# Bitches vs Dogs differences



## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

This question was posed with regards to PSDs. I wanted to ask everyone, from PSDs, to PPDs, to SAR to SchH, to Ring, to all sports/hunting:

For those who have raised, or trained, or handled, or all of the above both bitches and dogs, are there any differences that you can generalize about between the sexes? I'm talking about any differences at all, physical, raising, training, handling, nerves, temperment, that could be attributed to one sex or the other.


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## Mo Earle (Mar 1, 2008)

to me the bitches we have had and have- are much more vocal!!!....nerve,temperment,drive,bite,intensity, willing to work etc...I don't think it is different from the males- each individual dog/bitch bring their own personality..even though females are typically smaller in size than their male counterpart.... with-in the group I train with- one of the main trainers has 3 awesome bitches, that would do as well or better than any dog in a protection or serious situation in what they were trained for- they don't know they are girls and are smaller.


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## Jerry Lyda (Apr 4, 2006)

I agree with Mo. With both sexes you have it all. Some will work and others oh well. My Lexus is not a hard dog but very obedient. My Reba will fight you like a man. LOL My male Bentley in his younger days was super nice. He mellowed as he got older. Until his death he continued to go to training. The last days he got his one bite and this was cool to him.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

My ideal type is a doggy bitch. My own experience has been the closer you get to that end of the spectrum the differences are almost indiscernible. Unless of course you factor in the hypertyical male - then there really isn't any comparison. The relative factor at that point is largely determined by preferences concerning the extreme characteristics one desires. JMO


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

I prefer working with bitches. I find they are more focussed earlier on and have great work ethics. It does often depend on the individual dog though. I have a very nice male I am currently working with and also one that is very slow to mature and I have to work more slowly with him. A lot of the top dogs in agility are bitches, they can be lighter, faster and more agile. In herding there have been some awesome bitches but they often are out of the trial ring as they have their pups.

My bitches are intense, focussed and very quick to learn. I currently have 3 youngsters - 2 boys and a girl and my little kelpie bitch is definitely the quickest on the uptake despite being the youngest.

When it comes to hunting rabbits or roos all my dogs like doing that, but it is 2 of my bitches - an ACD and a kelpie who will get in there up close as a team and try and bring the roo down. The boys will help with their higher speed in running the animal down but it is the girls that would go in for the kill while the boys circle on the outside. I saw that once with an old male roo they had bought down. My 2 bitches were completely fearless and were really into it despite the size of the old roo. I had to pull them out in case the roo killed them. The boys kept well back.

In terms of protecting me, I rely on my bitches but I think that is a breed thing. My ACD bitches are way more likely to protect me than my male Border collie for example. But I put that down to the breed difference.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Sara that reminds me of one of the bear encounters involving my dogs. I had a male and female at the time. They treed a black bear and then the two separated. The bitch remained at the base reared up, paws on the tree jumping and barking at the bear. The male was about 30' out from the base circling around it looking outward. Then the bear started to come down and I thought shit, they're in trouble. But my bitch backed up and made a running jump up, partially climbing up the trunk a short distance. At that same time the male rushed in. The bear scurried up and held a place at about 40'. It was really interesting to watch them. 

I would have expected the bitch to patrol the perimeter. I don't hunt bear so I don't know if this was something typical or not but I did find it interesting to see that their method appeared to be both effective and with a purpose.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

As far as hunting, if I hunted mostly treem game, I would use a bitch. Since i have alwauys hunted mostly hogs, I stay with the dominate males because the never say die, they are bigger, and they are stronger and better suited for the fight. I have had doggy bitches but they don't reproduce well so I got rid of them. Outside of size and strength, the females may be the better hunters.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Nicole Stark said:


> I would have expected the bitch to patrol the perimeter. I don't hunt bear so I don't know if this was something typical or not but I did find it interesting to see that their method appeared to be both effective and with a purpose.


No patrolling the perimeter with my bitches LOL. But I am not a hunter either and I have never hunted hogs so Don would know more about that. I expect my ACD bitch would get herself killed as she is completely and utterley fearless, the roo did put gashes in her which didnt put her off at all. I had a friend whose ACD bitch was drowned by a roo she was tackling when it held her under in a stream.

In terms of small game such as rabbits and mice the ACD and whippet bitches I have had are dynamite and there is no doubt my ACD would bring a sheep down.


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## Nicole Stark (Jul 22, 2009)

Don Turnipseed said:


> I have had doggy bitches but they don't reproduce well so I got rid of them.


Seems they rarely ever do. I don't breed but I like having dogs of that type so there's always a good place with me for bitches like that.


