Hi,

I'm having a bit of a dillema trying to decide what to do and I thought you guys could help.  We had a deposit on a male puppy from a littler that was just born.  The problem is that we were 4th on the list and there are only 2 males.  We have the option of getting a female, but we were hoping for a male.

We have done a lot of research on this breed and have read that males are more affectionate and easier to train.  We don't plan on hunting it and he will be a house pet and companion and will accompany us on hikes and other adventures.  What do you guys say about males vs. females in reagards to trainability, disposition, loyalty, independence, and affection?

We need to make a decision really soon... thanks!

I had thought I wanted a female (this was to be my first dog ever). When we inquired with the breeder we had chosen, she only had males available. So we put down a deposit and went down to meet the pups and fell in love with our boy. When we decided it was time to add a second to the family, the breeder had a female available for fostering, we went down to meet her and fell in love.

Our boy is a creampuff, just the sweetest, cuddle-pie. BUT he is more challenging and demanding of our time. But he is a real people-pleaser (most of the time ). And he's bigger.

Our girl has been a mom three times and is definitely the boss of every dog she meets. And talk about stubborn! But she is a real cuddle-bunny when SHE wants to be and she picks stuff up very quickly. And she's smaller.

Don't know if the differences are because we raised Bo (our boy) from 8 weeks and Shiraz was with the breeder for the first 5 years of her life. But together they are an awesome pair and I wouldn't trade either one of them for anything (despite their quirks!).

What would I choose next time? Hard to say since I'm not sure I want another puppy (and man GSP puppies are hard to resist) and there are so many rescues out there. We have said after the two we currently have we will try to do rescues where possible.
 

I got my female Zoe when she was 8 weeks old and when I lost my springer spaniel last November I wanted to get another female GSP.

When I contacted Zoe's breeder she had a 10 month old male (Zoe's litter mate) that she needed to give up because of personal reasons.  I was very reluctant to get a male because I had always thought that females were easier to train and were more affecionate.  The more I thought about it, I decided to adopt the male.

As far as affection level - I see no difference in the two, they are both very affectionate, I will say that she is jealous and when Archer is getting attention she will try to nudge him out of the way.

Training - Zoe has been relatively easy to train (except for the loose leash walking and her recall still needs work).  Archer came to me housebroken but needed a lot of work on everything else. He caught on fairly quickly but I will say that he is stubborn.  Just an example - when we walk at night, everytime we come to a street corner, I will say "stop", Zoe automatically sits every time, Archer stands there looks around  and I will have to tell him several times to sit (even with treats).

I was quite pleased this past weekend, I had some friends in for the weekend that don't have kids or pets. They absolutely fell in love with Archer & Zoe and said "wow these dogs are so well behaved, and so sweet".  They had been talking about getting a dog and after this weekend they are sold on the GSP breed.

I couldn't be happier with either one of my dogs and wouldn't take anything in the world for them.  So, male or female - I really think it's just a personal preference and you can't go wrong with a GSP!

I have never wanted a male dog because they hike their legs to pee on just about anything.  When my daughter found a dog she wanted, it was a male border collie.  She told me she could train him not to do that . . . and well, it can be done, so now I would consider getting a male.  He is very loving and just overall a great dog.

I do have female GSPs because of the smaller size.  But if size is not a concern, I would really just go with the one with the best temperment and structure . . .  you just can't go wrong either way, male or female.

Roz

 So have any of you guys found females to be more hyper than males??  This is what the breeder is telling us.