I think it depends more on the dog than anything, personally. Any "truths" about male dogs or female dogs have a whole whack of exceptions.

 

I think it depends more on the dog than anything, personally. Any "truths" about male dogs or female dogs have a whole whack of exceptions.

Agree. It is personal preferrence.
I have had male and female. I always said never a male again.I prefer a smaller dog and I hate the leg lifting on plants and walls.
I got used to it.Size and peeing.
People say a male is more loving. Kassa was way more loving than Ernie, but I had her as a pup and he didn't cuddle up on the couch with his familly. He may never have.

 

I have had several dogs over the years (she has not) and I have always had better luck with females. My male dog use to mark his territory around the house no matter how many times I took him out, this was a nuisance on and off almost all his life .

I have both, and I can honestly say that my adult, intact (not neutered) male has only peed in the house 3x's and all during puppy potty-training, while my female was a nightmare to potty-train (she was 5 months before we felt more confident with taking our eyes off of her temporarily while cooking dinner, etc.) and has since peed in the house as an adult 4 different times, right after going outside. She is a dog we virtually have to get stern just to get her to go outside in the first place, though...she would much rather remain indoors in her "princess and the pea" bed stack in the living room. And she had a lot to do with "potty-training" our male when he was a baby, I'm sure. Ours are also both bell-trained...they ring sleigh bells hanging off of the door handle to ask to be let out for potty breaks.

If YOU are the boss, it is YOUR house, and your dog understands it, you should not ever have a problem with behavioral marking even in an intact male dog.

As far as personality traits, this is something I was told by a breeder friend of mine which applies to the female vs. male in our household. By the way, I love them both to death...they are my "kids." My friend told me that "A female lab will come up to you to be petted and say, 'love me, love me, love me.' while a male lab will come up to you to be petted and say with adoration, 'love you, love you, love you.'" In our family's case, our girl is much more independent than our boy (who has to follow us around and be a part of the "scene" in any room we move to).

 

I don't have a TON of experience to go by, but I had females growing up, and they were much more independent. Riley is an 85 pound lap dog who is nothing but a big sap and a teddy bear who always has to be near me, if not touching or (even better) ON me when possible. He is neutered, though, and has been since he was a little under 5 months. He's now 17 months. My golden, Cooper, is almost 5 months and is even MORE affectionate than Riley, I would say. He's not neutered and won't be until he's at least 18 months. SO FAR (crossing my fingers), they have never shown any dominance whatsoever toward me. They do hump each other : but I suppose that's just a dog thing. Neither has ever EVER marked in the house, and I'm pretty sure they would know better than to ever try.

I say if you are hoping for a velcro dog who wants to be touching you all the time, go for a boy, and if you want a dog who might be more independent, go with a girl. I'm sure there are PLENTY of exceptions out there, and you might get a boy who could care less about cuddling, or a girl you couldn't keep off you. Either way, you'll more than likely be adding a dog who will become a great friend that you will love unconditionally regardless of gender. ;D

Just a final comment I thought of...spin off of CaliforniaLabLover...my mom had a female mix who she had a TERRIBLE time potty training. I think she was around 5 or 6 months before she was accident free. Riley had just two accidents in the house the ENTIRE time I've had him, and Cooper was trained in under 3 weeks. Again, I'm sure it could just be coincidence, but personally, I will more than likely keep getting boys as long as I have dogs.

 

My preference is males. Never have had a problem with marking inside. Not once. In general though, my experience is that females are stubborn and more independent. There are exceptions to the rule of course, but fostering and interacting with my neighbor's female golden retrievers, boy, oh boy...I just prefer to the the only ***** in the house.

 

In our family's case, our girl is much more independent than our boy (who has to follow us around and be a part of the "scene" in any room we move to).

I have 2 girls. One has to follow me around and lay on my feet when I go to the bathroom while the other comes for huggs and kisses and then moves off to her own thing. I think it depends on the dog. They both get the same attention and loving and yet one of them never seems to get enough

 

Thunder, intact male, has NEVER marked in the house and he is a love bug. Follows us around like a shadow. Simba, spayed female, is an attention hound, CANNOT EVER get enough lovin's. She took forever to house train, but I think that it had something to do with her previous owners, 14-16 hrs. in a crate, etc. Once housetrained though, perfect angel. I wouldn't trade either one of them. I agree with the others, it depends on the dog and their personality. Some are aloof and others attention hounds! Gotta love 'em!

 

I say if you are hoping for a velcro dog who wants to be touching you all the time, go for a boy, and if you want a dog who might be more independent, go with a girl. I'm sure there are PLENTY of exceptions out there, and you might get a boy who could care less about cuddling, or a girl you couldn't keep off you. Either way, you'll more than likely be adding a dog who will become a great friend that you will love unconditionally regardless of gender. ;D

That funny because Willow, my female is a Velcro dog, at lease to me. She isn’t like that to other members of my family but she always has to go where I am.

If I’m sitting on the couch she will jump up there with me and rest her head on my lap. If I boot her off so my wife can sit with me Willow will give this pathetic sad Labby face

Bu I do agree she is very stubborn and if she doesn’t want to do something she wont. Typical woman

 

Our first lab was a girl, and we thought we wanted a girl this time around also. We went searching and it turned out our breeder had a male that suited our personality and what we were looking for better. She does playdrive tests at 6 weeks, plus they are with them every day for 8 weeks. Jonah is very much a cuddler, lover, and shadow. I wouldn't want it any other way, and that is the way she had him pinned at 5-6 weeks. So maybe your breeder can help you decide based on the dog's personality rather than the sex. Jonah has never marked or humped (he's only 7 months old though, so I that may be later). He was very easy to potty train.

