Which sex do you prefer?

Bacon1676 · Post by **Bacon1676** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 6:34 am

Reading one of the posts on here and it got me thinking about which sex one prefers to hunt behind. I currently have a 4 1/2 month old GSP male that I am working with to be a bird dog. There are times that I think he is really smart and there are times I think he is really dumb. I know he is still young, so I don't worry about it too much. Baby steps. We ended up with a male A) b/c my wife wanted a male and B) I wanted a man's dog (I'm 25 by the way so there is still a lot of testosterone and chest bowing, my wife laughs most the time, cannot say that I blame her

), any ways, it got me to thinking about all of the dogs I have hunted behind. My most enjoyable hunts have been behind females, probably the best dog I did hunt behind was a female gsp. Although I have hunted behind some great male dogs there was always the feeling that you were hunting with them not the other way around. The females tend to be more eager to please and shall I say smarter then their male counter parts. Obviously I don't have a great deal of experience with a lot of dogs, but I have been behind a little more than a dozen dogs ranging from professional dogs to my friends weekend partner.

So, was curious as to what everyone thought about male vs female when it comes to hunting and training. I am curious to see everyones response to this question.

Dakotazeb · Post by **Dakotazeb** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 7:21 am

It's really more of a personal preference. And probably a preference acquired from years of having both male and female hunting dogs. As far as hunting ability I don't think it has anything to do with gender. In 40 plus years of having hunting dogs I've had both male and female. I personally prefer females (spayed). They seem to make better house dogs and seem a little easier to handle. My advice: get over the testosterone thing!

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 7:45 am

I'm not sure how much sex has to do with hunting ability. I haven't noticed much of a difference while hunting over, training, gunning over, and watching both sexes in a lot of different breeds. I've seen very cooperative, affectionate males. I've seen hard-headed independent bitches. And I've seen all in between. I have spayed females as well because my wife prefers them. But that's not a knock on males. She actually has never owned a male dog.

I really think the breed, line, and individual personalities make a bigger difference.

The only consistent difference I've noticed is size (males being generally larger).

Princessangela3201 · Post by **Princessangela3201** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 8:19 am

I thought I preferred female dogs because I did not want a male dog doing the "humpty dance" to everyone and everything in sight so I bought a female who is a good dog but we just truly never bonded. 6 years ago my husband was given a male dog and this dog quickly became "my dog". Sherman and I are tightly bonded and I could not imagine life without him. We recently added Sophie a 5 month old female gsp that was chosen for us and she is bonding well with both of us. Both sexes hunt hard and I think it is more about "the dog" than the sex of the dog.

Post by **ezzy333** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:29 am

I prefer females in people and find little difference in dogs.

Carolina Gundogs · Post by **Carolina Gundogs** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 10:36 am

I will most of the time choose female pups. I am not sure why but I have always seemed to gravitate to favor female pups overall.

NEhomer · Post by **NEhomer** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:02 am

I too always favored females but my recent pup was available so I went with the male and I'm so pleased with him.

....at this point, I'm in the who cares camp.

AlPastor · Post by **AlPastor** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:14 am

I prefer to hunt and trial with male dogs because I hate dogs coming into heat.

However, with Labradors, since it makes financial sense to breed them for me, I have all females.

Tooling · Post by **Tooling** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:25 am

I’ve had both and as a rule we have found the females to be a bit more calculating and methodical in lieu of the males gung-ho exuberance to be a hinderance at times.

Our dog at the moment is a tick more than 3 and when we set out to find him, we were set on a female. When it came down to brass tax and we found the litter we wanted, we ended up w/1st pick. At the end of the day the male we selected was simply the right pup amongst several females. Could not have chosen any better than we did, for us.

He is incredibly well mannered and has a calm about him that we have only seen in females from our past..he’s smart as could be and was delivered with natural hunting ability far above my pay grade so far as training ability. He has done nothing less than force me to step up my game as a trainer and I very much love that about him. Of course he has youthful spunk that gets in the way sometimes however natural maturity appears to be delivering a dog that has an instinct to go go go but at the same time the capacity to stop and think before acting. We put much energy into keeping him young while also hedging that his maturity will fill in the holes over time.

We took a risk b/c I am personally in love with the Shorthair breeding geared toward the wide open-ness of the western states & field trials yet we live on the east coast..for now.

I’ll also say this..the mere fact that we’ve had Shorthairs for a fair number of years & the way we have raised this one with the results that we’ve had is likely more than coincidence however you have to start with the right ingredients and that’s breeding.

I vote pick the dog, not the gender.

SHaRPS · Post by **SHaRPS** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:51 am

I don't think it makes a difference. Each dog has its own personality. That being said, I prefer male GSP's only because they seem more independent.