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## Lynn Cheffins (Jul 11, 2006)

For sled dogs I don't think there is much difference between good ones male/female wise. I have had alot of good female leaders, though and think the females are sometimes more focused up front. As they tend to be smaller than males they are often pretty fast and good front-end dogs.


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## Peter Cavallaro (Dec 1, 2010)

general rule i grew up with; females are better for protecting the home, males are better for the hunt?


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## David Krider (Mar 19, 2011)

I have to weigh in on the side of the females. The very first International Sled Dog Racing championship 7 dog team was composed of 6 females and 1 male. Of the several hundred dogs trained and raced the two that stand out in memory are both females. Have you noticed that the longer they have been gone the better they were? One of the most successful leaders of all time was Lombards Nellie, she won competitive races till over 9 years of age.

Of the herding dogs I have had the pleasure to work with, a female is the one I miss the most, and have the most stories to tell about.

Of the flock guard dogs we have had over the years a female stands out as the animal that never had a bad day.
While I would get a call to collect a dog from someones yard in town, but I didn't have to hurry because they were usually stuck to someones cocker spaniel.

Protection, security, police dogs, while I can't fault our older male who acts like a partner in anything we do, the younger up and coming female seems to be trying to find that special place you reserve for those special dogs.

The females, maybe because of their balance, drive, perseverance, and their work ethic, do seem to excel in any area that size and strength is not the prime factor.

If males got loose there could be serious injury or death, but it would never be with a female.

Building the strongest female core possible has always been the first goal in our breeding programs.

Therefor I think it takes an exceptional male to compete with a female, and we all know all of us guys on this forum are exceptional males.


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## Kadi Thingvall (Jan 22, 2007)

susan tuck said:


> For those who have raised, or trained, or handled, or all of the above both bitches and dogs, are there any differences that you can generalize about between the sexes? I'm talking about any differences at all, physical, raising, training, handling, nerves, temperment, that could be attributed to one sex or the other.


In general I would say "no". There are physical differences such as in a litter, the females are going to tend to be smaller than their male littermates. But that doesn't equate to "females are smaller than males" throughout the breed, since that "smaller" female in a litter where all the dogs, regardless of gender, are in the 70-85 pound range, is going to be larger than males from a litter where all the dogs are in the 45-65 pound range. 

In terms of drive, nerve, etc I haven't seen any real difference between genders. I do think my females actually focus a little better than the males, especially if horomones are coming into play.

My females have been a little more biddable in drive than my males, but I think that is based as much on my selection as anything else, since the males I keep are stud dogs, so they are selected for certain more extreme traits, and I'll accept a little sensitivity from a female, but don't like it in a male. 

I think you can come up with some generalizations if you limit the conversation to "what differences have you seen in gender, in a single litter". But if you are talking dogs as a whole, or a breed as a whole, there is to much variation, kind of like comparing French, Belgian and Dutch lines in Malinois, or German, Czech, etc lines in GSD.

Then again, maybe there are some differences and I can't articulate them, since 80-90% of the dogs I trial with are female LOL And when I'm looking at a litter to keep a pup from, if gender doesn't play into it (I need a male because I have these females I'd like to use him with if he works out, or I need a female for this planned cross, etc), I'll just take the pup I like the best and the vast majority of the time it will be a female.


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## Adam Swilling (Feb 12, 2009)

I, too, prefer females as far as my personal dogs. I do find, like already mentioned, that they are a bit more focused and do so earlier. They're typically not as aloof as some of the males I've owned either. I've said before the vast majority of the people I know focus WAAY too much on the males. Of the dogs I work regularly the better ones are all female. The dog I know with the most titles is a female. I don't know how many times I've heard people say, "That's a nice dog for a female". What??? Looking at all the posts so far, it seems the recurring theme is the same: Most of the nicer dogs the people that have posted so far have seen seem to be females.Hmmm.


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## Faisal Khan (Apr 16, 2009)

Testosterone plays an important part too. In theory if you have a male and a female pup that are equal in every aspect (nerve, drive etc) and both are not 100% confident in new environments for example. In this case the male will have a better chance of somewhat overcoming this weakness upon maturity as compared to the female.

So if both are rock solid then gender will not make a whole lot of difference in performance as an adult. But if there is a certain weakness in both then the male has a better chance of overcoming it to an extent where it will not affect performance.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Adam, I will take a strong male every time, but, I don't dislike the females at all. I like a dog that has a strong "screw you" attitude....because they tend to view everything in their world with much the same attitude. Just don't see that in the females as much.


