[coolkitty123]

I have been wanting a puppy for over a year and am finally getting a golden doodle since they are supposed to be mild mannered.
I wanted a boy all along and I asked my vet and he says never get a male!
Now I'm confused, hes a great vet and about 65 years old so he has a ton of experience. So we went to see the pups, they are 4 weeks old, and I like all the boys looks better! I told the breeder to hold one of the females but my gut is telling me to get a male...any advice?
Also, people think I'm nuts bringing a puppy in with a 12 and 13 year old cats...
Any advice on that?
Thanks!

 

[sassafras]

Did he say why you should never get a male? Personally, I have a slight preference for males but I don't think there's a HUGE difference.

 

[zeronightfarm]

Well for one, get a new vet. That sounds way off the wall. If you want a male, then get a male. I prefer males to females, but a friend of mine prefers females. It's about what you want.

I'm sure some one else can help you more on the cat thing, but I'll give you my 2 cnt.

I would crate train the pup for many reasons, but the cats being one of them. I would never leave the pup alone with the cats, and I would look into buying a few tall cat trees so that the cats have some place to go. I I would teach the pup that the cats "happy places" of their fav sleeping spots are off limits, that includes the bed.

 

[coolkitty123]

He said they pee all the time and females are more likely to empty their bladders. He also said their penises drip onto your furniture - ewww..

 

[Crantastic]

That is silly. My male dogs have liked to mark stuff outside when we go on walks, but so have my females, haha. I only let Cas pee a couple of times on a walk and he's fine; I'm sure he'd LIKE to mark more often but he's not dragging me to every tree. And I've never had trouble with males dripping urine on my furniture.

I think I have a slight preference for males, too. In papillons they tend to be more cuddly and more in tune with their owners (my papillon's breeder said that if she could only have one dog, it'd be a male papillon). Neutering is also cheaper than spaying. I also usually prefer a more masculine look in a dog (I like female cats, though, with the more delicate head). But really, who cares what I or your vet or anyone else thinks? Get what YOU like.

 

[Pawzk9]

He said they pee all the time and females are more likely to empty their bladders. He also said their penises drip onto your furniture - ewww..

Umn, your vet sounds weird. If the penis is dripping, there's probably a health problem. My boys do make more pee stops outside, but since it's outside, I don't care.

 

[bgmacaw]

From what I've observed and heard, some dogs, regardless of gender, will be "hold some for marking" pee-ers. The dog I had that was like this was male and very insecure due to abuse from a former owner. It seemed like he was always able to squirt out a little extra. A friend's female Chi/poodle mix would act like this as well, trying to mark people and things. Overall, I think it probably has more to do with the dog being stressed than the gender.

As for 'dripping', this can happen with female dogs too. However, most dogs will lick themselves clean. Remember that when they're giving out kissies.

Our older cats are very easy going Maine ***** and took to having the hyper Chi pup around pretty well. It probably helps that they're about twice her size. If she gets to be too much for them they'll give her the "hiss of death" and maybe a swat.

How the cats will react to a dog will depend on their life experiences and tolerance for other animals. Our biggest Maine **** has always put up with dogs well. Here he is when he was a kitten with the Norfolk Terrier (mentioned above) we had at the time.

(BTW, he's now bigger than the dog was.)

 

[hanksimon]

I've always had males. Yes, they might "mark all the time" outside while walking, but you can easily reduce or eliminate that with simple training. By the way, I have a believe that some marking is a memory device for the dog himself, so that he knows that He has been there before and no longer needs to spend 15 minutes sniffing and searching for Waldo...

I also believe, with chauvanism and prejudice, that males are easier to housebreak... b/c they DON'T drip. (However, I am aware that a fixed female doesn't drip. I have Y-chromosomes, and research suggests that we're losing genes )

HOwever, the golden doodle and the cats are a completely different set of issues than sex.
First, a doodle may be a calmer adult, but it is the luck of the draw and training, if the puppy is NOT a Tasmanian Devil. The pups are usually intelligent, pain tolerant, and some are energetic... I've seen both and don't know if there's a pattern. Don't let that dissuade you, b/c they are still great adults! Be preapred to train...
Second, puppies are mean, cruel, tortuous creatures... just like human adolescents You can't leave a pup alone with an adult dog ... or cat, b/c if the adult doesn't reprimand the pup, the pup will pester the adult to death, trying to play. And a larger pup can try to pull a cat around as a fluffly toy... Not aggressive, just kind of clueless.
Third, dogs love to dig in kitty litter for the wonderful smells and hidden treasures. They also love cat food which is hgh in protein. Clearly, neither is good.

