# Questions with Male vs Female



## Anjazell (Apr 9, 2014)

Hello everyone so I'm back with some more questions!

I was supposed to get a male german shepherd/King sheppherd
But I was talking to the people that we're getting the puppy from and they said that they only have females left.. I really want a big dog that will be proective and kind to my family but also intimidating but sweet.
I understand its all about socializing the puppy and stimulating their brains because they're so intelligent.

Do female king shepherd/german shepherds grow to male size?

I've heard females usually bond to the family but will always have the one person they go to and see as their master. I've read that females go to the males and the males go to the females. I'm female and I'm scared my puppy won't bond to me as her main master.

I've heard that females are also quicker to train?

I don't really care the gender of the dog but I want her to bond to the family and be kind. I will love her regardless of her size but I would love to know!

Any info/opinions?
Thanks
Anja:apple:


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## Madisonmj97 (Mar 10, 2014)

I've always had males but I had a female once and she bonded to me so strongly and was very protective of me and the family, so to answer your question it honestly doesn't matter the gender, as long as you show them you're their master you will grow an amazing bond!


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## Lark (Jan 27, 2014)

I have a male but he was most bonded to my son. Now that my son is grown and moved out he is probably most bonded to me, but he is also pretty bonded to my husband. 

Are the dogs German Shepherds or King Shepherds? I looked into King Shepherds before deciding on my dog, and they scared me with hip and temperament issues. I decided to go with a German Shepherd from a good breeder instead.


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## Anjazell (Apr 9, 2014)

The dogs are a mix of king and german shepherd


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

I don't think anyone can say there are across the board differences between males and females other than physical ones. Females are generally smaller, but my small female is way more intimidating than my large dopey male. She's also incredibly bonded to me (though I didn't really leave that up to chance  ).


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## JohnD (May 1, 2012)

I have owned both..

Both are sweat...But the males will
sit all day getting loved from the kids while my female
will get up when she had enough. haha..

I got a female this time as I wanted a smaller size..

Our female loves everyone....I have 4 boys.

I'm thrilled having a female.


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## Jusdy (Mar 14, 2014)

There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


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## Madisonmj97 (Mar 10, 2014)

Jusdy said:


> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


 yesss, I agree. Well said


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## GSDAlphaMom (Jul 20, 2010)

Jusdy said:


> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


 

What?! I can't even begin to respond this is so wrong.


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## Lark (Jan 27, 2014)

Jusdy said:


> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


This is all the complete opposite of my male. He is friendly or neutral toward people and certainly won't bite a newcomer. He is also bonded to the whole family, and I don't think he would protect.


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## martemchik (Nov 23, 2010)

Jusdy said:


> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


This is gold.


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## JakodaCD OA (May 14, 2000)

> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger


 
Well I will respond, I respectively disagree and my opinion is this is a bunch of 'hooey' 

All depends on the dog "not" the gender. 

To the OP, no one can predict the future, if you trust your breeder you should be asking "them" your questions.


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## IllinoisNative (Feb 2, 2010)

Jusdy said:


> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


I haven't laughed this hard in a while. Thank you.


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## gurlonfire2004 (Jan 15, 2014)

Anjazell said:


> Hello everyone so I'm back with some more questions!
> 
> I was supposed to get a male german shepherd/King sheppherd
> But I was talking to the people that we're getting the puppy from and they said that they only have females left.. I really want a big dog that will be proective and kind to my family but also intimidating but sweet.
> ...


My female is very bonded to me and I am also female. The size thing would depend on the size of the parents. If the parents were big, pup will likely be big.


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## Phoenix14 (Mar 12, 2014)

*Wondering this myself*

I got a female GSD she's 4 months old we are still working on affection without nipping. I feel really guilty and bad for my daughter she's 1 1/2 yrs old. I thought/hoped that our Phoenix would be a lil more gentle with her. If my daughter cries for any reason and I dont get up right away she will bark and pull on my pants leg until I or my husband get up. She gets so happy when my daughter is up and licks her hand even tinkles a bit. But if my daughter tries to hug her(Supervised of course) she snaps it's a more like a your annoying me snap never aggressive. I'm hoping she eventually will be more gentle with her. My biggest worry is when we move back to the states how she will be/react with the other kiddos in our family. I was already told that they dont want the kids around her. She's a great dog and making great progress I am just hoping that I did the right thing getting a Female vs a Male or does it even matter?