 

I have a female and a male and they are both very different. Moose is really calm and very loyal. He is always sitting at our feet, sleeps with us and really just loves to cuddle and be cuddled and is so gentle. Because of Moose I would probably get a male if I were getting another dog. He was easy to potty train, he is very good about letting me know when he needs to go out - even when sick.

Sky is wonderful, but much more active and independent. She loves to cuddle and is sweet, but in a more hectic way. She will pass out on the bed at night sleeping with me occasionally, but it usually doesn't last the night. She was tough to potty train and will still poo in the house if she doesn't get out when she needs to. She will hold it all day, but if she gets excited and we don't get her out then she can't hold it, so at least it is controllable.

 

I think it really just depends on the dogs.
We have a male and female lab and a male yorkie. The yorkie is a complety different story though so I won't include him in this. Zues (male lab) came to us at about 18 months old he had been outside for about a year so I think that has something to do with his personality. He's very laid back as far as he doesn't startle is great meeting new people (other than he's a gooser) and he's not really scared of anything. He likes to be by you but isn't really a cuddler unless your sitting on the floor then he will come sit on you. He's only peed in our house twice the first day we brought him home and a few weeks ago out of the blue while we were gone (it wasn't marking though it was a full out pee in the middle of the floor). He's very good about holding it normally though. We didn't have him as a pup but I know he did take a while to potty train as a puppy though I know the previous owners.
Mocha (female lab) is my shadow and very much a momma's girl we lived alone until she was about a year though so that probably has something to do with that. She will sit for an hour by my side just wanting to be hugged and petted if I get up she's up and ready to follow. She's spooks easy though and is much more on edge than Zeus new noises scare her.
Mocha was a breeze to potty train.

 

I agree that it depends on the dog´s personality.

I have boy and girl now, but homero is my second male in 20 years and previously I had other 4 wonderful girls (2 labs, a great dane and a cocker, all passed out of old age).

In my case Misha is a little more independent than Homero, she loves to play, loves everyone and just recently (after second heat) calmed down and became a cuddly girl. My previous 4 girls were all cuddly from day zero. None of them had trouble learning to go to the bathroom outside, in my experience girls tend to be cleaner. If you have young kids (below 10) I´d definitely recommend a girl because "by nature" they seem to have something in their heads that tells them to care about young ones.

Homero is also a great boy, very very sweet and calm (prefers to sit by my side and play-bite rather than run behind a ball) but he´s more a one person dog, he´s very attached to me and likes other people (but won´t greet them as Misha does). He´s been terrific about not marking territory inside the house but is still an 8month old pup. Many males are more active and playful too, but he´s not.

Some people say that females tend to bond more deeply with men and males with women, and of course there are the physical differences, males are larger and stronger, females have sweeter faces.

If I were you, I´d select first by temperament and then by sex, you won´t regret either selection, a good Lab is a great dog (boy or girl)

 

My Male Labs have always been more "needy" than the females. They need to be in the same room as me and need to be around more. The girls seemed to be a bit more independant. Take it for what it's worth.

 

I have a boy and 2 girls. I think it's totally personality. Has nothing to do with their sexes.

Hudler is intact, and never marked in our house ever. Barely had any potty training accidents either. He's actually a bit neurotic about pottying.

Maddy has always been a great girl. House trained (no chewing inappropriately) by 4 months. No potty problems, and a breeze to train.

Grace was house trained at 4 months too, but still had potty accidents in the house. Grace was and still is a bit of a ditz and that didn't help her in learning to potty outside (even though the other 2 went out all the time and she went too, she'd still go in the house...her little brain didn't tell her it was time to pee until it was too late and she had to go!

And while Hudler loves to be with us and Maddy is more independent (like you would think boys and girls would be), Grace is more dependent and clingy that any of our dogs.

 

I say if you are hoping for a velcro dog who wants to be touching you all the time, go for a boy, and if you want a dog who might be more independent, go with a girl. I'm sure there are PLENTY of exceptions out there, and you might get a boy who could care less about cuddling, or a girl you couldn't keep off you.

The question raised in this thread has come up many times before.

Based on those responses, ks02 has it exactly right. There are individual differences but, in general, females are more independent while males are the Velcro dogs.

 

My friend told me that "A female lab will come up to you to be petted and say, 'love me, love me, love me.' while a male lab will come up to you to be petted and say with adoration, 'love you, love you, love you.'"

I don't know who your friend is but he/she is very perceptive. I've had many male and female labs and couldn't think of a better way of describing the difference between them.

 

My preference is for males. I find them to be more affectionate.

 

I have two males. Both were neutered at a year old. Neither marks anything outside (both still squat to pee 90% of the time) and they definitely don't mark anything inside (no accidents since about 3 months old). Both are very loving and affectionate. I love my boys, and I think we'll stick with male labs for the rest of our lives.

 

I have 2 females and 2 males. My oldest, 8 year female, and Diesel almost 2 years are both very independent. They both welcome all the attention and hugs AS long as you go to them. The other 2, Thunder almost 2 years and Allie almost 2 years are both very dependant and follow me around all day long, both love to cuddle and sleep touching you. I had no trouble house training any of them. I have always felt it is the individual dog.