# Male or female for family with kids?



## MeganAlene (Jan 20, 2015)

Which do you say typically does better with young children? We are picking out a puppy soon and I'm trying to make the best.


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## Stevenzachsmom (Mar 3, 2008)

Male or female makes no difference. How old are your kids? Just be prepared to monitor any puppy with your kids. German Shepherd puppies are called alligator puppies and landsharks for a reason.


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## Jax08 (Feb 13, 2009)

It totally depends on the breeding, not the sex, IMO.


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## igottabecrazy (May 24, 2013)

Agreeing with the other reply about the land shark thing. Indie used my very passive 11 year old as a chew toy for a long time. He would tell her "no" instead of telling her "NO!". He didn't like her for the first year but they are best buds now.
The age of the kids and their personalities are important. 

Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## Eiros (Jun 30, 2011)

Responsible breeders will usually choose the dog for you, as they are with them from day one and know their temperaments. I'd ask for their opinion on which dog is going to be best for your family.


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## Wolfenstein (Feb 26, 2009)

Eiros said:


> Responsible breeders will usually choose the dog for you, as they are with them from day one and know their temperaments. I'd ask for their opinion on which dog is going to be best for your family.


This is what we did! When we were searching, at the time I was still between a GSD and another breed. I talked about our situation and what we were looking for to two breeders I highly respect. I had an instinct that a girl would be better for us, and both breeders happened to agree.

We're waiting on our GSD puppy, now. They're 7 weeks old, and although the list has been whittled down some, we still don't know who we're going to end up with. But yesterday, the breeder e-mailed me just to clarify a few things about our future plans with our puppy, just so she could be absolutely sure we're getting the right dog. They'll continue to do temperament testing, with formal testing at 8 weeks, and then eventually we'll know who we're going to get. 

When I was looking at breeders, finding someone that has a track record for picking puppies and does temperament testing for the whole puppyhood were key. Having a house with kids, it's definitely the best way to go.


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## Kayos and Havoc (Oct 17, 2002)

I do not think it matters, I have had both genders with kids. 

Just enjoy your puppy!


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## Jame (Jan 26, 2015)

Kayos and Havoc said:


> I do not think it matters, I have had both genders with kids.
> 
> Just enjoy your puppy!


I agree! We have friends with both genders and kids and I haven't noticed a different behavior. My sister has a male gsd and the kids love him very much


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## EMH (Jul 28, 2014)

In my limited experience of having owned 4 GSDs throughout my life, they were all good with me and my sister as kids. They let us romp on em and all the dumb stuff kids do to dogs. The one thing I did notice was that the male was more protective of us (the kids) _while at the house._ But the females were more protective of us _while we were out of the house and in different environments. 

_Obviously, this is going to vary from dog to dog, breeding to breeding.


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## Sunflowers (Feb 17, 2012)

A good breeder will not let the buyer pick, but will temperament test the pups at 7 weeks and select the one who would be the best fit.

A GSD is a dog that must be supervised when interacting with children. Not a dog to put out in the yard with them alone and let them play with the pup.

How old are the kids?


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## BeachLvr (Jul 17, 2013)

I have owned a dozen Shepherds over the last 4 1/2 decades but only one was female. Prior to that my parents had Shepherds. My experience has been males tend to be more tolerant and more "needy" Personally she is my first and last female.
It still comes down to the genetics and the individual pup.


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## WateryTart (Sep 25, 2013)

I only have experience with my one female puppy but I echo those who say let the breeder pick your pup. I went from absolutely preferring a girl to realizing that sex wasn't the most important attribute. My breeder knew I ultimately wanted the individual puppy she felt was the best fit. I still secretly wanted a girl but I would have loved the right puppy no matter what. It just worked out that I got a female.

My girl is great with kids. She loves them and seems to know she needs to be calmer and more gentle. She's been that way since she was a tiny puppy, so it isn't something we taught her.

She did go through a landshark phase and we supervised her very closely, but she never even tried to get mouthy with a child, for what that's worth. It was like watching a different puppy when she was interacting with a little kid versus when she was being all landshark with me.


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## gsforever (Apr 16, 2013)

I have only owned 2 gsd and another pup very soon.
The first 2 were female both friendly towards kids, my 3rd pup is a female.
I would not keep pretty well any dog with younger kids without supervision, why risk it.


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## Galathiel (Nov 30, 2012)

I've had an even split ... 2 females and am on my third male. The first four were great with their kids, very patient and loving as adults. My current male loves the kids he is around (no kids in the home now), but is still too rough. The youngest child, at 4, is a great size for him to be able to lick his neck. It doesn't go over that well.


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## kelbonc (Aug 25, 2014)

I have a male now and had a male and female in the past. All are/were wonderful with children. I really can't say that one gender was better then another in my experiences. I think temperment is a big factor and a good breeder can help guide you so that you get a good match for your family.


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## Saphire (Apr 1, 2005)

I prefer males as I can easily leave them intact and not have to deal with heat cycles. As for temperament with kids, I've not noticed a difference between sexes. Like others have said, genetics will play a role in temperament.


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## BARBIElovesSAILOR (Aug 11, 2014)

Great question. In my personal experience, either would have been fine. The most important factor is that they have a ("maternal" for lack of a better word) instinct. Sailor; obviously a boy dog, was very maternal. He was maternal with his toy, he would clean it and care for it. I called it his baby bear because it was like his baby. He also was the same so my niece who was 7-8 yrs. at the time. He was protective and loving with her. He would sleep by her bed. When she was too scared to go upstairs by herself, he would go with her. He would let her love on him. It was very sweet to see. I have had female dog clients that are like this too. The owners have kids and a dog. The kids could strangle the dog and the dog would just love them and give them kisses. (Okay, no kid actually did this, I'm just saying...) basically what I mean is, the female dogs thought the kids could do no wrong. They always treated them with ultimate care and love. One of my clients has a child with special needs. When the client starts having a tantrum and is inconsolable, the female dog will go in the room and the child hug her. 

These are my experiences, not every dog's temperament is capable of this, but I would not stereotype and say males are better than females or visa versa. 

Hope this answers your question :-/ ?


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## nezzz (Jan 20, 2013)

I've had 2 males and 3 females so far. All really nice family pets and protective of my family. You could tell the males were more intense around strangers though whereas the females were more maternal.

Main thing still applies, you need them properly trained and socialised, in addition to getting them from a proper breeder, or adopt the correct dog with the right temperament.


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