Does Gender Matter?

It  doesn’t matter if you work in greyhound rehoming, mixed-breed or even  mixed-species rescue, there is one thing that all forms of the sector  have in common.  That is the preference toward female animals.  Be it a  greyhound, a cat, a guinea pig, or anything else…you always find large  numbers of people registering a specific interest to adopt females.

While  we can’t speak to the logic with other species, it is very common in  dog rehoming.  You may be wondering why?  Well, as with any subject,  there are long standing myths and opinions surrounding canine ownership.

Myths  such as the idea that females are cleaner and easier to house train,  they’re better behaved and more trainable, that they’re better on the  lead and that they are smaller.

Of  all the reasons we have heard over the years, in relation to gender  specific requests, there is only one that holds any amount of truth.   That females are smaller.  

Though  even that isn’t always correct.  You can get females that are bigger  than most males, we’ve seen some absolute tables before!  You can also  get males who are dinky and small.

We  have found over the years that females are often adopted a lot faster  than males, particularly the big black boys who end up being overlooked  time and time again.  Even if their temperament is much steadier  compared to the females.
We often find the biggest  males are the gentlest and most laid back, as if it’s such an effort to  move their massive bodies, especially when compared to the smallest  girls who have too much character crammed into their little bodies and  are scatty, excitable, and downright annoying at times!

It’s  often the case that friends or family have influenced people’s opinion  prior to approaching the rehoming centre, and with the internet full of  conflicting information, no one really knows what to believe!  But we’re  here to assure you that they are in fact myths and choosing the right  hound for you encompasses much more than simply their gender.

While this is going to sound ironic, as we’re all the proud owners of lady hounds, we all agree that males are so much better!  

Not  to heavily generalise (but we will), we find females can be more  independent, more cat-like in that they are much more intelligent and do  everything on their terms…as opposed to the males who are just skinny,  lanky golden retrievers and that are not quite all there upstairs and  are affectionate, needy, lolloping idiots that just want to be loved and  go with the flow.

Obviously,  this is not a hard and fast rule…but it’s scary how often this proves  true.  This is why greyhounds do well in male/female pairings both in  kennels and in the home.  

You  have the female who is much more switched on, probably the bossy one who  gets her own way a lot of the time, and then the soppy male who just  follows their lead and goes crying to the human parent because the  female won’t let them on the sofa!

But that’s neither here nor there!  Let’s do some myth busting.

House  training.  There is no difference at all in house training a male or  female, so long as you are consistent in your training and set your  hound up for success.  If we’re being honest, of all the hounds we have  rehomed, if ever there has been a problem with house training it has  always been the females!

The  same follows for behaviour.  Just because the females do typically come  across as the more intelligent of the genders, it does not translate  into being easier to train.  Greyhounds as a rule are stubborn and do  what they want, not what you want, so the smarter they are…the less  likely they are to listen to you!
With the males  being easier going, they tend to be more responsive.  The ladies just  less than subtly judge you until they have you trained to how they like  things!

As for walking on the  lead, just like house training, gender is irrelevant.  No dog  instinctually knows how to walk politely on the lead, they all have to  be taught and this, again, comes down to consistency in training.  If a  dog is going to pull, it’s going to pull.  Gender has absolutely no  influence on that…and given some of the females we’ve seen walking their  humans (not the other way round), females are quite capable of being  nightmares!

At the end of the  day, when you’re looking to adopt a greyhound (or any other dog for that  matter), be open minded.  Don’t go in with a specific gender in mind  because what is important is the hound’s personality, temperament,  behaviour, and suitability for your home.  Especially when looking to  integrate your to-be hound with children or other pets in the home.