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## Bequavious (Mar 9, 2013)

Jusdy said:


> There are little differences between males and females but there are enough to tell the two apart.
> 1. Females are more of a family dog; they have an equal bond with each of the family members. Males are a one-person dog; they usually only bond with one person in the family and actually will attack another family member if he thinks they will harm the family member they bonded with.
> 2. Males are more aggressive towards strangers and will often bite a newcomer even though they didn't do anything wrong. Females are more cautious and will only attack a stranger when they sense fear in their owner towards that person.
> 3. When it comes to actually protecting you, males are the way to go. Females will protect you, but to a point. Once the female is physically hurt, she will stop attacking the stranger and cower away. For example, if your female was attacking a stranger and they hit or kicked her, she will get hurt and scared and let go. While males will only see it as a challenge keep going after the stranger.


Umm no. Yeah just no. When was the last time you had a dog "actually protect you"? Because I can guarantee you that there are both males that will do absolutely nothing to protect you and females that will fight past a lot more than getting hit and kicked.



Phoenix14 said:


> I got a female GSD she's 4 months old we are still working on affection without nipping. I feel really guilty and bad for my daughter she's 1 1/2 yrs old. I thought/hoped that our Phoenix would be a lil more gentle with her. If my daughter cries for any reason and I dont get up right away she will bark and pull on my pants leg until I or my husband get up. She gets so happy when my daughter is up and licks her hand even tinkles a bit. But if my daughter tries to hug her(Supervised of course) she snaps it's a more like a your annoying me snap never aggressive. I'm hoping she eventually will be more gentle with her. My biggest worry is when we move back to the states how she will be/react with the other kiddos in our family. I was already told that they dont want the kids around her. She's a great dog and making great progress I am just hoping that I did the right thing getting a Female vs a Male or *does it even matter?*


No, it does not matter, and young puppies are rarely gentle.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

I have had both. My females are smaller than my males, as is expected. My females have bonded with me(a female) no problem. All of my dogs(except my Labrador) are social when needed and protective when needed. 

I will say that a confident male dog, is a HUGE presence. More so than the females. But I don't know that it would make an actual difference in a life and death situation. I have never been in one. 

My current female GSD is a huge love bug. Always snuggled up. 


Sent from Petguide.com Free App


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## SunCzarina (Nov 24, 2000)

My boys have all been good with children but the bitches more caring, willing to sit with a sad child and more interested in the random things children want to show them. Otto does not care your brothers said a mean thing to you...

The female I have now doesn't have a protective bone in her body but the most fiercely protective of all my shepherds was a female. When my children were small, I'd take the twins in the stroller and Morgan would help pull. 

Twins are a tourist attraction, more than a few times some random person remarked 'if I try to touch those kids, that dog would take my arm off.' Lets not find out please. Morgan had this little move she did, someone would come near the front of the stroller and she'd just walk out there. Look up with her serious face and get the 'that dog would kill me' reaction. She never did but she had this 'I'd be pleased to eat you' stare.


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## Harry and Lola (Oct 26, 2013)

Do female king shepherd/german shepherds grow to male size? generally no, in terms of weight the average weight for a male GSD is about 83 pounds compared to about 66 for a female 

I've heard females usually bond to the family but will always have the one person they go to and see as their master. I've read that females go to the males and the males go to the females. I'm female and I'm scared my puppy won't bond to me as her main master. [my experience has been a GSD will be closer to the family member that feeds, exercises, grooms and plays with them all the time

I've heard that females are also quicker to train? depends on the GSD but generally females seem to learn quicker


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I have one of each. Both love kids but my male looks for them when they leave, he seems to get sad. I have seen both of them react once each to "possible" bad situation. The male ran across the yard for some roofers that were on a neighbors roof, it was cold and they had ski masks on to keep warm. I have never heard a bark like that come out of him or any other dog, my son came running and wanted to know what dog was barking like that. He stopped barking immediately once he realized there was no danger, he just went about his business and ignored them. My son came home for a surprise visit and was waiting in a dark corner of the yard with a hoodie on. My female rounded the corner running barking and growling at him. She was not going to back off, he spoke to her quickly and she stopped in her tracks when she realized it was him. Scared him. The male weighs 100 pounds and looks more intimidating then the female that weighs 77 pounds . They are both strongly bonded to me. I think they could both do damage, but my gut tells me the female would be the one to protect, hopefully we will never find out.


