If you get the alpha male out of the litter he may be head strong and stubborn. Mine was 1 1/2 lbs. heavier than his next largest sibling and he gave me some issues when he was around 17 months old but no more than most guys I know who have had males at that age. My female is extremely intelligent but more timid and less sure in the field, not to say it's because she is a female that is just her demeanor. With the females you'll have spotting and some messes to clean up when she comes in season until she is spayed if not breeding her. I believe a male can be more assertive in the field among other dogs which could be bad if paired up with another male. Male or female if trained right you'll have a great hunting companion. The dog will be what you make it.
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I spent nearly every day of my life hunting... the rest have been wasted
Very true, my boy stores water like a camel and needs to pee like me during a good night of drinking beer. As he has grown older he hits the bird fields and goes right into hunt mode, getting distracetd very little as long as there are birds in the field.
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I spent nearly every day of my life hunting... the rest have been wasted
I hunt with pointing Irish Setters and I have found my male to be the better hunter. As stated the female is a little timid. My male was really head strong. But, once I got through that part I would be hard pressed to find a better hunter. He might stop to do a little marking in the begining when justb starting out. After that forget it he wants to find the birds no ifs, ands, or buts about it. So it is really to each thier own I would say.
when we used to breed beagles,dad and me 42 years ago,the FEMALES were almost always better hunters.the MALES would fart around then would go hunting and most were not the hunter that FEMALES were. females almost always had better noses.usually the males were bigger dog so tiring out may have had a lot to do with it too.
my toby is in a conditioning program along with me. he had his toe removed and i am taking it slow.trying this to see if it makes any difference this year on toby hunting longer.
when i picked toby out of 10 dogs,7 females and 3 males.
i wanted a male.
when we would take the dogs each into room ,males all just farted around.
when carl brought in females they would put their noses down to floor and run sniffing.now these are only puppys but i saw it and was very close to getting a female.
those males would walk around like they were big boss of the room,females sniffed ............
but toby is male and hunts fine ...................
I find females tend to mature faster than males. Personality wise, I dont really see much of a difference. Males will want to dominate even if spayed. How they handle being 'put-off' by the other dog will tell you how aggressive he is.
Females usually won't show dominating behavior but will tend to warn off strange dogs if they don't want to be bothered. 'Aloof' would be a good word to describe my female. She doesn't tolerate certain behaviors from strange dogs. If they ignore her she'll happily ignore them but if they want to play then she'll warn them off. I find this attitude with alot of females.
Both genders mark. Males maybe more but my dog will find a male's marker then mark over it.
you can put 2 males together in home but not good idea to put 2 females.males will get aggressive but females will show you what aggression is to each other.this is why most breeders suggest its ok to put a male puppy with a adult male but not female puppy with adult male or adult female.
Gender means absolutely nothing as it pertains to hunting. A good dog is a good dog is a good dog.
It all boils down to preference. If you prefer females for whatever reason, they will hunt better than males. The same holds true the other way. If you're looking to bring a hunting pup into your house for the first time, do not focus on gender. Find the breed you want and then find the breeder that hunts the way you want to hunt.
If you already have a fixed notion of what you prefer, nobody will be able to convince you of the opposite, so go with your preconceived notion.
In reality, it boils down to:
If you want your dog to squat when she pees, get a female. If you want him to lift his leg, get a male.
Male or Female Pointer?
