Male Staffy compared to Female

Hi all,

Would love some advice on characteristic differences between male and female English Staffy's.

I have currently have an 8 year old female but she stays with Mum now and am looking at getting myself a pup but have fallen in love with a male. I've been told previously that male Staffordshire's are aggressive and hard to train; very dominant. I feel this wouldn't be the case but some advice would be appreciated.

Thanks

It totally depends on the dog - hormones at certain stages can make makes a little more tricky to manage but not drastically so. I've met bolshy males and bolshier females, I've also met chilled, sensitive males and the same females. Do you have a lot of experience in choosing puppies? There are subtle differences that you can notice in pups personalities at a young age which can help you to choose the right dog for you

I agree, you get such a range of personalities in dogs as you do in other animals (including us!), picking the right dog regardless of gender is more important than whether it is male or female.

Many years ago, I watched a thing on telly about choosing puppy and they made the very good point that the puppy you choose will be the dog you get. If you go for the bruiser, the pushy one who elbows the others out of the way to get to you, you are more likely to end up with an assertive dog. The puppy that cowers to the back is more likely to be a nervous dog.

The advice you've been given that male staffies are aggressive and hard to train, though, is wrong. Males and females are all loving dogs who are generally eager to please if you work with them in a way that makes sense to them and that is reward based. They can be very sensitive, which makes them prone to worry which can cause reactions that appear to be aggressive but are in fact defensive, but they are not generally aggressive unless they have learned to be so at our hands, or unless there is an underlying reason such as illness.

So don't worry about gender when picking your dog, but do make sure you invest time in lots of positive training. There are some good resources we can point you to when the time comes.

Can't really add anything that the above posts haven't other than, welcome to the forum from Flo & me

having had males and bitches...found apart from the obvious...very easy going..and very individual ..no two are they same..and that goes for intelligence as well...I think its also how you approach training with them..i make everything fun lots of praise and chopped up sausage's ...and that I think filters down to the dog...now i'm no dog whisperer ..but i'm a great believer on what you put in is what you get out ..and yes you can teach an old dog new tricks..just takes longer...as for males being aggressive and hard to train...sorry..can't disagree more...unless your an *..you'll train your dog to be one as well...no matter what the breed... as for picking the right dog...there's no right or wrong way...as I wrote and others have and will point out..its all in the training...talking of which....yes its repetitive and boring at times..but the rewards....fantastic.