Gordon Guy · Post by **Gordon Guy** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 11:55 am

Males

Grange · Post by **Grange** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 12:00 pm

I've had females for the most part all my life and my next dog will be a male. The males I've know are great so I'm going to give a male a try assuming I can get one from the right breeding.

live4point · Post by **live4point** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 12:31 pm

I have mainly had males over the years,but I have to admit I think a spayed female may be the best choice.A dang male dog has to stop and pee on every coyote and dog scent he comes across,and usually wants to pee 4 or 5 times marking things right out of the dog box before they settle in to hunt.It's not a major thing,just the nature of a male dog.It just so happens today I'm picking my male setter up from the vet after having him neutered.In all my years of having male dogs this is the first one I've had fixed,only had it done so he wouldn't breed the neihbors female but I'm curious how it affects him behavior wise.

OhioVizsla · Post by **OhioVizsla** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 1:26 pm

The opposite!

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 1:51 pm

I pick a pup out of a litter and then check the sex.

Except in the case of my line of Boykin Spaniels, I see little difference in other breeds as to sex.
Boykin males (again I am only speaking for the dogs I have bred) take a more experienced, steady hand. They can be hardheaded and very independent, yet will not take a lot of jerking around or nagging with an e-collar. The females tend to be a little easier to train and more forgiving.

I felt so strongly about this that I would not sell a male to an inexperienced owner.

Post by **Sharon** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 5:05 pm

I've enjoyed both - dog genders that is - and have found no difference in any area.

CDN_Cocker · Post by **CDN_Cocker** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 5:33 pm

As far as dogs go I prefer males pretty much hands down. I do have one of each though currently (but will admit I prefer the male). Males just seem to be easier to live with for me. In my limited experience with dogs (less than 10) males seem to be more affectionate and get over things quicker. Gender certainly doesn't make the dog though.

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Tue Oct 20, 2015 9:02 pm

CDN_Cocker wrote:males seem to be more affectionate

The two females snuggling in my lap right now may beg to differ! Haha

codym · Post by **codym** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 10:19 am

I prefer female dogs. I mostly run pointers but always have a GSP or setter around as well. To me it seems the ladies mature a litlle quicker than the boys and like mentioned before they don't mark everything. On the flip side heat cycles suck, also anyone that has ever seen two alpha bitch dogs get together knows that can be a really really ugly scene. I don't think gender plays much of a part in hunting ability, but obviously females tend to be smaller which can be a positive or negative depending on what you prefer.

greg jacobs · Post by **greg jacobs** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 6:20 pm

For dogs I live with, I will only keep 1 female. Right now I have 2 males and a female. And everything is fine. My female has been alpha in the house since 12 months. I wouldn't even consider adding another female. As mentioned above 2 alpha females can be bad news. As far as hunting I don't care. Both work fine for me. Heat cycles are a real pain in the middle of hunting season though.

MHWH · Post by **MHWH** » Wed Oct 21, 2015 11:13 pm

I prefer males. I don't neuter dogs of either sex. With females I therefore have to deal with cycles. Males can easily be trained to not hump everything. Of the two choices the males are easier to deal with.

My dogs are never allowed to roam=no unwanted puppies.

Also I like the boldness of a male, and the size, both Labs and pointers.

As far as hunting other than what I mentioned, I see no difference. I have seen great makes males and great females.
Some females tend to mature more quickly.

Unless you find something that people have mentioned to be a deal breaker one way or the other, get the best dog, and have fun.

Mike

Bacon1676 · Post by **Bacon1676** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 4:00 am

I agree that sex doesn't have any affect on their ability to hunt. From my experiences, females tend to want to hunt with you, while males hunt for themselves (on occasion more than females). I'm not saying that all males do, but it seems they are corrected more than the females I have seen. I know with my dad who has been around dogs more than I said if he got another hunting dog it would be a female.

tobytx · Post by **tobytx** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 8:42 am

It seems males win more in trials so I prefer males.

Neil · Post by **Neil** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 11:57 am

tobytx wrote:It seems males win more in trials so I prefer males.

They do win more, but there are also more entered, perhaps because they win more or ? Just not sure which.

SCT · Post by **SCT** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:19 pm

I think they (males) are entered more in trials because a big male can handle the really thick, tall grass on the prairies better, as well as the heavy mud of the south. Having said that, I think it depends on the dog. I watched (from horseback) my young pointer bitch running with two older male pointers on the ND prairie this summer. One male had a big stride and was fast on the ground, running bigger than the other two dogs. The other male was comparable to my female in range, but, after 40 minutes on the ground my young female (13 months) was out running the males with more range and style and finished the hour stronger with more to burn.

