Females vs Males

edited November 2012 in Behavior & Training
I have had dogs most of my life. I have had a wide variety of breeds over the years (fostering and rescuing dogs has been a great way to experience many breeds/temperaments/traits/etc) and the one thing that has always stayed the same with all breeds is male puppies/young adults seem to be a lot more 'crazy' than female puppies/young adults lol There are exceptions, of course, but for the most part this is how it is in my experience and that still rings true with my Akita's.

I will use Hachi and Kuma to show the differences:

Kuma has been a breeze overall (there have been serious moments of stubbornness and rebellion and craziness, of course, but that is super normal lol). She has been super easy to work with and train, she house trained easily enough, she does not bother anything that isn't hers, she doesn't demand your attention, she is not a velcro dog but isn't aloof either, she is laid back most of the time, the only thing with her that has been a 'challenge' is her recall but even that improves daily, etc.

Hachi has been more of a..... challenge LOL We love him and he is GREAT but he is crazy hahahaha (not in a bad way!!)
He has 100 times the energy of our females, he is GOOFY, silly, clumsy, was a lot harder to house train, he plays a lot rougher, reeks havoc on the household when he get in his crazy dog-high energy mode, he never slows down, always doing something, keeps me laughing, grabs any decor he can reach and carries it away (doesn't destroy it, though),etc.

BUT he is, for the most part, more affectionate, seems to 'get his feelings hurt' easier (i.e. you tell hem to 'drop it' or when you go outside and he can't go- he seems to be saddened or upset), loves to be beside me all the time, etc. I also have to say that his recall is near perfect (he might refuse to come 1 time out of 10)

I am just curious what your thoughts are on this and your experiences. Are males or females easier to train? Which one is calmer? Other thoughts on differences in behavior?

Comments

  • Toki (intact male, one year old) is definitely more like Kuma, so I am interested to see how people describe their females. I would say that Toki is very easy to train, doesn't bother anything that is not his, never demands attention, is very aloof, and very laid back.

    I want to know how much is breed specific and how much is actually a difference between genders. It'll be interesting to see people's answers because I find Toki's traits I listed as very Akita-like rather than gender-related.
  • @jellyfart, I am so jealous that Toki has been so easy lol I am only kidding!
    How was Toki when he was between 3-6 months? Was he calm and laid back then as well? Or was he a crazy puppy that calmed down with age?

    I see a lot in their behavior that might be considered breed specific but then I see some things that I call gender specific but I base that solely on my own personal experiences.... I am very interested in what other people say, too.
  • Ghidora was never crazy, and earned the nickname "stoner dog" for being so mellow (and hungry!) at the age of 13 weeks.

    To be quite honest, I think that there is more variation between individual dogs based on their personalities, than there is based on gender.
  • What about a dog's temperament after they've been fixed? Can you guys comment on that? :)
  • Toki was mellow as a puppy. It's not a coincidence his nickname is Tokes ;)

    He had puppy energy, but it was way toned down than say, a typical breed like a terrier or lab puppy. He has always, even when he was little, always loved his stuffed animals. Toys from the salvation army are the best cause they're smelly and they last a long time. Right now he has pooh bear :)
  • edited November 2012
    @MapleTwinkie, the resulting changes after spay/neuter has varied with each dog, in my experience. The dogs that were spayed/neutered at a young-ish age seemed to mellow out a lot faster than the dogs that were 3+ years old when they were spayed/neutered. But in some cases there were little to no differences at all in behavior/energy level after they were fixed. I think that does vary with each dog. (This is just my opinion and experience)

    @jellfart, that is too funny! I like "Tokes" and if it fits him.... even better lol
    Kuma loves stuffed animals, too. There is a thrift shop close to home that I can buy big bags of them. I always bring them home, wash them and then throw them in the toy box. I hid some new ones at the bottom of the box to see what she would do..... She pulled all the toys off the top and slung them out of her way, picked out each new toy (there were 4)and put them in her crate.... too smart lol

  • @MapleTwinkie - I've always been told, but don't have a ton of personal experience with it - that you should allow 1 month for every year old the animal has been intact to allow the testosterone to fade out of the body (for males). So, in my mind you would see a gradual change over the appropriate amount of time. Most of the dogs in my life have been female, only 3 males (not counting Kunai) who were all neutered at a young age.
  • Gryphon (American Akita) and Gojira (Japanese Akita) were spayed as adults at 4 years and 2 years respectively. In both cases it was due to pyometra. Both have become a lot more mellow, and surprisingly more affectionate with other female dogs as well. All other dogs I've had were spayed/neutered as puppies so I never noticed any difference in temperament or personality.
  • Thanks guys. I will probably neuter my male when I get him. I'll have to look into when is a good time. I was just wondering if it really changes a dog's attitude. I would assume so, since he'd have no more testosterone.
  • Frankly, (without having another dog to compare to), I don't think that Toki is difficult and he is intact, one year old. He is protective of me, but I don't feel like he is difficult. I like Toki the way he is now, so I really cannot imagine neutering him at any point. However, health wise, I have this option of neutering/not neutering since Toki is a burly manly dog. If he was a female, I would have a lot more to consider.
  • edited November 2012
    @MapleTwinkie I had Tsune neutered when he was almost 2 years old, before we found his perfect home around 1 year 10 months. His energy didn't change at all, he was still an energizer bunny little nutball lol. When it came to meeting other dogs he did seem to quiet down very slightly in the month following and was mildly less confrontational. Other than that though, same little guy :)

