# Dog v Bitch ?



## Gary Garner (Jun 30, 2007)

My bitch is now 6 months old, and I'm over the moon with her....

She's the first bitch GSD i've owned...my previous two GSDs being male dogs.

What are people's views on the dog v bitch debate for working and sport purposes...

Behaviour, training, nerves, health, courage, drives etc...

Thanks for your input

Gary


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

There's more differences between individual dogs, than the difference of gender alone could account much for. You'll find stronger patterns or tendencies tied to particular bloodlines, I think. But even in single litter examples, there can be vast differences, and such archetypes as the "group bully" or "social butterfly" are not gender-specific by any means, but might tend to be slightly more common in one gender over the other. How you interact with your new girl, and if you "click" well together, will have more impact on her performance and behavior in the overall general sense. You might suppose, if you're competing in trial events, some females have their off days, but some females are never affected that way either.


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## Bob Scott (Mar 30, 2006)

Dogs kill the bushes, bitches kill the grass!
Well.......there are a few bitches out there that can hold their own with any tree or bush.


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

Bob Scott said:


> Dogs kill the bushes, bitches kill the grass!
> Well.......there are a few bitches out there that can hold their own with any tree or bush.


You should tell that to my dog, he pees like a girl.


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

One of my former bitches would pee like a boy about half the time. They might've made a good match!


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## Justin Eimer (Oct 17, 2006)

Gary~
I think that Daryl hit the nail on the head. It all depends on the individual dog. I believe that there are bithes that are more than capable, while at the same time their are males that can not and vice versa. That pertains to both sport and work. There are gender differences, but a dog or bitch with strong, solid nerves and balanced, high drives, will perform with proper training. I hope this helps.~Justin;-) 
PS~ Most females that I have owned raise their leg to pee as well.:lol: 



Gary Garner said:


> My bitch is now 6 months old, and I'm over the moon with her....
> 
> She's the first bitch GSD i've owned...my previous two GSDs being male dogs.
> 
> ...


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Most females I've seen have some kind of femininity about them, you can tell they're female just from how they act. I personally would always choose a male for work, but I love my lil female. She's quite the character that's for sure :lol: But she's about as feminine as they come, and lives up to her sex.. "bitch".

Theres good females out there, but on the whole I would choose a male for work because the females I've encountered are all a little flakey and mine is no exception 

But hey like they said, its the individual dog, theres some nasty bitches out there, and some girlie boys.


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## Hil Harrison (Mar 29, 2006)

A lot of Security companies I talk to seem to be looking more for bitches these days than males. Most go into the soort of equivelent of KNPV training ( Bond voor Diensthond BVD) first to get the licence than keep up the training in the KNPV. A lot of Security companies with dogpatrol say that the bitches seem to be a lot sharper on night patrol than males. Guess its like Daryl said ...its more the individual dog really and personal choice.

p.s. My bitch always peed like a male....if she could up against a tree:lol:


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Bitches don't make a mess in their crate at 10:00pm after a few minutes of licking themselves, 8-[  causing you to have to drag the crate out in the yard, in the dark, in your PJ's, and hose it out while trying your best to keep the 'stuff' off of you since you've already showered (yes, I'm speaking from experience here - from night before last). #-o



Of course, there is the bloody mess that females make every 4 months, but with some of them, you never even know. Jessie was _extremely_ messy her first heat (she not only bled, but had explosive diarrhea and couldn't control her bladder either, for several days in the beginning). The blood resulted in my having to put a diaper on her with a maxi pad on the inside whenever I let her loose in the house, but she kept herself spotless during her second heat, didn't have any bladder or bowel issues, and never had to wear the diaper. I hope her third is the same.