I love both males and females and realism each has their own pros and cons. I'm a breeder so I will always have more females, right now I have 3 females and one male! Love them all!!!

Steve

shags · Post by **shags** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:55 pm

More males entered because the dang females seem to come in season right in time for trials.

Then, the good ones get bred and don't get run.

Grange · Post by **Grange** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 1:58 pm

I'd guess it has a lot to do with a female's heat cycle and whelping a litter of puppies making it difficult to be able to trial consistently let along be put on the circuit. I've known plenty of females that had to take a trial season off due to whelping a litter or miss a few trials due to being in heat.

SCT · Post by **SCT** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 5:58 pm

shags wrote:More males entered because the dang females seem to come in season right in time for trials. Then, the good ones get bred and don't get run.

That too. I've missed a couple trials because of heat cycles!

AlPastor · Post by **AlPastor** » Thu Oct 22, 2015 6:14 pm

shags wrote:More males entered because the dang females seem to come in season right in time for trials. Then, the good ones get bred and don't get run.

It seems that every year at the National Amateur Retriever Championship some poor handler, who has traveled 1000s of miles and invested 1000s of dollars to run their single entry, has to scratch during the championship because their bitch came into heat mid series.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Sat Oct 24, 2015 6:41 am

Boy, tough one. Females are very loving, work well for you, but everytime you correct one, you spend a week apologizing to it (like having two wives).

Males are more independent and far easier to train. If you give on a good crack for something, they just kind of shake their head and say (OH! That's how you wanted it done!) and just do it. Hate the whole lifting leg deal and when another male is around they MAY do it in the house which results in most severe retribution.

IANative · Post by **IANative** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 1:32 pm

Neil wrote:Except in the case of my line of Boykin Spaniels...
Boykin males... take a more experienced, steady hand. They can be hardheaded and very independent, yet will not take a lot of jerking around or nagging with an e-collar.

This has most definitely been my experience. Granted, I only have experience w/ my current Boykin male, but he is infinitely more hard-headed than any of my previous Labs.

P&PGunsmith · Post by **P&PGunsmith** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 4:43 pm

gonehuntin' wrote:Boy, tough one. Females are very loving, work well for you, but everytime you correct one, you spend a week apologizing to it (like having two wives).

Males are more independent and far easier to train. If you give on a good crack for something, they just kind of shake their head and say (OH! That's how you wanted it done!) and just do it. Hate the whole lifting leg deal and when another male is around they MAY do it in the house which results in most severe retribution.

that's good. i also think that you get just a bit more drive and endurance out of the average male compared to female. Although that is not true of the one of my females. For a long time all i had was males.

AZ Brittany Guy · Post by **AZ Brittany Guy** » Tue Oct 27, 2015 7:10 pm

I don't think gender makes a differences with hunting. Make a choice. Leg lifting or blood dripping. Once you establish the family tree, its all about environment.

Post by **mnaj_springer** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 5:39 am

P&PGunsmith wrote:
gonehuntin' wrote:Boy, tough one. Females are very loving, work well for you, but everytime you correct one, you spend a week apologizing to it (like having two wives).

Males are more independent and far easier to train. If you give on a good crack for something, they just kind of shake their head and say (OH! That's how you wanted it done!) and just do it. Hate the whole lifting leg deal and when another male is around they MAY do it in the house which results in most severe retribution.
that's good. i also think that you get just a bit more drive and endurance out of the average male compared to female. Although that is not true of the one of my females. For a long time all i had was males.

I know what you said is a broad stroke generalization and you are probably right on average, but I think other factors may contribute more to these traits. For example, went grouse hunting last weekend with a buddy of mine. He ran his male viszla and I ran my female EP. My dog ranged further, covered more ground, was in the woods longer, and continued at a healthy pace throughout the entire hunt. In total she ran a tad over 20 miles. They found nearly the same amount of birds, although she's young and may have bumped some while out of sight.

I know that breed is probably a bigger factor in my example, but I thought I'd share it anyway.

Grange · Post by **Grange** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 8:06 pm

I was out yesterday with my female setter and my father's brittanies. My setter who was diagnosed with Anaplasmosis today and based on past experience that disease has an adverse effect on my setter's stamina, still put on more than 15 miles. The two female brittanies put on over 20 miles. I think stamina has more to do with conditioning than sex.

gonehuntin' · Post by **gonehuntin'** » Wed Oct 28, 2015 8:18 pm

Grange wrote:I was out yesterday with my female setter and my father's brittanies. My setter who was diagnosed with Anaplasmosis today and based on past experience that disease has an adverse effect on my setter's stamina, still put on more than 15 miles. The two female brittanies put on over 20 miles. I think stamina has more to do with conditioning than sex.

