I have a West German Working Lines male and my BF has a female (his sister). He's about 15 months and she's about 5 months. What I've heard is that females tend to be what they call "sharper" (I understand that to mean a dog that reacts quickly to environmental stimuli) which seems to be true at least in our case. Our female is much quicker to bark at unfamilar things, while our male may look but just goes back to what he is doing. I have heard people say that this is why females can make better guard dogs, because they will alert more quickly. Of course I'm sure this is just a generalization and every dog is an individual.
Personally I prefer a male, but I think that has more to do with me, and less to do with the actual dog. My male seems to me to be more of a lovey goofball. Our female is more serious in what she does, she seems a little smarter because she's a little more intense when she learning something. My BF has always had females.
Here's some information from the Leerburg site (
http://www.leerburg.com/pickpup.htm) that I read when I was first getting a puppy (we were getting a dog for Schutzhund but I think some of this still applies). I thought it was interesting.
A Male or a Female?
This answer to this question obviously varies. Here are some things to consider:
Females are smaller, they average 60 to 70 pounds, males are 80 to 90 pounds. The females are a little easier to live with as a house dog.
Females never (or very seldom) get dominant.
Females are usually easier for novice trainers and handlers to control. They usually want to please their handlers a little more. So if you have a spouse that is not keen on a big dog in the family, it is probably a better idea to go with a female over a male.
Females come in season 2 times a year. On the other hand a male is going to have real distraction problem every time he smells a bitch in season.
As a general rule males are tougher. Females can do Schutzhund work just fine, but I have only seen 2 or 3 females in my life that could do good police service work. By that I mean patrol work.
If you want to start breeding, you always buy a female, never a male. You can take your female to a top stud dog for the price of a stud fee. This is usually a dog that you would never be able to own for yourself. The odds of buying a male pup that will grow up to be a super stud dog are slim to none.
If you need normal personal protection from a dog a female is just fine, they can be trained to bark at strangers. My feeling is that any intruder that comes into your home uninvited and comes through a barking German Shepherd is a very bad person that will need to be stopped by the police and or a gun.
If you want a patrol dog for service work, buy a male.
If you want to compete at the top level of Schutzhund, buy a male. Very few females make it to the top levels of the sport.
As a general rule, males have a harder temperament than females. This means they can take a firmer correction without going down in drive.
Females do not lift their leg on the shrubs and flower beds in your yard.
)) (not in a bad way) maybe a little more independent ?? but again not in a bad way,,