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## David Ruby (Jul 21, 2009)

Correct me if I am wrong here (it happens :|), however it sounds like most view females as more compliant and perhaps more focused (on the handler, or training) and the males generally being stronger from a physical perspective.

For the compliance/bidability/focus that is presumably not as prevalent in the males, or any sort of independence/bonding/"selfishness" that might occur in one gender over the other (generally I get the impression males tend to be more egocentric and females more likely to focus on the handler/family/etc.), can that be addressed through training to the extent that, after you put in the work, any difference would be negligible?

-Cheers


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## Kara Fitzpatrick (Dec 2, 2009)

i never really liked bitches until I got my female. now I prefer them more. 
but they have to be hard, nasty bitches.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

My 2 males are like chalk and cheese, one is so compliant and deperate to please and the other is much more inclined to be quite wilfull at times and I often have a battle of wills with him.

Several of my females are also pretty strong willed and they are no push overs and one of them in particular is incredibly bossy and extroverted but worked beautifully with me in her day as a trialing dog. In terms of size and strength, well my ACD females are stronger than my male BC because they are big solid cattle dogs and win every time in a game of tug. I have had a number of ACD bitches that have had plenty of attitude and a willingless to put their bodies on the line which, perhaps why I like cattle dogs. My male BC and Koolie arent even in the same class as these bitches when it comes to "ballsy" attitudes.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Kara Fitzpatrick said:


> i never really liked bitches until I got my female. now I prefer them more.
> but they have to be hard, nasty bitches.


One dog changed everything? What's that word....fickled?? LOL


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## Kara Fitzpatrick (Dec 2, 2009)

haha, no I just always preferred males more- but after seeing more nice females (including my own), I like them a lot.


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## Adam Swilling (Feb 12, 2009)

Don Turnipseed said:


> Adam, I will take a strong male every time, but, I don't dislike the females at all. I like a dog that has a strong "screw you" attitude....because they tend to view everything in their world with much the same attitude. Just don't see that in the females as much.


 Ah, I'm just stirring the pot a little LOL. A good dog's a good dog. I don't even pay attention to gender when I'm picking out a pup anymore. I look at that after I've made my decision. I do wonder how much of it is breed specific though. For example, I've seen a few Dutchie lines that it seems like the vast majority of the females are an out and out, well, bitch. Just a little ass of a dog. I've not seen that as much in GSD's. I know they're out there, but I've not seen that near as often as I have in some of the Dutchie lines. Don, what do you see in the airedales as far as attitude by gender?


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Adam Swilling said:


> Ah, I'm just stirring the pot a little LOL. A good dog's a good dog. I don't even pay attention to gender when I'm picking out a pup anymore. I look at that after I've made my decision. I do wonder how much of it is breed specific though. For example, I've seen a few Dutchie lines that it seems like the vast majority of the females are an out and out, well, bitch. Just a little ass of a dog. I've not seen that as much in GSD's. I know they're out there, but I've not seen that near as often as I have in some of the Dutchie lines. Don, what do you see in the airedales as far as attitude by gender?


The males are more clear heades much like people. The fenales aere emotional when wound up and will bite you. After 11 days in the hospital, one of my ex wives will testify to that. She watched me break up more dog fight with the males than you could shake a stick at, but, I broke up males and even in the heat of battle they knew right were I was and avoided me because they didn't want the fight broke up. The test to see if they are pregnant is to hold a treat out....if you end up with no fingers they are pregnant. Overall, most of the males here are much more strong willed, but, I have had some very masculine females that are the same. Seems many of the females run hot and cold from day to day where the males are pretty much the same.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Don Turnipseed said:


> The males are more clear heades much like people. The fenales aere emotional when wound up and will bite you. After 11 days in the hospital, one of my ex wives will testify to that. She watched me break up more dog fight with the males than you could shake a stick at, but, I broke up males and even in the heat of battle they knew right were I was and avoided me because they didn't want the fight broke up. The test to see if they are pregnant is to hold a treat out....if you end up with no fingers they are pregnant. Overall, most of the males here are much more strong willed, but, I have had some very masculine females that are the same. Seems many of the females run hot and cold from day to day where the males are pretty much the same.


Airdales must be different to herding dogs then. Cant say I have noticed a lack of clear headedness and biting emotions in the herding dogs I work with. My little kelpie bitch is more strategic in a tricky situation than the boys when working stock. She is a better problem solver than the boys. I cant say I see this emotional side of bitches any more than the boys and it seems very dependent on the individual dog and to some extent the breed.