+1

Hotchkiss · Post by **Hotchkiss** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:18 am

Bacon1676 wrote:Reading one of the posts on here and it got me thinking about which sex one prefers to hunt behind. I currently have a 4 1/2 month old GSP male that I am working with to be a bird dog. There are times that I think he is really smart and there are times I think he is really dumb. I know he is still young, so I don't worry about it too much. Baby steps. We ended up with a male A) b/c my wife wanted a male and B) I wanted a man's dog (I'm 25 by the way so there is still a lot of testosterone and chest bowing, my wife laughs most the time, cannot say that I blame her ), any ways, it got me to thinking about all of the dogs I have hunted behind. My most enjoyable hunts have been behind females, probably the best dog I did hunt behind was a female gsp. Although I have hunted behind some great male dogs there was always the feeling that you were hunting with them not the other way around. The females tend to be more eager to please and shall I say smarter then their male counter parts. Obviously I don't have a great deal of experience with a lot of dogs, but I have been behind a little more than a dozen dogs ranging from professional dogs to my friends weekend partner.

So, was curious as to what everyone thought about male vs female when it comes to hunting and training. I am curious to see everyones response to this question.

First, I give you a TON of credit for making fun of yourself and recognizing that you still have a lot of chest beating going on which is quite funny. You say your think your pup is smart sometimes and dumb others. Well your wife probably thinks the same of you and only time will tell with regard to you and the pup. I agree that gender does NOT seem to affect whether they are great hunting dogs or not. There are tons of great males and tons of great females. For me it is the luck of the draw. Genetically some should be great and just don't live up and some that are suppose to be duds are great. Generaly, good genetics works out, but not always. As for gender, it really is a personal preference. Their personalities do seem different and I do think females are more eager to please and CAN BE a more lovable companion. I currently have males and females and that is what I prefer - some of each.

Hotchkiss · Post by **Hotchkiss** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 7:22 am

ezzy333 wrote:I prefer females in people and find little difference in dogs.

We have a winner. That is the best answer on any forum on the web!

Bacon1676 · Post by **Bacon1676** » Tue Nov 03, 2015 3:07 pm

Hotchkiss wrote:
Bacon1676 wrote:Reading one of the posts on here and it got me thinking about which sex one prefers to hunt behind. I currently have a 4 1/2 month old GSP male that I am working with to be a bird dog. There are times that I think he is really smart and there are times I think he is really dumb. I know he is still young, so I don't worry about it too much. Baby steps. We ended up with a male A) b/c my wife wanted a male and B) I wanted a man's dog (I'm 25 by the way so there is still a lot of testosterone and chest bowing, my wife laughs most the time, cannot say that I blame her ), any ways, it got me to thinking about all of the dogs I have hunted behind. My most enjoyable hunts have been behind females, probably the best dog I did hunt behind was a female gsp. Although I have hunted behind some great male dogs there was always the feeling that you were hunting with them not the other way around. The females tend to be more eager to please and shall I say smarter then their male counter parts. Obviously I don't have a great deal of experience with a lot of dogs, but I have been behind a little more than a dozen dogs ranging from professional dogs to my friends weekend partner.

So, was curious as to what everyone thought about male vs female when it comes to hunting and training. I am curious to see everyones response to this question.
First, I give you a TON of credit for making fun of yourself and recognizing that you still have a lot of chest beating going on which is quite funny. You say your think your pup is smart sometimes and dumb others. Well your wife probably thinks the same of you and only time will tell with regard to you and the pup. I agree that gender does NOT seem to affect whether they are great hunting dogs or not. There are tons of great males and tons of great females. For me it is the luck of the draw. Genetically some should be great and just don't live up and some that are suppose to be duds are great. Generaly, good genetics works out, but not always. As for gender, it really is a personal preference. Their personalities do seem different and I do think females are more eager to please and CAN BE a more lovable companion. I currently have males and females and that is what I prefer - some of each.

I try not to take myself too seriously.

Smilin Spaniels · Post by **Smilin Spaniels** » Sat Nov 07, 2015 5:54 pm

I prefer females. Reason being, my fiancé said I can have any breed and as many as I like, as long as they are females. That works for me

Garrison · Post by **Garrison** » Wed Nov 11, 2015 10:05 pm

Male, they don't kill the lawn because they find a tree.

Born2Hunt · Post by **Born2Hunt** » Tue Nov 17, 2015 9:49 pm

Always had males for the last 15 years, got my first female 2 years ago and will never own another male. Not as hard headed and they don't lift their leg on everything .