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sylviatexas1

"High-Strung" Dogs: Males or Females?

sylviatexas1
9 years ago

I talked to a woman who has 2 male standard poodles;
she said she will never have a female dog because they're too high-strung & the males are more laid-back.

I my own self favor females, because it seems to me that *they* are more laid-back.

Have you noticed a difference (assume that you're comparing like to like: poodles to poodles, Chihuahuas to Chihuahuas, Dobes to Dobes)?

Comments (4)

  • socks
    9 years ago

    It would seem to me that you cannot say this about dog breeds any more than you can say it about people. Are women more high strung than men?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    well I dunno.

    That's why I asked.

    There are differences, if not in the level of response then at least in what males & females respond to & in the way they respond.

    My neighbors have a Rott/Pit mix, neutered now but intact at the time this happened.

    This dog has a bad rep in the neighborhood;
    he doesn't like men, or hats, or uniforms, or (as we thought at the time) any dogs.
    He would very likely kill a cat, & even today, with his post-snip mellowing, I wouldn't risk allowing him within striking distance of a male dog .

    but he looked so lonely over there, so one day when his owner had him on a leash, I took Katie, my Lab mix, over for a play date.

    Katie was so delighted to see him!
    She bounded toward Tyson, grinning & wagging her tail...
    & Tyson *looked* at her.

    Katie hit the dirt, still wiggling & wagging & grinning, & crept or crawled up to him until they could just touch noses.

    She knew what to do!

    (Now Tyson loves her.)

    How much of that was breed, how much was sex-related submissiveness, how much was territorial submissiveness, I don't know.

    Based on that episode, I'd have to say the male was more 'high strung'.

    I just had been thinking about what this dog owner had told me;
    females are more high strung.

    Are they, or are they not?

    beats me.

    That's why I asked.

  • laurief_gw
    9 years ago

    First you have to define "high strung". Are you acquainting it with aggressiveness? High energy? High anxiety? Dominance?

  • sylviatexas1
    Original Author
    9 years ago

    The way I understand "high-strung", I would think more like anxiety, maybe nervous, maybe high-maintenance in an emotional way.

    Her dogs were standard poodles, & I'm not familiar with the breed;
    the only one I ever met was a female, & she didn't seem to be aggressive, but I never saw her with other dogs, so don't know about dominance.

    I'd guess her dogs weren't dominant, since there were 2 males living harmoniously in the household.