Cant say I have noticed the men I work with being any clearer headed than the women I work with either. 
Some of the men seem to be driven by emotion as the growing season unfolds and prone to some very rash decisions, wheras the women who operate the books tend to ask the hard questiions about for instance whether a brand new seeding machine or header is actually neccessary in these drying years other than sending the business broke, or if they really need to apply that extra fertiliser.


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## Nancy Jocoy (Apr 19, 2006)

In my own experience (limited - to 8 dogs over time) I just like the males more.

They seem more bonded and biddable than the females I have had. The females have also been snarkier and, I would have to say, smarter.

But that is 8 dogs. I know many who won't take a male because they "mark" while working but I just don't allow that and have seen females marking too.

For the hunting aspect, I feel sometimes the females have had an edge.

8 dogs is not enough to make a sweeping generalization, but even looking at dogs on the team I like the males bettter.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

two of the best dogs i've had have been bitches--tough, forward, fearless. 

however, i prefer males just because i don't have to deal with heat cycles.

as far as differences, i also think females are quicker to learn and mature in general, but my feeling is, a good dog is a good dog regardless of sex.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Sara Waters said:


> Airdales must be different to herding dogs then. Cant say I have noticed a lack of clear headedness and biting emotions in the herding dogs I work with. My little kelpie bitch is more strategic in a tricky situation than the boys when working stock. She is a better problem solver than the boys. I cant say I see this emotional side of bitches any more than the boys and it seems very dependent on the individual dog and to some extent the breed.
> 
> Cant say I have noticed the men I work with being any clearer headed than the women I work with either.
> Some of the men seem to be driven by emotion as the growing season unfolds and prone to some very rash decisions, wheras the women who operate the books tend to ask the hard questiions about for instance whether a brand new seeding machine or header is actually neccessary in these drying years other than sending the business broke, or if they really need to apply that extra fertiliser.


I do believe which is smarter is an individual thing. Has nothing to do with gender. Being clear headed and better focused is a gender thing. Females come into season, go out of season and change emotionally with a change in the weather. Males are not subject to this as much.


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## Sara Waters (Oct 23, 2010)

Don Turnipseed said:


> I do believe which is smarter is an individual thing. Has nothing to do with gender. Being clear headed and better focused is a gender thing. Females come into season, go out of season and change emotionally with a change in the weather. Males are not subject to this as much.


Just havent seen it myself. My females have often had better focus, we have a name for testicles in agility - destracticles LOL - often makes the boys distinctly unclear headed and unfocussed, especially when there is a bitch around. 

Not sure about the weather! a little rain does crazy things to farmers though. Some of my agronomy clients used to lose sight of the big picture completely with a few drops of rain and were very difficult to talk some sense in to. They ran on pure emotion and science went out the window.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

What I have always heard is that the females do act differently with the influx of hormones, going into season, coming out. If true, is it a big enough deal that those of you who have handled females would say it negatively effects their performance? I have also heard that males are more easy going than females. My own experience with female dogs is negligible, which is why I'm asking.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Sara, we all know how testoterone affect the males. Have one bitch in a yard, they will fight, have two they will fight, have a dozen, they will fight. Have one male with several bitches they are cool. Put two top males in with the bitches, the bitches will fight like the males. Life was simple with one male because there were no descisions for them. Two males, now there is a descision. Haven't yet figured that out because it makes no sense.


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## Adam Swilling (Feb 12, 2009)

susan tuck said:


> What I have always heard is that the females do act differently with the influx of hormones, going into season, coming out. If true, is it a big enough deal that those of you who have handled females would say it negatively effects their performance? I have also heard that males are more easy going than females. My own experience with female dogs is negligible, which is why I'm asking.


 My females get a little harder to handle when they are going into and are in their heat cycle. I wouldn't say it has a negative impact on performance, but they do get a little sharper during that time. I have to watch them a little closer since their fuse burns a little faster.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I really appreciate everyone's input, sharing your experience with me, because I'd hate to be the one who passed up a great prospect just because of some silly old wives tale.


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

The bitches wont kill your flowers and bushes the males will. 

I love working females. They are less occupied with reproduction, fighting and bluffing and puffing. My females are much more serious dogs than the males.


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## Don Turnipseed (Oct 8, 2006)

Bitches kill your lawn every time they pee.


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## Brian Anderson (Dec 2, 2010)

Don Turnipseed said:


> Bitches kill your lawn every time they pee.


you mean you have a lawn?


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Brian Anderson said:


> you mean you have a lawn?



He used to till he put all those bitches in the pen together. :grin:


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