I _have_ noticed, though, that for the few weeks before she comes into heat, she starts to STINK pretty bad. Anyone else have any input on that one? It's not like 'dog' smell - I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, but it is really strong and it's like the crate absorbs it, which makes it even worse because even if I let the crate soak in bleach for an hour or so, the smell is still there. I came home one day and the whole _house_ smelled. It's _kind of_ like the way Bil-Jac liver treats smell, almost. It's quite gross. :-&


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## Hil Harrison (Mar 29, 2006)

Kristen Cabe said:


> I _have_ noticed, though, that for the few weeks before she comes into heat, she starts to STINK pretty bad. Anyone else have any input on that one? It's not like 'dog' smell - I'm not sure how to describe it exactly, but it is really strong and it's like the crate absorbs it, which makes it even worse because even if I let the crate soak in bleach for an hour or so, the smell is still there. I came home one day and the whole _house_ smelled. It's _kind of_ like the way Bil-Jac liver treats smell, almost. It's quite gross. :-&


yep Kristen I would know that smell anywhere. My bitch had the same thing. I always understood it was the change in the hormones just before the heat would start that would penetrate through the skin, pores and mouth even:-& 
It is a very penetrating smell that would strip wallpaper:lol: but its IMO a hormone thing.
Although this sounds weird, but It seems ( according to an overheard bar chat from a few guys) that some women have the same thing each month and that some husbands/partners can tell exactly when to go hide cos the females hormones are getting abnoxious:lol: :lol:

p.s. I hope to god I never get the scent the bitches get or someone can just euthanise me:lol:


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

Well I'm glad to know it's not just me! :lol: :lol:

I fully agree with you on that last statement!


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## Daryl Ehret (Apr 4, 2006)

Some bitches smell worse than others, and bleed more.


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## Justin Eimer (Oct 17, 2006)

:-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& Blahhhh! Yuck!


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

I like dogs for the fact that I don't have to worry about spaying them. I don't breed but I like to keep the option open, and as far as I know with a bitch if you don't breed them often but keep them intact you have a higher chance of pyometra.


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## Ian Forbes (Oct 13, 2006)

Justin Eimer said:


> :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& :-& Blahhhh! Yuck!


Spot on!

There are only 2 things that smell of rotting fish...... and one of them is fish :smile:


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## Johan Dekinder (Sep 17, 2007)

A bitch, anytime.
Sharper, loyal, just my 2c.

I have plenty of contact with people who work in the security field and 90% of them go for a female.. for the above mentioned reasons.
I see it at my place too : I call one of my 2 females, they come immediately.
I call my male ... well, okay, I'll come, but first let me sniff a bit, and have a piss will ya ;-)


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

Think it matters what the gender of the handler is? I find my boys more responsive than my girls, personally. If I get angry at the girls they'll act like, "Okay, I made a mistake, now what?", versus the boys who immediately fold and go "OH SHIT I MADE HER MAD!"


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## Kristen Cabe (Mar 27, 2006)

It's just the opposite with my two. Jessie is the one that cowers and crawls on her belly if I so much as raise my voice. Jak seems to take things more 'in stride.'


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

I think it all boils down to personal preference based on our experiences. I had a couple of bitches, both happened to be serious sulkers, so I've tended to gravitate to the boys. I've found them to be goofier but also come back better from a correction.


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## Maren Bell Jones (Jun 7, 2006)

As much as I used to totally prefer males, I really like my spayed female. Soft as butter temperament wise (wouldn't dream of using a prong collar on her) and more affectionate than my males (which is odd, because I've heard most say that males are more affectionate), but I love her nice on/off switch for her prey drive. She's not real sharp (will usually just chuff instead of rrrroooof roof) though. Darn that neck injury of hers...anyways, I think it's just a personal preference. I really don't want to have to deal with intact bitches. There's way too many of them at the vet school as it is. :roll: (and I don't mean the dogs!)


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

i like my boys, but they ARE goofy at times. but the best dog i ever had was a bitch, and i doubt i'll ever have another like her, sooo...IDK, might get a bitch next dog. i also think bitches tend to be sharper and more territorial actually.

personally, i think it's overall temperment of dog AND handler that determine the best match.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

I like my bitch, but shes too quirky, just like most other bitches I've seen, for me to say bitches are better.


