Wow, this is interesting post. I have always thought that Males were less territorial than females. I have found that Females are more dominant over male dogs. Maybe this is just my personal experience.

Thanks for all the input! I will probably go with a female pup, mainly just because I prefer females . However, I'm not totally against getting a male. I would love whichever one we got!

Nice to hear that, maryelser! And good luck in getting the pup of your dreams. Keep us updated when you bring him/her home.

I prefer female dogs. They are easy to maintain and I find them to be very friendly.

While both crave attention from their owners/families, the males seem to be a little more demanding in wanting the attention. They also seem to be a little more goofy. The females seem more intent and focused.

With strangers and those acquaintances that they don't see as often, the males seem to be almost friendly with everyone, warming up readily to strangers. The females aren't as overly friendly to strangers, more aloof, needing time to check them out first.

Our first Berner, Sadie, wouldn't warm up to people doing work in the yard. She would bark and back away, continuing to alert with the bark. She wouldn't allow these strangers to get close to her. Even when I would go in the back yard, she wouldn't readily calm down.

On the other hand, our male, Everest, will get in the way of people doing their work. For instance, the cable guy pulled up one day and Everest barked to let us know that someone strange was there. But once the guy was in the yard working, Everest was right beside of him, on top of him really. He even went under the guys arm and forced a hug while the cable guy was trying to work.

Males are not only bigger, but look much larger do to their larger head and heavy coat. Intact females will shed twice a year so they will look much smaller and don't keep their coats.

A medium sized female will also be a more active/energetic dog than a heavy male.

In my life, I have had a male Collie, a male yellow lab, female poodle/yorkie, female Gret Pyr/lab, a male goldendoodle, and my Berner in various combinations. The last three are with me now.

This is what I have noticed about male and female dogs: My 2 females have been more protective. They have a tendency to stay nearby, even at the off leash parks, while the males socialize more with other dogs and people. The females have chewed/destroyed cushions and shoes, while the males destroy paper plates and toilet paper rolls.

The males remained puppies longer, but that may be the breeds. The boys like to play rough with me, while the girls just want to be petted.

When my daughter was little, we had the lab, the yorkiepoo, and the Great Pyr. None of the dogs have ever hurt her or even played rough with her. None of them have ever even growled at her.

There have been three accidents with dogs in 40 years: My daughter tripped over our yellow lab on a tile floor when she was three and chipped her front teeth. The same dog also got a hold of a bag of animal crackers once and when my friend's son tried to take them away from him (he was 4), the dog grabbed the bag back with his teeth, nipping the boy on the hand and drawing some blood. The last accident we had was about 10 years ago. My Great Pyr accidentally laid on the yorkiepoo. The yorkiepoo growled at her and showed her teeth and the Great Pyr snarled back. I went to pull the Great Pyr away and caught her teeth. I ended up with a few stitches.

In 45 years of having dogs, none of them have ever purposely bitten anyone.

I used to think I liked male dogs better, but my female is the calmest, sweetest, most forgiving animal I have ever had. She is not as demanding of attention as the boys. She waits patiently until the boys are finished playing with me, and then she comes and lies down next to me. She also hangs out with me for hours, while the boys are very easily distracted by other things.

Hope this helps.

That's interesting.... I had a breeder tell me the complete opposite... that females tend to be a little more independant and the males are the ones that listen better... Males tend to be less sensitive to discipline and take orders better.