I'm definitely going to show my age with that reference in the title for this blog post! Anyone else remember that historic tennis match between Billie Jean King and Bobby Riggs in 1973? If you are too young to remember it, definitely look it up. It's epic. Anyway, now that I have your attention, we can move on to this week's blog topic: Male dogs versus female dogs.
Back in 1988, my graduate school advisor, Benjamin Hart, wrote a book, compiled from data that many of us, his graduate students, collected and analyzed. The book, "The Perfect Puppy: How to Choose Your Dog by Its Behavior" looked at thirteen behavioral traits and 56 AKC recognized dog breeds. There is an entire chapter of the book devoted to understanding the differences between male and female dogs, beyond the obvious ones, of course. This was an important chapter as the general consensus at the time among dog owners seemed to be that there was little difference between male and female dogs, it was just about personal preference or availability when you were looking to add a dog to your family. A handful of us in Ben Hart's lab had dogs of our own and could anecdotally attest to the fact that there were significant behavioral differences between our male and female dogs, unrelated to their spay/neuter status. To this day, I still refer back to much of that research when advising prospective dog owners on what to look for in their next companion dog. I also use that research to help explain why dog owners have some of the behavioral issues they are having; it's because they chose a male dog...or a female dog. Gender and breed do intersect, meaning, for example, just because you chose a female Rottweiler, that doesn't mean that she won't be territorial; Rotties rank high for territoriality whether they are male or female, but choosing a female *may* mean slightly less territoriality as compared to males.
When talking about animals, we often refer to something called "sexual dimorphism." This refers to differences between animals of a particular species based on whether they are male or female. Differences can be anatomical, physiological, or behavioral. Within any given breed, dogs aren't particularly sexually dimorphic in size; while females may be slightly smaller or weigh a bit less than males, the difference is not significant. This also means that a dog's gender isn't readily apparent unless you can see their genitalia. This is why male collies were so successfully used to play Lassie in the movies and on TV; there isn't a big difference in size between male and female rough coat collies, and that coat hides their genitalia quite well, allowing male dogs to consistently portray the female Lassie. Why were males chosen for the role? Male collies want to please their owners/handlers. Female collies are more independent. Which brings me to my next point: Most animal species, dogs included, are sexually dimorphic with regard to their behavior.
Female dogs tend to be less aggressive overall, particularly when it comes to aggression toward other female dogs; male dogs are more aggressive overall, particularly toward other males. Male dogs engage in more urine marking behavior than female dogs, and they also mount other dogs (and their humans if not corrected for this!) more than female dogs do. So, if you already have a male dog, you might want to consider a female dog if you are going to get a second dog. You would thus reduce the tendency for aggression by your male dog toward the new dog. If you already have a female dog, you can add either a female or male as your second dog, given the fact that females are less aggressive overall than males.
For the study on which the book above was based, questions about breeds and breed-specific behaviors were not posed to breeders, or anyone else with a vested interest in promoting any given breed. Veterinarians and their staff were asked, as were obedience judges, not conformation judges. We asked these folks to comment on the differences between male and female dogs of the breeds represented in the study. With the exception of markers in excitability, these experts polled reported differences between male and female dogs across the board in terms of their behavior. While some of the sex differences were subtle, they were nonetheless statistically significant. Personally, I think the most significant result of this part of the study was the fact that there were no behavioral traits for which male experts polled differed from female experts polled; our experts were in agreement on the sexually dimorphic behaviors exhibited by dogs!
By now, I hope you are wondering just exactly what behavioral traits male dogs scored higher on than female dogs, regardless of breed, so here they are: Dominance over their owner, aggression toward other dogs, general activity, territorial defense, destructiveness, and playfulness. Dominance over the owner got a score of 70/100 for male dogs, the highest score in the study. Playfulness, while statistically significant for being higher in males than females, was just 20/100. There were only three behavioral traits for which female dogs ranked higher than males and they were: obedience training, ease of housetraining, and demand for affection. For obedience training that was a score of 40/100. And that demand for affection? Just 20/100. So, while the experts we polled ranked females higher for demanding attention, there really wasn't a huge difference. For watchdog barking, excessive barking, and general excitability, all the markers we classified under reactivity, there wasn't a big difference between males and females.
So, what does this mean for you, the dog owner, or prospective dog owner? It means that if you are choosing a purebred dog, you can utilize these behavioral trait differences to your advantage when deciding between a male and female. For example, lets say you are looking to get a small breed dog. Generally speaking, the small dog breeds in our study ranked high on snapping at kids, excessive barking, dominance over the owners, and destructiveness. Given all of that, choosing a female dog would hedge your bets that you'd experience less dominance, for example. Then, you could narrow down your breed choices and consider a Shih Tzu, perhaps, because they scored mid-range on those traits. Choosing a female Shih Tzu would hedge your bets even further.
I really wish the study could be repeated again, looking at additional breeds that we see more commonly now like Cavalier King Charles Spaniels, French Bulldogs, Australian Cattledogs, Pit Bulls, and Border Collies. We simply didn't see enough of them back in the late 1980's to poll experts on those breeds. Now? Those breeds would absolutely be included due to their over-representation in the dog population. If you are into Beagles, Pugs, German Shepherds, or Retrievers, however, you'd enjoy perusing this book and seeing how your experiences line up with the results of our study. It really was fascinating and rather ground-breaking at the time.
As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.
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