So you'll need to put the litter box off the ground, where the cats can easily get to it, but the dog can't. You want some child gates that allow the cats to escape, while the pup is kept in. And, you need to watch the interactions initially, to see how the cats react.

I don't have cats, so I don't know the most probable, but a cat can stand its ground, hiss, and scratch; it can run; it can get scared; it can play; and it can use the pup as prey or a chew toy (I've only seen this once or twice... and trainable to stop, if you see it...)

 

[Abbylynn]

I have always preferred males over females ... just me. I have only ever owned 4 female dogs (other than my Collies pups) ... and 3 of them were rescues that I re-homed. I have never had any issues with male dogs dripping urine on my furniture. Marking can be done by either gender.

I say if you want a male ... get a male.

 

[coolkitty123]

My one boy is a Maine ****! I think he will do fine because he's so easy going, my other boy not so much...

 

[Amaryllis]

Males pee inside and "drip"? Since when? I've only ever had males, growing up and on my own, and I've never had a problem with either.

 

[coolkitty123]

Males pee inside and "drip"? Since when? I've only ever had males, growing up and on my own, and I've never had a problem with either.

I am so glad I asked about the "dripping" - sounded kind of strange to me when he said it.

 

[LuvMyAngels]

If you want a male, get a male.

I have a 3 1/2 year old male Saint Bernard (he's a house dog). He will dribble a bit after he pees (so did every female Ive ever had) but its not excessive and he's not leaking on the couch. He marked indoors once. I really dont fault him for that, though, since Im the one that brought the pine tree inside. Buster had no experience with Christmas trees at that time and it hasnt been repeated (the tree is still put up, he just doesnt bother it anymore).

 

[Catdancer]

I sought a male when looking for my puppy. With my breed the males tend to be cuddlier with their people and they have an "I want to please you" mentality, whereas females have a "you need to please me" mentality. Afterall, I'm female and I have the "you need to please me" mentality too. lol

As for dripping...I have a Papillon and he had long hair on his penis. It was about an inch long. At his first trip to the vet, my vet said "here's my cure for excessive urine drips" and she took a small pair of scissors and snipped the hair off. This was the hair on the very end of his penis. It is much cleaner now and no drips.

 

[chubby]

I have a male and female. THe male is a maltese poodle mix, and he was actually a lot more affectionate than the female. When I came home, he would be SO excited to see me and jump and give kisses. He was also a lot more laid back than my female Bichon, she's more independent. We neutered him at 7 months of age, so he never developed a habit of marking. Butters, my female, pees about 5 times per walk, so yes, females can "mark" as well. She also humps occassionally. So gender really isn't a big deciding factor IMO. I just think when you see a litter, interact with the puppies, and choose the one who seems confident, playful, and friendly towards you. Sometimes they say it's the pup that chooses you

 

[Catdancer]

I also wanted to add that I have 6 cats. They range in age from 1 year to 10 years old. They are inside/outside kitties. They have a pet door so they come and go as they please. When I brought Dexter into the household Diego and Spooky loved him like he'd always been there. Diablo and Diddle didnt want to be around him too much, they stayed up high and just watched him for a while. ChiChi just ignores him and Scooter is terrified of him and chooses to stay away from him.