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## ann schnerre (Aug 24, 2006)

well, ya know mike, there IS the hormone thing!! my old bitch was spayed so we didn't go thru the weirdness at cycle time; i hate to think of how she could've been if NOT spayed.....could've been ugly. do dog bitches get more, ummm, "bitchy" when they're in heat? or is it just an individual thing? 

with that said, i've never had an UNspayed bitch, and probably never will as i don't plan on breeding. but i've never had an unaltered dog before brix either (and he may still become altered), but at least he doesn't have hormone swings (that i can tell ).


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## Lacey Vessell (Nov 18, 2006)

After my latest bitch (Coda), I don't think I will ever own a bitch again. I have definitely found that dogs are better suited for me and my 
"temperment"  

Still up in the air about titling her next week because she decided to come into estrus a month earlier then her normal cycle. She'll be flaggin by trial day :-x . Sometimes she is better at training during this time and other times I think if she could physically manage the gesture.......she'd flip me off. I thought today was one of the times where she still had her head in the game, as she had tracked really good, had great focus and correct positions in obedience. Jumped over the wall fine with a very nice center on the return....send her over the A-frame and she goes over and I'm waiting......still waiting.....finally I go around the side to see that she had dropped the dumbell at the base of the A-Frame on the return and decided to sniff around at the base, hikes her leg and then just looks at me like wtf do you want?....:-x 

Normally she is not a dog that seeks affection/petting from me or anyone else and prefers to be off by herself (except when Justin is around), but when she is in estrus she craves my attention (at home) to the point of annoyance. In my case, I think we are both two "bitchy" to make a good team.


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## susan tuck (Mar 28, 2006)

"I have definitely found that dogs are better suited for me and my 
"temperment"  " (Lacey)

"Normally she is not a dog that seeks affection/petting from me or anyone else and prefers to be off by herself (except when Justin is around), but when she is in estrus she craves my attention (at home) to the point of annoyance. In my case, I think we are both two "bitchy" to make a good team." (Lacey)
__________________________________________________________________________________________________
That last paragraph was my experience too. I think you are right, I know I am way too bitchy to put up with another bitch for very long! It is my temperment that is suited to dogs as well!!   

Well said, Lacey!


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## Gary Garner (Jun 30, 2007)

What's people's views on Bitches working better for male handlers than they do for female handlers?

Some truth and fact or total BS ?


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

My male loves all females, strangers or not. But males, if a male stands up and leans toward him to pet him when he doesnt know them he can get very nasty. While I believe (unfortunately) that its partly caused by some experiences with a male trainer that had worked him pretty harshly, he has had a preference for females since puppyhood.

My bitch has always been attached to my father when he visits, she goes nuts over him. While she loves my mother too, you can notice a difference in how she acts. I am not sure if its because my mother is more reserved about her interaction with dogs and my father doesnt mind if she goes crazy jumping up on him, but I believe it could be a sex thing.

Lyka is an equal opportunity hater, she hates all strangers male and female, so cant really comment on anyone she hasnt known from puppyhood, she simply doesnt like anyone. She looks pretty intimidating for a lil girl scratching at the glass door furiously barking and snarling like she's trying to eat people who walk by the house 

As for unspayedness. When she goes into heat she turns into the most affectionate, sweet, loving docile lil girl that constanty wants to curl up next to me. First time she went into heat I didn't know what was going on, suddenly she was trying to be my friend instead of trying to fight with me every 10 minutes. I cant really do OB with her when she's in heat, because she gets very handler sensitive, she'll anticipate corrections and slink down when she thinks we're doing a down in motion but aren't. It drives me nuts so I simply dont do it. Alot of people dont like that, they believe a bitch shouldnt learn that being in heat means she doesnt have to work - but I dont really care  Her bitework though, when she's in heat, she HATES the decoy with a passion! She's a pretty intense lil dog as it is, but she gets all kindsa pissy then :lol:

Ofcourse, theres still times like last night when all she wants to do is fight. She sounds pretty nasty too when she's snarling like that. If she wasnt 37lbs and I didnt know her temprement so well then I might be worried :lol: But thats what she does when she didnt have enough exercise during the day, she turns into a psycho at night.

