Choosing a boy or girl

The Miniature Schnauzer is a smallest dog in the Schnauzer breed and originated in the mid-to-late 19th Century from Germany. The Miniature Schnauzer is a cross between the Standard Schnauzer and other smaller breeds such as the Poodle. A miniature Schnauzer is a spunky, but aloof dog who does things their own way. They tend to be good guard dogs without the tendency to bite.
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happy_schnappy
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Posts: 55
Joined: 25 Apr 2018, 15:59
First Name: Menna
Dog #1: Kiki
is a: B/S Mini Bitch
Born: 28 May 2018

Choosing a boy or girl

Post by happy_schnappy »

Could anyone enlighten me as to why you would choose one or the other (not interested in breeding, this is for a family pet with 2 primary aged girls)?

Ideally we want a dog that is friendly, sociable, easy going!

any advice/experience appreciated - it will be our first schnauzer
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Robin black mini
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First Name: Jo
Dog #1: Robin
is a: Black Mini Bitch
Born: 13 Dec 2014
Dog #2: Stanley st poodle
Born: 24 Nov 2012
Location: Italy

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by Robin black mini »

I personally like the girls..in Italy very few boys are neutered so the boys will mark outdoors,posture at other males etc. and yet my big st poodle boy is a beautiful big softie.
My female will do a couple of wees on a walk,my male twenty lol..
He has never marked indoors,and is gentle and loving..really social to people he meets..the two males I've had have been family orientated dogs,whereas the girls have more been one man dogs..(apart from one ..)
I've had over eight girls each one wonderful..the majority have been spayed aver a season or two..I've never had a litter from them.My girls have all been loyal,more so than the two males I've had, but probably a boy would be more family friendly ...see above.
I thinks it's a personal preference..some choose males for their larger size,lack of seasons etc..my next dog will be a female. I just love their character :)
When I had My last two females I never encountered strange dog aggression..but when out with my male we do have encounters from other entire males and it's not always friendly. I call my girls" my green card" when out and about.
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schnauzer
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Posts: 1419
Joined: 28 Sep 2008, 20:28
First Name: Christine
Dog #1: Suzi (RIP) 13/4/17
is a: P/S Mini Bitch
Born: 15 May 2004
Dog #2: Gino/Siglette Shadow
is a: P/S Mini Dog
Born: 09 May 2017
Location: East Kilbride, Scotland

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by schnauzer »

Hi Menna welcome to the forum, first of all can I say you wont regret having a Miniature Schnauzer as they are super little dogs who make you laugh every day. I've had a girl but lost her last year she was unique with a lovely character, gave us so much fun over the years she was nearly 13, we were devastated & decided to have another mainly because Suzi had left a huge gap in our routine. Felt it was meant to be when the lady(an ex Breeder) who groomed Suzi introduced me to her friend another Breeder '& her girl was having six puppies & she put me down for a girl but to be honest I wasn't sure if I really wanted another. When she phoned me to tell me the pups had arrived there was only one girl & 5 boys, so I really felt the decision had been made for us, I had had my girl & decided we needed a changshe gave me first choice of the boys when they were 4 weeks old and then let me visit every week until it was pick up day. I now have Gino who is 11.5 months, he is a super wee boy, who was dry from his first night home with us, he was house trained in two weeks, only had 6 accidents in the house which were mainly due to my other half not watching him. Gino is so affectionate & snuggles into me, follows me about, I certainly don't regret getting a boy, not a replacement for my girl, as I loved her to the moon & back but Gino is a joy to have & has certainly filled our gap & eased my pain. Its a difficult decision to make when its your first schnauzer but either way you I'm sure you will be happy with your choice. Having a Schnauzer opened up a whole new world to me & do hope it will do the same for you.

Gino will be my last dog but if I had my life to live over again it would another boy.
Christine & Gino (Siglette Shadow (born 9/5/17 ---

Suzi (15/5/04---13/4/17) (Sugarbabe) RIP loved you to the moon & back, miss you so so much precious girl
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mikegoodson1
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Joined: 31 Mar 2016, 11:52
First Name: Mike
Dog #1: Oscar
is a: Black Mini Dog
Born: 17 Oct 2015
Dog #2: Sasha
is a: B/S Mini Bitch
Born: 23 Sep 2017

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by mikegoodson1 »

We now have one of each - when we were initially looking for a Mini Schnauzer to share our home with, my preference was for a boy. I guess I assumed 'he' would be easier to look after (no seasons etc...).