We've had Dexter (the puppy) for 4 months now. At this point 5 of the 6 cats are awesome with him. They run and play and chase each other and chase balls together. They are really great buddies. Scooter, the oldest at 10, and the most scared of him, will come around if Dex is outside or in his crate, but he still prefers not to be too close to him. He will lay on my bed with Dex if Dex is still, which is very rare. lol

Definately crate train your puppy. I do this to protect my puppy from himself and the cats. lol Diddle, the youngest cat, thinks it's hilarious to hide and jump out, scaring Dexter and tapping him on the butt. haha!! It's funny, but it makes poor Dex jump sky high. Also, even if I puppy proof a room, Dexter will STILL find something to chew on. So, when he cannot be supervised he is crated. His being crated also give the cats time to eat, drink, potty and get some attention from us.

 

[coolkitty123]

I have a male and female. THe male is a maltese poodle mix, and he was actually a lot more affectionate than the female. When I came home, he would be SO excited to see me and jump and give kisses. He was also a lot more laid back than my female Bichon, she's more independent. We neutered him at 7 months of age, so he never developed a habit of marking. Butters, my female, pees about 5 times per walk, so yes, females can "mark" as well. She also humps occassionally. So gender really isn't a big deciding factor IMO. I just think when you see a litter, interact with the puppies, and choose the one who seems confident, playful, and friendly towards you. Sometimes they say it's the pup that chooses you

I met them when they were 4 weeks old so they weren't very active yet. I'm going to go back in a couple weeks and see how they interact with me.

 

[Crantastic]

I disagree that the pup chooses the person -- I think that a good breeder should choose the pup based on what the person wants. This is great: http://rufflyspeaking.net/blog/the-tragic-myth-of-being-chosen-by-a-puppy/

And this: http://rufflyspeaking.net/blog/puppy-buyer-ettiquette/

From that second link:

PLEASE DO NOT EXPECT TO CHOOSE YOUR PUPPY. This one drives puppy buyers CRAZY. I know this, trust me. I have a lot of sympathy because I’ve been there. But the fact is that when you come into my house and look at the eight-week-old puppies and one comes up and tugs on your pant leg and you look at me, enraptured, and say “THIS IS IT! He chose ME,” I’ve been looking at people coming into the house all week, and every single time this same puppy has come up and tugged at them and every single one of them have said to me “THIS IS IT!”

What you are seeing is not reality. You are seeing the most outgoing puppy, or you’ve fallen in love with the one that has the most white, or the one that has a different look from the rest of the litter (when I had one blue girl puppy in a litter of black boys, every human that came in the house wanted her; when I had one black girl puppy in a litter of blue boys everyone kept talking about how much they loved HER), or the one that’s been (accidentally) featured the most in the pictures I’ve posted. Or, sometimes, you have a very good instinctive eye and you’re picking the puppy that’s the best put together of the litter. And that puppy, of course, is mine, and you’re going to have to pry him out of my cold dead hands.

My responsibility is not to make you happy. And that, dear friends, is why I am posting this now, and not when I have a bunch of actual puppy buyers around . But it’s the truth. My responsibility is to the BREED first. That’s why my first priority in placing puppies is the show owners, because they are the ones that will (if all goes well) use this dog to keep the breed going. It’s not that I like them better than I like you; it’s that I have to be extremely careful who I place with them so that they can make breeding decisions with the very best genetic material I can hand them. My second responsibility is to the PUPPY. I will place each puppy where I feel that it has the best chance of success and the optimal environment to thrive.

So while I do care, and I will try to take your preferences into account, do not expect to walk into my living room and put your hand in the box and pick whatever puppy you want. And do not expect to be given priority pick because you contacted me first; conversely, do not expect that because you came along late you somehow won’t get a good puppy. Sometimes the person who calls me when the puppies are seven and a half weeks old ends up with what I’d consider the “pick” for various reasons (sometimes because somebody called me up and said they’d gotten a puppy from someone else; see rule 4 above). I am going to try to do my absolute best to match puppies to owners as objectively as I can, not according to who called first.

 

[Crantastic]

(This is a response to the post below; the poster must have deleted and reposted as I was posting this.)

But it's not just a saying, as those two blog entries (and many more like them) make clear. Many people actually DO think that a puppy chooses them.

 

[chubby]

I disagree that the pup chooses the person

That's just a saying. Not to be taken literally of course.

It's best to tell the breeder your lifestyle, personal preferences, and they will advise which puppy would be a good fit for you. The decision, in the end, is yours