I am in the market for a gsp and see that most of the people have females. Is this because they are easier to train?better behaved? Do you spay them so you don't have to worry when they come in heat? I'm looking for a dog for pheasant and quail hunting and will be living inside with us. thanks. sj

Good choice of dogs, I have both male and female it seems females are alittle more laid back not generally as rowdy as males but remember they are pups and will be quite playful females seem to be more of the aim to please attitude where the males can be abit hard headed but both are fine dogs i'd have to go with the female for an inside dog my male has the bull in a china shop mentality and even at 5yrs. old is quite rambuncious
I would'nt spay mine because i want pups in time but thats up to you i would'nt do it for 3-4 yrs. though


Edited by - HOSS on 02/06/2002 21:57:31

I HAVE HAD FEMALES MAINLY MYSELF BECAUSE THEY DO TEND TO BE EASIER AT THE VERY EARLY STAGES OF TRAINING. THEY DO HAVE A "SENSE TO PLEASE" ATTITUDE MORESO THAN MALES I FEEL. AND THEY DON'T "PISS AROUND" IF YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN. I AM A LABRADOR OWNER/TRAINER SINCE 1963, AND THRU THIS EXPERIENCE IN RETRIEVERS, CAN TRUTHFULLY BACK MY WORDS.
BEST OF LUCK!

THE LAB-MAN

I think I would agree that females are generally easier to train, and my dad always had females for that reason. I've always liked the biggest, deep chested male I could find. Man when he's on, nothing beats the style and drive of a big running male pointer that's just barely under control. Of course, when he has an off day he'll make you tear your hair out.

As a friend of mine once said, "Bird dogs are just like women. They're either the greatest joy, or the greatest aggravation in your life. There's no in-between."

TAL/IL nice to see sombody from close to home on the board welcome and have fun theres a good bunch of guys here with lots of knowledge to share

See the thread from Buck Boy " My GSP ran away... ". Not only did his male run away but while looking for his he encountered a man whose male GSP had run away.
This is not to say that a female won't do it but my experience has been males like to run lose and feamles don't.

Well I have 14month old female and she is a dream. I hunted Texas last week and The GSP male was very independant. My buddies were very surprised how my little girl hunted she is 50lbs. She was spayed at 5 months and she does not miss a lick...l

I am sorry my buddy had a 4 year old male...By the way my girl is a pet as well...lives inside..!

I'm sure there are fabulous male's out there, but I would get a female as well. I haven't been around a ton of GSP's, but in the lab world, female's are night and day different from males in most cases. More calm, and see to be more of an observer, as opposed to a chaser.

Just my two cents.

Chad

I have to agree with most of the guys here, a female is easier to train in the beginning.
But once you have a male trained right there is something about that big dog attiude that I really enjoy. Bo is around 75 pounds and acts like a big baby in the house,but when my 11 year old boy and him start playing you better grab what you don't want knoked down.
My friend has a littermate to Bo and she will take off any chance she gets when she goes out, she starts hunting and won't come back until the pheasants fly.So females do like to run also.(By the way he has 4 male pups left if interested emai [email protected] these are from the very best bloodlines in the U.S.}