Selecting a Puppy, Part 2
Male or Female?
It is a fact that enquiries for female pups occur at a ratio of at least 2 to 1 versus males, sometimes much higher. Why is this, we often ask? We are given a number of reasons, many of which make little or no sense and in fact quite often after discussion of the pros and cons a client will change direction.
Some examples from these discussions follow:
“I have read that females are just better hunters”. Okay, let’s see if there are verifiable facts to back this up. One thing easy to do is to go to the published records of the Field Dog Stud Book and see if over the years more females have won major field trial events than Males. The answer is a definite NO. In the National Championships over a period of 88 years it has been won 60 times by a male and 28 times by a female. This is not of statistical significance since we did not look at how many males versus females were entered. We suspect many more males were in competition.
In the heyday of the Llewellin Setters, which was the first 12 years of the National Championships, it was won 9 times by a male Llewellin and 3 times by a female Llewellin. In the National Grouse championships over 39 years it has been won 22 times by a male, either Setter or Pointer, and 17 by a female.
The conclusion one is drawn to is that field performance is not gender related. All things being equal the best dog on any given day has about the same chance of being male or female.
“Females are easier to train, more affectionate, easier to handle, and better with children”. In addition they don’t cock their leg on the bushes, run off in search of females, or attack the mailman.
Well, it is true that females do not lift a leg to urinate or go looking for females. However their urine is more detrimental to the grass than the males and given freedom and a chance they will take off self hunting also. As far as affection and ease of training go we can honestly report that we have seen no particular advantage to either sex, and all of our dogs bark at the mailman!
Now let’s examine the real differences of significance.
Females are able to bear young. That is a major difference, which is as often a disadvantage as it is an advantage. Especially if the dog lives in the home and you have no particular desire to breed her.
Coming into heat every six months causes problems including the break up of happy homes where the wife didn’t want a hunting dog around in the first place; to say nothing about the frequent visits from a wide selection of horny males, some of them from miles away. Result, the dog gets spayed. That’s not all bad either because not breeding females who are constantly having rushing hormones has been identified with increased Cancer risk. However, in some dogs neutering will make for behavioral changes and an inclination to gain weight.
Conclusion, if you intend to have pups* a female is mandatory. Otherwise think it through.
It is a fact that from any given breeding the male is normally larger than the female. The average Llewellin Female going 35 lbs to 45 lbs and the male 45 lbs to 55 lbs. Size for whatever reason may be one of your considerations.
Finally, if you want the best selection of a pup from any given breeding why let the sex limit your choice? What if there are six males and two females in the litter and you have set your sights ahead on a female. You get to pick from two dogs, neither one of which may be as good in quality as the other six.
This article is not intended to push you towards one sex or the other. There are good, bad and indifferent examples of both sexes and you are going to have your selected dog around for anything up to 15 years. Make sure you give yourself the best chance for a successful relationship by playing the field up front. What you want is a really good gun dog, so just like color; don’t let the issue of gender put the blinders on. Try to see further down the road.
* I will address the issue of breeding your own dog in a future article.
KHS
November, 2005