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## Jusdy (Mar 14, 2014)

For those who disagree; I respect your opinion, but the advice I gave that some of you "laughed" at or called "hooey" comes from 14 years or experience with this breed. I am a certified Police K-9 Handler which means I teach German Shepherds and their partners the skills they need to work in the police force. Every year we get about 30 GSD's to train as Police Patrol Dogs. I work with these dogs 5 days a week preparing them for the International Protection Services Test. This test has 15 levels to it that each dog must past in order to work in the protection field. The 15th level is the Schutzhund Test. Most females don't even make it past the 8th level because they have shown signs of cowardliness and/or fear. Here are some statistics; 90% of female GSDs that are entered into a Police Dog training class *fail* their first month in the program while 95% of male GSDs *pass* the whole thing. Only 5% of GSD Police Dogs are female.


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## divergrrl (Apr 2, 2014)

In my 40+ years I grew up with 2 male dogs (one early childhood-springer spaniel, the other high school/college-cocker spaniel) and 2 female dogs during my adult years (both GSDs) and I have to say, all were major love bugs on me. 

My current GSD is so sweet and so goofy, that for the longest time my hubby and I were thinking "great, some watchdog, well at least she looks tough." 

Ohhhh no. We had a neighbor go through our back gate to come help us with something, but we were in the house. We saw from the kitchen window as our friend reached over and unlocked the garden gate, she flew from the upper deck down the stairs snarling and barking. Our neighbor froze. As she saw who it was, she skidded to a stop and then went up to him all wiggles. He on the other hand darn near had a coronary. 

Another time I fell asleep comforting my young daughter upstairs in her room. I woke up about 2 am and decided to go downstairs to bed. The second my foot hit the landing my dog tore up the stairs with the most aggressive bark I've ever heard. An adult foot fall upstairs where there are only children was NOT ok with her. She got half way up the stairs, saw it was me, gave me a look and went back to bed. 

I can hear her at night sometimes, she will get up a few times, walk around the house, go upstairs, check on the kids and then come back down. 

I can't even take her to the park with me and the kids. It's torture for her. She "talks" to the kids the whole time they are playing on the equipment. She wants to be on their hip. It makes her nervous to have them out of her sight. 

If we are out walking and someone I don't know approaches us, she places herself between us and just watches. When my kids were babies, she'd stand in between the stroller and any person. 

She greets us at the door, she adores my husband, my son, my daughter, and me. She even likes the cat. (although she feels its her duty to keep the cat in line) 

My male dogs (while not GSDs) were pretty good watchdogs but more family dogs. Actually the cocker deterred a burglar while the springer let one in. And licked his hand while my dad held him waiting for the police. *facepalm* 

My old GSD I had when I was living on my own right out of college was a beast too. Sweet as pie, but someone tried to get into my house boat one night and she lost her ever loving mind. 

Yes, females are smaller, but I honestly think bonding has more to do with the dogs personality and their match with us. As for protectiveness, I feel very safe with my girl. She's all business when we are out. I worry that she doesn't even enjoy walks with the kids because she's so focused on them. 

I know she enjoys walks and jogs with me, but my kids? All business. We are going to be a mess when she passes away. The doc gave her a few months to live. My poor girl.


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## Cara Fusinato (May 29, 2011)

Size doesn't matter THAT much -- 66, 80, 90 etc. pound dog is enough to deter anyone. No one is going to say "Eh, I can take a 66 pound dog" but be deterred by an 85 pound dog. I've had people rush up to pet my male shepherd but back away from my 35 pound sheltie because she's black, glaring, with those beedy little eyes. She looks way more evil than the shepherd, even though she is a sweetie and so is he, for that matter. Training and proper socialization within and outside of the family are much more important. I think choosing JUST for size is sort of overkill. Deterring is deterring -- for the average owner and home. I doubt you really need the difference in drive and aggression between Schutzhund level 8 and 15 for the everyday person. 

As to the female/male mind. . . males are like children, females are like your bestest girlfriend. You may butt heads at times, but the ladies give you their hearts to a level males don't. Males are goofballs til their brain clicks. Females are more serious earlier. Once you and your female form a team (or family unit), females are really great. I wouldn't say females in general are "one person" dogs. I wouldn't turn down a female, I really respect their mentality.


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## Chip18 (Jan 11, 2014)

As long as it's actually a "King Shepherd" you're looking at the females are going to be big most likely at least 90+ pounds and the males are huge 120+. 

As long as you're not looking for a working K9 and you raise your dog right I think either gender will work for you. 

Yes Male/Females are different but you have to start somewhere.


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