Now that I have lived through having a boy puppy from 8 weeks old and a girl puppy from 8 weeks old, I can honestly say that they are both adorable. I cannot think of any problems either gave us that was unique to their sex. Both had little accidents now and again when house training. Neither chewed furniture/toys/clothes etc as we tried to ensure there were either always played with or were training, just kept busy. *For clarity, Sasha has not had her first season yet but I feel quite comfortable with what we need to do.

I'm sure you can get boy and girl puppies/dogs that are either really affectionate or not affectionate at all - it feels like our two have learnt to be affectionate because we show them so much love. When they were both much younger (although Sasha is only 7 months old now) they were a little aloof and if you tried to cuddle them, they would walk away but now they love their cuddles.

Sorry if I cannot provide anything tangible, just my experience is all.

Funnily enough, I just asked my wife if we got a 3rd, would it be a boy or a girl.

I said girl and my wife said boy - so there you go, everyone has their different opinions and we are all right ;)

Good luck but definitely get a Schnauzer, they are a super dog,
Oscar 12345
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Dog #1: Oscar RIP Sweety
is a: P/S Mini Dog
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is a: B/S Mini Dog
Born: 04 Jul 2017

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by Oscar 12345 »

Based on what you have posted previously I would say ask your breeder. Otto's breeder advised that his mother and father were laid back and very easy going and previous litters have been very easy going pups/dogs. On that basis I could have had a boy or girl. Ask the breeder(s) what they would recommend for your personal situation/family. They will be very knowledgeable. I can advise from personal experience that boys are much more likely to constantly cock their legs even when the tank is empty (never though in the home or garden once house trained) and licking female pee on grass is a favourite pastime. None of that puts me off my "in your face affectionate" (hopefully with no trace of pee on his beard....) little boy.
Man cannot survive with wine alone...
we also need a schnauzer.
happy_schnappy
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First Name: Menna
Dog #1: Kiki
is a: B/S Mini Bitch
Born: 28 May 2018

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by happy_schnappy »

Thanks everyone that's really helpful, even though I'm sort of none the wiser! But I think that's a good thing because you've confirmed that whichever we get, it doesn't matter in a way. So I think I will decide purely on the pup itself (however my daughter has already decided on a name on her future dog (they have no idea yet that we have decided to get one!) and it's a boy's name! and I will definitely ask the breeder for advice too.

I'm thinking though perhaps a boy might be better because I will be the person with them all the time, and however much I would love the girl to be loyal to me, it would upset my girls if the dog always wanted my attention and not theirs...?

schnauzer I'm so sorry that you lost your girl Suzi, that must have been hard, but I am happy that your little Gino is giving you lots of happiness.

One thing from joining this forum is that my mind is made up that the schnauzer is the dog for us. I was worried about excessive barking but I think I am willing to risk it because in every other way they sound perfect! (I may live to regret saying this!)
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Dawnspell
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Dog #1: Barney RIP 8/3/19
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Dog #2: Jasper
is a: White Mini Dog
Born: 25 Apr 2019
Location: Guernsey

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by Dawnspell »

I have read somewhere that someone once said

Girl dogs "love" you, but boy dogs are "in love" with you.

That's certainly true of Barney he is such a Mummys boy. Never had a girl so cant comment, but cant go wrong with a schnauzer :D
Our first family dog
Barney - Pocketpark Biali Eyebright 6/2/13 - 8/3/19 Gone too soon
Motto for owners who groom their own Schnauzers -"Never mind it'll soon grow back"
Bodee
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Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by Bodee »

Milla is my 4th dog and first female.

I don't believe you can generalise so I would not assume my experience was/is the norm.

I have never known a dog, male or female, mine or someone elses to be as affectionate as Milla. I may have contributed to that by deciding (after reading Following Atticus just before Milla came home) to hold her in the crook of my arm whenever she was resting, which meant after playtime and each evening.

