male or female puppy

[akatrk]

Hello Boxerworld viewers. I must say that I enjoy viewing the interesting forums posted and the delightful responses to questions. While I am patiently awaiting my first boxer puppy (Birth due date around 8/11/01), I would like to know your opinion on gender. Is it easier to housebreak a female or male boxer? Is one gender more affectionate than the other? Is gender a consideration when it comes to children? Are there any differences that you can relate to and share with me to help in my decision?

[JulieM]

First off, let me say that I firmly believe it is more important to choose the dog you "click" with than to worry about gender or color.

That said, I've heard that females are harder to housebreak, but I haven't noticed a difference personally. Males in general seem to me to be more laid-back and affectionate - females are affectionate, but when *they* want to be. I can't comment on children, but in my experience males are better puppy-sitters than females (even Mom!).

Of course, every dog is different, and everyone has different experiences. These are mine - ymmv.

[Tulsa-Dan]

I agree with Julie that the right dog will come along and you'll know it, something will click. Gender won't be an issue.

I have always had female pets. My preference. I really can't compare them to males since I've not had an experience with males. As for affection, Maggie is like Julie said; affectionate when she wants to be, otherwise, she's pretty independent. Susie however, is the kissiest dog alive and is so affectionate and loving it can get annoying at times. But I too think it is each individual dog's personality as a whole, regardless of gender. My two girls are soooooo different from each other personality wise yet, they are sooooo typically boxers.

I'd say as long as it is a boxer, male or female, you've made the right choice already!!

[Boo]

Originally posted by Tulsa-Dan
I have always had female pets. My preference.

My hubby too prefers female pets. Somehow it's turned into his pets and mine . (Not that we think like that, we've always been very much an OUR family) Just in jest, I'll say "Your naughty girl chased MY poor Basil (cat) behind the lounge." Truly, I love them all, but somehow Basil and Jasper just click more with me. They tend to choose my company more, and Tasha and Piper seek out Pat more. Strange, huh?

Akatrk, I DO think it's personal preference, though. Not just sex but the personality of your pet too. Both Jasper and Piper can be equally gentle or rough with the kids. Piper seems to be taking longer to house train, but she was an outside dog for the first 4 months of her life. But we tend to blame ourselves for accidents rather than the dog. So with the second, we may be a little more distracted than we were with Jasper alone.

Either way, if you approach the "adoption" of your new family member with the right attitude, I can't see how you can go wrong with a boxer, regardless of gender.

Adele

[Loke]

When we went to get our boxer we were set on getting a male. My husband wanted a big dog and males are usually the bigger ones. Well, we got there and were playing with the pups. Of course the male was more outgoing and came to him first. He said this is the one. But we stayed to make sure we got the right dog and played with them a while. Well, after a while, the one female came up to him and gave him a kiss. That in my opinion sealed the deal. But he still kept changing between one male and the female. Needless to say she is with us today. She was a handful to house train. Worse than our sheltie, but that was more than likely due to the fact that I had a 5 month old baby that I didn't have with the sheltie. Less time with her. But she got it eventually. The only problem with a female is if you don't get her fixed before she goes into heat. That's a mess! She went into heat sooner than I thought and we missed her appt due to it. No fun. But she's great with kids and very affectionate. She's the baby sitter in the house.

[RyNTysMom]

I posted this question too when we were getting our new puppy. We were leaning toward a female since we already had two male dogs and we felt they would all get along better, if the new puppy were the opposite sex. Plus, I was tired of being the only female in the house. On the other hand, I had NEVER owned a female dog before, so I was apprehensive about it. When I asked the breeder what differences she had observed in the sexes, she told me that the girls were generally more independant, and the boys were more affectionate and always wanted to be by your side. Well when the litter of puppies that we were waiting for was born, there were 5 girls and only 3 boys. So we ended up with one of the girls, and here is what I've noticed so far with her:

She is more independant (she doesn't need to constantly be under my feet at all times) than any of the boy dogs I've ever owned, but she is also much more easy to train all the way around than any of the other dogs I've owned. She's caught on to both her potty training and her obedience training really quickly!!

The bottom line is that I think it has more to do with personality than gender, so I think you will be happier if you have an idea of the personality traits you are looking for in your puppy and let that be the deciding factor, rather than its gender. When it came time for our breeder to pick the puppy for us, I sent her a list of what we were looking for in our pup, and she said Marlee fit our decription the closest.

I believe that we all end up with the puppy that meant for us!!

Good luck, and let us know how everything turns out!

[akatrk]

Thank you for your replies. To RyNTysMom I have a question for you. I was wondering. You said that you sent a list of what you were looking for in a puppy to the breeder. Just what exactly was your list composed of? Ranging from the least to the must have in a puppy. I thought this was a wonderful idea that I should try myself.

