German Wirehaired Pointer Club of America

[thealpes]

I have always had male dogs and I did not even think about having a female until recently. I am not planning on breeding our new pup. The new pup will be a family companion first and a hunting dog second.

Assuming that you had the choice between a male and female pup from the same litter which would you choose? Why?

Is one easier to train than the other?
Is a male going to be a more aggresive hunter than a female?

[cheerio]

Male or female? Hummmm this is such an objective matter!
yes I suppose there are some differences...
I have found the males a little more "gluey" than the female which is a little more independant. This accounts for the fact that a female is sometimes a little harder to recall.
Both are equally affectionate and loyal to their family.
The male shows his sense of humor at an earlier age than the female shows hers, but at the end, the female is more of a clown than the male.
At adolescence, the female does not hear you and the male simply chooses to ignore you...
I have heard that females are more likely to bite. Whether this is true, I don't know, but it is the case in most breeds, so probably is.
As far as hunting instinct, I will leave the matter in the hand of those who do hunt with their GWP.

[cmmilach]

Hi,

I can only tell you from my experience about which makes a better pet & hunting companion.

I currently own two wires, one male & one female. The male, Doc is 9 1/2 yrs old & was intact until he was 8 yrs of age. He is 26 inches at the shoulder & weighs 65 lbs., is a great hunting dog, does agility & field trials & hunt test. He was not an easy dog to train or to handle, but I can be just as stubborn as him, so I prevailed. He started to jump my six foot fence from a sit when he was 6 months chasing a squirrel.

My female, Sky, just turned two in July. She is every bit as good a bird dog as my male. She has been at Bird Dog Camp since the middle of May due some aggression that started to show up when she was 18 months old. It turned out that she did not want the other dog to get to the bird first, so her way of dealing with it was to be aggressive towards the other dog in hopes of intimidating it. Sky has never offered to jump the fence. Sky is only 22 inches at the shoulder & weighs 42 lbs.

I guess it all depends on what you are willing to deal with. Males can be dominant & can also be dog aggressive but on the other hand, so can females.

All I can say is, do your homework before you make a decision you may live to regret.

Cathy