The flakeyness isnt only during heat though, she can be flakey sometimes and not the other. I see it in many females, GSD's too. Theres a certain femininity to them, I can usually tell a bitch apart from a dog simply by how they act. Lyka makes it even more obvious because she walks really daintily like a lil princess


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## Hil Harrison (Mar 29, 2006)

Gary Garner said:


> What's people's views on Bitches working better for male handlers than they do for female handlers?
> 
> Some truth and fact or total BS ?


Gary......IMO I think that again its a question of who the handler is and that there is that click with the dog. Most of the guys who sport here ( especially the KNPV) do seem to go for the male dogs in general it seems. Female handlers seem to go for both male and female. Like I mentioned earlier in this thread a lot of guys phoning me needing a dog for the security business are looking more for females seeing as they are a lot sharper in their opinion on night patrol than the males.

Male handlers do have a deeper intonation in the voice and therefore in the commands than women have. I could imagine the females reacting to this pretty well. The females can be more sensitive to this than some macho male dogs who just stick up their middle finger


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## Gary Garner (Jun 30, 2007)

although my bitch is quite sensitve to me and voice changes 95% of the time...there is 5% where she's defiant and tried to dominate..

this is usually in her kennel enclosure or when out and I'm not giving her the ball and correcting her for jumping up...


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## Hil Harrison (Mar 29, 2006)

Gary Garner said:


> although my bitch is quite sensitve to me and voice changes 95% of the time...there is 5% where she's defiant and tried to dominate..
> 
> this is usually in her kennel enclosure or when out and I'm not giving her the ball and correcting her for jumping up...


Still 95% is not a bad figure;-) do you think you'd get that 95% from a male?


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## Gary Garner (Jun 30, 2007)

Hil Harrison said:


> Still 95% is not a bad figure;-) do you think you'd get that 95% from a male?


yeah..you have a point...

She turns on a dime..anywhere she is if I call her name or command 'Hier'.. I mustn't grumble at all, quite the opposite..especially when you consider she's just 6 months old also..


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

Actually from this end I get 100% from the males and 95% from the females.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

I get about 12% from my dogs combined....... Cujo really really brings down that average!


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## Justin Eimer (Oct 17, 2006)

Lacey Vessell said:


> After my latest bitch (Coda), I don't think I will ever own a bitch again. I have definitely found that dogs are better suited for me and my
> "temperment"
> 
> Still up in the air about titling her next week because she decided to come into estrus a month earlier then her normal cycle. She'll be flaggin by trial day :-x . Sometimes she is better at training during this time and other times I think if she could physically manage the gesture.......she'd flip me off. I thought today was one of the times where she still had her head in the game, as she had tracked really good, had great focus and correct positions in obedience. Jumped over the wall fine with a very nice center on the return....send her over the A-frame and she goes over and I'm waiting......still waiting.....finally I go around the side to see that she had dropped the dumbell at the base of the A-Frame on the return and decided to sniff around at the base, hikes her leg and then just looks at me like wtf do you want?....:-x
> ...


Lacey~
You want me to handle that for you? All Coda need is a good...:lol: I'll take one for the team. LOL. You know that she loves me.;-)


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## Lyn Chen (Jun 19, 2006)

One thing about girls, they're waaaaaaaaaaaaaay smarter than boys.


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## Mike Schoonbrood (Mar 27, 2006)

Yeah, Lyka figured out I don't enforce a down stay 100% in the house if she gets up to bark at the door or window. So she has learnt to jump up, bark at the window, then start messing with Cujo again :roll: I swear she does it on purpose, the lil bitch. *I* certainly don't see anything at the window that deserves her attention :lol:


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