    However, I would suggest waiting until your male is done growing before neutering. Getting him clipped before that point will cause stunted penis development, which can cause a handful of urinary issue including getting "himself" stuck outside of himself, there's also never instinctually leg lifting causing male dogs to pee all over their front paws. Not exactly something you want every 4-6 hours lol. As well as changes in bone/joint development due to the reduced testosterone, which can cause issues further down the road with walking and joint pain in the second half of his life. You could google search for studies and information, there's quite a bit out there.
  • I think the leg lifting might be learned... For some dogs maybe? I had a friend that adopted a 1 year old mutt intact, he peed all over his feet until he saw her neighbors dog lift. Then he started trying to lift... It was pretty funny. All clumbsy and he never peed on stuff just lifted his leg to pee in the middle of the mown grass yard
  • @cezieg I agree with your statements. To add to your comments, I think that speutering pets has had a successful propagandistic campaign currently going on for good reasons such as to prevent backyard breedings, (which, the success this movement has is such a rarity for mass marketed ideas), but the unfortunate thing is that people blindly sip the kool-aid without weighing the consequences. With males, I think that leaving your dog the way nature intended is the best way to go. However, with females, I think that leaving them intact puts them at risk for pyometra if they are not bred, so I think I would spay a female after she is done doing the majority of her growing if I was not going to breed her, in my opinion.
  • My male dogs who were neutered early never had any problems either with penis development or with lifting their legs. They all did it just fine. That said, I prefer to wait until the male dog is a year old. There's a thread around here on that somewhere that would probably be useful to look at for those that have questions on that.

    I have seen no changes in temperament/personality in any of my spayed/neutered dogs. I did see changes in sex related behavior in the males (no more drinking girl dog pee, for example, or following around my spayed Shiba obsessively).

    I suspect the differences between males and females is like anything else--it depends on the dog. But I have noticed some females (esp. in Shibas) are sharper than the males, and tend to be more aggressive with other dogs. Also, they tend to not forget or forgive, and have a good memory for dogs they don't like. I find the males a bit easier overall, and that's also partially because i didn't have to worry about them going into heat (if I was getting a female now, I'd likely want to wait through at least one heat cycle before spaying).
  • I think the spay/neuter calming effect more-so depends on the dog. A friend of mine had his Shiba neutered at a young age, and that dog is NUTS! He doesn't have an off-switch! Taki has her moments where she (as a friend of mine so eloquently puts it) goes batsh*t. This mostly happens before bedtime, lol, but now it happens in the morning because she's excited that puppy is getting let out of her crate. I can't comment on female puppies' temperament as far as the male/female thing goes, because she's still full of that puppy spunk. But I can definitely say that her spunkiness has definitely made Taki more playful - she isn't the couch potato that she used to be!

    Taki, as a spayed female Shiba Inu is definitely very affectionate at times. She will climb into my lap if she is craving my attention, she'll snuggle up into my armpit or lay her neck across my neck if she wants that close feeling. It's not ALL the time, but those moments stay with me :). She's very sweet and mostly calm, but as I said before, she has her moments. With stranger dogs, she doesn't really give the time of day, but with her dog friends, she's all over them!

    @jellyfart I agree - it is more beneficial for females to be spayed than males (neutered). The breeders told me that testosterone contributes to longbone growth, so neutering a male too early could stunt his growth where that doesn't apply to females. Nonetheless, I plan to keep my female JA intact unless a health issue occurs because it is a major surgery that didn't go so well with Taki :(. I had Taki spayed at 7 months, I was pressured by a lot of people including the vet I used to go to, and I hate myself for doing it. I would've rather kept her intact. I grew up with intact females, so the "side effects" wont be new to me. But I definitely think don't neuter (at least not early) unless it's a problem or health issue.
  • @jellyfart You're correct. It's more beneficial for females to be spayed early because it reduces risk of pyometra as well as multiple cancers. They also aren't going to be missing any testosterone, so an imbalance of too much progesterone/estrogen isn't going to be a problem :P Whereas there have been studies that show a slight reduction in prostate cancer for males, but an increase in multiple other cancers.

    @shibamistress It's all relative to the age at which the male is neutered. If the puppy is neutered within a few months of being born then obviously it will have a greater impact on their growth vs if it was neutered close to a 9 months or beyond. It depends on the specific dog too. I saw early-neuter Goldens that had genitals half the size they should be, as well a few dachshunds that were also 9 week neuters who had themselves get stuck outside themselves causing very painful red inflammation. Two had to have $500 surgery to cut the sheathe so that it could all fit back together properly. After research and four years of seeing early neuter males having consistent symptoms across different breeds it just makes more sense to keep them intact until they're fully grown.
    ONLY if the owner can handle it though, which I would say everyone here is capable. We all know that the average owner most likely is not responsible enough for that though.

    Not to mention a lot of people are misinformed and expect monthly periods from their females. Heat is twice a year in most dogs if I remember correctly.
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