Male or Female Hunting Dogs

We had a German Shorthair Pointer for twelve years. When we went to pick him up we were set on a female. The one that really stuck with my wife was a male so that is what we got. We had him neutured has soon as we could. Lots of folks put it off thinking they are going to bred some day, and they might once or never. I believe either sex is o.k. it all comes down to what you want, and if you are not into breeding I think getting them neutured or spade is the way to go for many reasons. I dont believe it effected him in anyway except he squatted instead of lifting his leg. Ha Ha. Also no humping etc. I guess that can still happen though. For ten of the twelve years we had him, we done more hunting, and scoring birds than I ever thouht where out there. He was a great dog. Had him cremated, and buried were we got the first bird with him, and the hat I was wearing. It was sad, but he also gave us some of the best times of our lifes. There is no doubt whatever type dog you get I am sure it will make you very happy. No matter how bad your day is they are always there wagging there tail waiting for you. Good luck, and enjoy!
 
I am a Veterinarian as well. I agree with what Dr. A said re early spay/neuter. There are theories that doing it early (<3-4 months) may predispose them to ligament or tendon problem, but there is no real evidence of it. They do tend to have a little higher incidence of urinary incontinence, though.

I have not seen any sex differences re cruciate tears, though. I find I'm fixing male and female cruciate tears with about equal frequency. They are almost always overweight dogs, and Labs are overrepresented.

We recommend spay/neuter at 5-6 months of age.
 
I have one of both (Vizslas). Most folks seem to prefer females for intelligence, and thus trainability. I haven't seen that. I think she's smart enough, but she can be such a drama queen, she won't want to do something that she loves (like hold a point) when she realizes I want her to do it.

My male (5 years old and unaltered) is strong, with lots of endurance (he likes to run with me), is very loyal as I have trained him myself, loves to hunt, and has a very agreeable disposition.

Hey, ever notice how much alike people and dogs are!?:D
 
I've had a number of dogs (all Labs - black, thanks) over the years and have trained some and sent some off.

I definitly like males the best - much more than females, but that is just a personal thing. I find they are much more stubborn when intact, but once the dynamics of the relationship are developed, I find I just like their enthusiasm, personality, and dedication more.

Not that I don't like females.

As for the training thing - I am not a fan of just sending a dog off for 3 months of training. As a dog lover, I love to see them grow up. My current lab has about 8 weeks of professional training to get him started - and then I have trained him the rest of the way. EVEN WHILE HE WAS OFF AT THE TRAINERS - I would make it a point of driving the 2 1/2 hours to visit at least once a week (and often times 2 or 3 times a week) and train him along with his trainer.

This has been very successful, and enabled far less problems in the transition from training to home and also ensured he was trained to my style and desires.
 
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