothing major, just a minute of a dominace reminder.

I owned a male mix as a kid and though he has long since been gone to doggie afterlife, he still holds a special place in my heart. He got along great with the females, loved everyone, was happy go lucky 24/7, and he loved me in an indescribably different way than the females loved my dad. Not sure how to explain it, but there was a more intense love/bond he possessed for me than any of the females had for my dad, or anyone else for that matter. My males have always gotten along great with each other too, but I never let them around non-spayed females and introduced a pup to a dog, never a dog to a dog.

Fast forward to today and I now own a female Brit & a male Lab. When looking at strictly personality and not styles, I found my previous experiences to be the same:

The female is independent and moody. She is a sweetheart, but on her terms. Some days I give her a big hug and she grunts and lies down, other days she wags her little nub of a tail and gives me a kiss on the nose. Some days I'll train her and she is great, others she just doesn’t want to mess around with it. I love her to death and wouldn't trade her anything, but due to moodiness and her independent nature, I doubt I would look at another female unless they were very special.

My male on the other hand believes his whole point of existence is to love and make me and my wife happy. If dogs believed there was a deity, my male would believe I was him! He is always up for a hug or a training session. If I'm watching TV, he's watching TV. If I am doing yard work, he's doing yard work. If I am swimming, he's swimming, etc. He is always happy. If he isn't lying at my or my wife’s feet, something's wrong.

Again, look at the dogs individually as there are some independent males and some happy go lucky females out there, but in general terms, the above is what I have personally found and males are just my personal preferences. I know many people that cannot stand a dog that is clingy. There are also a lot of people out there that would turn red as a tomato if they had guests over and their males thought the patio set was in heat.

The best advice I could give you is first look at the pups - both pedigree and individual personality and choose the one that best fits you. If you boil it down that far stil and can't decide between a male or female, just smile and flip a coin because you have found one heck of a litter.

-Mike

[Upland Point]

they both have their good and not so good qualities...I find it is the individual dog breeding training etc which makes the better dog not the gender

x2 You won't get any advice better than that!

X3

[Upland Point]

they both have their good and not so good qualities...I find it is the individual dog breeding training etc which makes the better dog not the gender

x2 You won't get any advice better than that!

X4

[SetterNut]

I had always had females, until my last 2 pups.

I don't really see anything that would tell me I want males or females, just pick a pup that acts the way you like.