Male or Female

[scuba_bob]

What one do you think makes the best companion?.. I've had one female dog and one male dog and that's not a big sample size for me to decide on. From my experience my male was very affectionate and just had to be by me all the time when I was around and would always keep an eye on me! haha he was always very playful, sweet and gentle and I built such a strong bond with him.
The Female I had before was very independent showed affection when she wanted too, was very sweet but only when she wanted too wasn't as playful or bonding as my last male. Although she was a great dog and had a lot of fun with her I never had anything close to the same bond with her that I had with my last male. Is this how it is?... Males seem to bond better and want to be around their people all the time? and Females are more independent and show less affection and playfulness?. I want to get another dog soon not sure what way to go, but I want a dog that was like my last dog build a very strong bond with, playful, fun and affectionate.

Male or Female?

[JakodaCD OA]

I have/had both...I started with males, and I gotta say, I love my male gsd's,,mine have been as you describe, plus, kinda doofy, (in a good way), mature slower, more velcroey, easy trainers, biddable.

My females (and I am on my second one), were/are both affectionate, I do see more independence, but as in, more daring, ready to try anything without hesitation, matured faster, more possessive of myself.

For example, whenever out with my males, they would always be rightthere, my females would be exploring, maybe ahead of me, but ALWAYS checking in, .

Kinda hard to explain.. Right now since I have a female, and my males have all passed, my next one will be a male

Only you can choose, and it's not so much gender as it is personality/temperament, altho I do see differences in the genders

[Lilie]

I get along better with males. I don't know why.

[valreegrl]

In my opinion, gender is an afterthought and personality really depends on the dog itself.
But I like where you are going with this so let's see what everyone says about their personal dogs one way or the other and take a pseudo survey

My male is VERY affectionate, however has a ton of energy and can be a handful in lots of situations. Some issues are environmental for many reasons but still the same. He is smart and VERY driven. But he relies on cues from me every step of the way for reassurance and can be overly-sensitive. However, he is VERY clean when it comes to eating/drinking.

My female is not nearly as affectionate. She is much more laid back in EVERY situation. And extremely independent. She is driven, but not as much as my male, but still very smart and enjoys working. Her dog language skills are top notch compared to him and has calmed situations in many instances. She is VERY dirty when it comes to eating/drinking and enjoys a good bowl dump just about every day.

Can't wait to see how the male/female thing compares with other's answers as well!

[GSDAlphaMom]

I have both and love both but if I were forced to choose I would go female. I describe the difference between the two similiar to the difference between a 14 yr old boy and a 14 year old girl. One is smarter and more mature and the other is kind of dufusy.

[JustMeLeslie]

My male was very velcroey,possessive,needy in my opinion. My female has been very affectionate, independent, easier to train, and yes she was more mature at 6 mths. then my male was at a 20 mths.

I am done with males for a while in all breeds not just GSDs. I am also very tired of the territorial marking. I am sorry, but its the truth. How many times does one bush need to be marked?

[JudynRich]

Growing up, we always had male dogs. We rescued a young female Irish Setter in 1976, and my dad almost would not take her because she was a female...that female changed all of us...now we all have females (and only females) for the last 30+ years.

[scuba_bob]

Thanks for all the feed back!! What does everyone think about 2 males living together?? I've had 3 males living together with no problems but that was just for one year then we all got our own places. Do you separate them when your not around or let them hang out together?.. We never had any problems but I read a lot of people do? could this be because of leadership lacking?.

[Stosh]

You described my females and male exactly!! Stosh is the first male we've had in a while and I was surprised at how much more affectionate he is and bonded to me in a deeper way than the females. I wouldn't have any hesitation getting a male in the future, Stosh doesn't seem to have an aggressive bone in his body- his best friend is a male gsd and they haven't had any problems.

[KZoppa]

in my experience males tend to get along better with males than females get along with females. We currently have our male Riley who is extremely bonded to myself and my husband. We've had several females who have been bonded but not overly needy and such. Our male HAS to follow us and check on us if we're gone for more than 3 minutes. No joke. You can clock him. My current female is only 9 months old, almost 10 months but she isnt nearly as OMG WHERE DID YOU GO?!?! As long as she knows we're all home safe she's fine. She could care less most of the time. My next GSD will be male. I'm burnt out on females for a while.