Now she is almost 10 months old she still prefers to lie in my lap because she is too big to lie in the crook of my arm.
She house trained very quickly, despite the fact that I had to learn the procedures all over again - in other words she seemed to sense it was a partnership. She walks with me off the lead (when away from traffic) and has been good at recall almost from the beginning (see my posts on "My wee girl Milla)

Two things to note here. Firstly I am retired and there is only Milla and me in the house. Secondly my previous dogs had to fit around my work but they were all well behaved and adjusted.
My previous dog, Max,a standard schnauzer who was neutered was extremely dominant with all dogs who seemed threatening but ultra friendly with children, people and small and equal sized or more submissive dogs. That was just his nature, I never allowed it to amount to anything.

I think in the end we should understand that all dogs if well treated, well loved and given what they need as far as exercise etc goes are programmed to respond in kind. They want to co-operate and fit in and that is reflected in the way they respond to love and kindness.

There are some funny breeders out there too. Here is an email response from a breeder WHO ASKED ME FOR A PREFERENCE, then after my saying if given a choice I would prefer a male because I had always had male dogs before.



"As per our initial email we do only accept people who are truly open minded in terms of sex of the dog. We own both the mini and standard schnauzer and with the mini there is no difference - other than the obvious - between the male and female. You would be missing out on great pups for no reason.

One of the main things we see people commenting on if they have not had a girl is their seasons. We own three full females who are often in sync and it is not the big song and dance it is often made out to be.
All a season involves is you keeping them on a lead for approx 3 weeks and walk them where there are less dogs - i.e. around the streets and not down at a busy beach - this stops her getting caught and harassed by other dogs. After their first season you get them dressed - they recover from this op after about a day, keeping them calm is the hard part as they really don't bother. The season itself, some dogs don't bleed at all and the rest you maybe notice spots of blood here or there, it's nothing and if you are getting her dressed you only deal with it once.
We own x3 full females and rarely notice when they come into season - if it wasn't for our males dogs we would miss the early stages.

The way that we see it is we have created this demand for dogs which had led to a very profitable trade for these horrible people. Sadly the miniature schnauzer has fallen very heavily into puppy farming, the standards and giants have not, and most 'council licensed' farms have miniature schnauzers.

I have lost count of how many times I have heard people saying how they want that healthy pup from a good breeder but they want it to be a girl, it must be black and they want it for X timing... treating it like they are getting a new kettle.
At the end of the day if they were waiting on a baby you don't necessarily know what you are going to get and to be honest you shouldn't care - will you love it less because it's 'the wrong colour'?

This is why we feel as strongly as we do. That and we do not have the time to try and work out if a litter has arrived that means we can put X, Y and Z towards them as they want this and that. We have had our time wasted on to many occasions now and I will not put anyone forward to a breeder who I feel will potentially waste their time. This is by no means a lecture, apologises if via email it comes across that way, I am just explaining why we say what we say.

Like us a breeder puts a lot of time into getting to know families and meeting them before a litter is here (all with no guarantee a pup will be available) and if they then turned around to offer the little girl that was available, would you turn her down? I am sure you can appreciate if this did happen (which it has before) that everyone's time has then been wasted and the breeder could have spent that time getting to know someone who was truly open minded.

If you are set on male 'just because' then my advice is to look for a breeder who has a small waiting list or that has a boy available. If we do get names forward it tend to be one or two at a time, and the names we get forward may or may not have a pup available for them - we never know how many pups will arrive and if they will all make it."


I was asked for a preference and given a lecture.
This response was more annoying as I had asked if she was going to have a puppy available. I didn't mention the sex and would have been pleased with any dog that was available. As it turned out the breeder who I bought Milla from never assumed I had a preference and was a dream to deal with. Ironically there was only one female left and I was over the moon.
happy_schnappy
Member
Posts: 55
Joined: 25 Apr 2018, 15:59
First Name: Menna
Dog #1: Kiki
is a: B/S Mini Bitch
Born: 28 May 2018

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by happy_schnappy »

wow bodee that's jumping down your throat slightly!

I don't suppose you'd be willing to PM me the breeder you got Milla from? We are South of England, happy to travel for the right breeder but would obviously like someone not too far so we could visit a few times..?
happy_schnappy
Member
Posts: 55
Joined: 25 Apr 2018, 15:59
First Name: Menna
Dog #1: Kiki
is a: B/S Mini Bitch
Born: 28 May 2018

Re: Choosing a boy or girl

Post by happy_schnappy »

bodee I've just had a look at your Milla thread - she is absolutely beautiful!
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