[RyNTysMom]

akatrk,

To come up with a list of the qualities we were looking for in our puppy, I thought a lot about what we were like as a family, and what types of activities we are involved in on a regular basis. I think this is really important, since your dog is a part of your family, and you want them to fit in as well as possible, so that you can all live harmoniously. So the first thing I told Jayde about in my list of wants was the type of family we were, and the types of activities we are involved in regularly. We tend to be homebodies and we don't really regularly take part in a lot of extracurricular activities such as biking, jogging, hiking, camping, etc. Not to say we never do these things, it's just we don't do them regularly. Therefore, we weren't looking for a puppy that was full of tons of energy and always wants to be on the go. The MOST important trait we were looking for was a pup who was on the calm side. I also told Jayde that we wanted a pup who was affectionate, and not overly independent. Since I had heard the girls were more naturally like this, I was hoping for one that leaned more toward the dependent side of the spectrum. I also wanted a pup that wasn't shy or sketchy, rather one that was very confident, friendly and outgoing, and not very dominant. These traits were all important to me since we have kids, and I didn't want to have a puppy who would come into our home and be TERRIFIED of everthing, since kids, and their toys can be quite scary sometimes.

So those were primary traits we were looking for, and were the traits that we felt were MOST important. I didn't care as much about the color, flash, or size of the puppy. However, I did tell Jayde that if she had two or more pups that seemed to fit the personality criteria, to use the secondary traits as a deciding guideline. And our secondary traits were the puppy's color (we like very dark reverse brindles), it's flash or plainness (we were leaning toward a plain with white on the chest and feet), and size (we always lean toward the bigger pups in the litter). Marlee ended being the darkest reverse brindle, with white on her feet and chest, but she was also the runt of the litter (although you wouldn't know it by looking at her).

So to sum it all up, I think the best thing you can do for yourself is to imagine what type of personality will fit best into your lifestyle and the type of activities you will involve your dog in, and base your decision on a puppy on that. If you're a really active person and plan on taking your dog everywhere you go, then maybe the more active puppy in the litter is better for you. If you have kids, then you want a pup who is more calm, confident, and not overly dominant. If you're laid back and like to be a couch potato, then you want the couch potato of the litter, etc. Matching your personality with your puppy's as closely as possible, will result in a much better fit between the two of you, and you will both end up being happier in the long run.

Sorry this is so long. I hope I answered your question, and if you have any more, feel free to send me another message; I'm glad to help in any way I can.

Take care and good luck!

[Tucker's_mom]

We started out with a male (Tucker). He is the most affectionate dog I've ever owned. He is always "up my butt" as my hubby would say. He will wake up from a sound sleep to follow me into the kitchen (or bathroom, or basement, wherever ). One of my friends though says having a dog follow her everywhere would drive her nuts, so I just thought I'd let you know that. I wouldn't exactly call him needy, but if you're looking for a dog that's a little more content to not be "up your butt" you might try looking for a female.

I think the best advice though has already been posted. Follow your heart and get the puppy that you like best regardless of it's sex.

P.S. I'm in the process of trying to convince my hubby to get a female! Wish me luck.

[N2Boxers]

Like many of the above posts suggest, something will just "click", and you'll know!

I've had a lot of experience with both males and females. I'm not basing my post on facts, but rather experience, so my information might not be accurate. I find females want better to please YOU (Not spayed), and intact males seem to want what the want, when they want it. I've found that spay females often act like intact males, and neutered males often act like unspayed females. That's just for experience. You can have it go either way, both males and females are EXCELLENT with kids, and just as eager to please you - It depends on the dog itself, and how the dog is raised. Good luck!

Keep us updated!

[akatrk]

Thanks for your reply. Thank you all for your replies. I can't wait for the day when the breeder tells me to come and pick out my puppy. I will take all of the advice with me to make my choice. I will let you all know how it goes.

[Spotty's people]

Our Spotty is a male, and is quite laid-back. Since we moved, & I quit my job (and am home with him all the time now), he seems to be much more aloof. Used to be that he HAD to have his "cuddle-time" daily. Now, he spends more time in the yard (our first yard with him), keeping watch. But really a lot less of a cuddler than before.... and hardly underfoot ever.... except when I'm cooking - of course!

Interesting that most of you think that a male is more of a cling-on. Perhaps it also depends on the home situation... i.e. wether or not someone is home with him/her most of the day??? I am noticing that he is following my hubby around some times..... hubby is at work all day, and mosttimes on weekends, too.

Could this be a factor, you think?

Susan