Mixed breed or purebred? Boy or girl dog?

[ourbabygirl]

What are your preferences?

I've heard that mixed breeds are generally healthier, but purebreds are good if you know the bloodlines, can meet the parents, and can know what to expect for health problems in the future.

We had a lot of girl dogs growing up, but my family members all currently have boy dogs, and I've heard that boy dogs are generally more happy-go-lucky and affectionate with their owners, whereas girl dogs can be more stand offish and act like 'princesses.'
I've also heard that females cost more due to more complicated reproductive systems, and their urine kills the grass more, but boy dogs tend to mark more, which gets to be a pain when you take them for walks (this has been my experience with our parents' dog, as well as a dog that we had about 11 years ago).

What has been your experience? Do you have a preference?
Thanks for sharing!

ETA Sorry I didn't adjust the poll when I made it! Late night, and I wasn't thinking clearly!

[Liziz]

(The poll is single option -- you can't vote for both the breed and the girl/boy part)

I picked mixed breed because it's all I've ever owned, and I adore my shelter mutts. They've both been wonderful dogs, and I just can't stomach the thought of paying the amount of money often charged for purebreds when there's dogs that are wonderful and practically free. We paid $50 or $60 for our Humane Society dog, and then the other we got during a "sale" at the local city run shelter and she was only $20.

[marymoo86]

(The poll is single option -- you can't vote for both the breed and the girl/boy part)

I picked mixed breed because it's all I've ever owned, and I adore my shelter mutts. They've both been wonderful dogs, and I just can't stomach the thought of paying the amount of money often charged for purebreds when there's dogs that are wonderful and practically free. We paid $50 or $60 for our Humane Society dog, and then the other we got during a "sale" at the local city run shelter and she was only $20.

This! I get why there may be a need (specific temperament/allergy, working/hunting, rareness, etc) for a purebred dog. However, I can't fathom paying thousands for a dog (for my family) when I can save the life of another. We are generally a hound family so fairly easy to find a rescue or shelter animal. Although rescue's can be upwards of a few hundred now! Happily pay knowing their mission and how they use these funds to save animals. I've always had great luck and the best dog I have ever had came from a hurricane rescue. I see so many posts from rescue's of needed homes that unless there was specific need for a breeder pup, I couldn't forgive myself for not helping. Often there are breed specific rescues where you could get a purebred if that is important! I would encourage to search those out if possible.

Although I did really want an Appenzeller Hound (Swiss mountain dog) b/c of the protective nature but less so than German Shepherd. Very rare here and was about $3000 for a pup. I might would have paid a $1000 but it will just be a dream unless there happens to be a rescue that pops up.

As far as male/female - have had great experiences with both. I tend to favor female but once you figure out what breed/s you like, research if there is a particular nature that is better suited to the sex and the size/ages/animals of your family.

[JBaxter]

Male/ female isnt as much of an issue as the personality of the dog. My girl yorkie is a sweet thing but the one we just lost was not so much. Or male min pin had sooo much personality and did so many tricks he was super fun kid dog. Breeds well pick the quality you want now shedding size etc then go from there. I'll NEVER have a moderate shedding dog again. I'll get a poodle , bichon yorkie havanese or mix in a heart beat But I will also NEVER EVER get another adult rescue dog Weve had more training issues with our rescue (s) than any puppy we have had

[jent]

(The poll is single option -- you can't vote for both the breed and the girl/boy part)

I picked mixed breed because it's all I've ever owned, and I adore my shelter mutts. They've both been wonderful dogs, and I just can't stomach the thought of paying the amount of money often charged for purebreds when there's dogs that are wonderful and practically free. We paid $50 or $60 for our Humane Society dog, and then the other we got during a "sale" at the local city run shelter and she was only $20.

Our adult rescue mutt has been awesome from Day 1. No behavior issues. And he was already housebroken. We worked with a rescue that pre-screens the dogs to the best of their ability (ie tries to select dogs for rescue that are family-friendly).

[klwa]

We prefer mixed breeds from the pound. My brother & his family only do pure breeds, and they've been fine, but have had some obvious health issues.

As for boy/girl, I don't have a huge preference one way or the other. But, we get them fixed as early as the vet thinks is healthy, so we don't have some of the behaviors that come along with intact dogs.

[khm]

We have a rescue dog. The rescue was kind of small potatoes years ago when we got her, now they are much bigger - on the news a lot, got a bigger building, have dogs at the Superbowl Puppy Bowl. Do lots of good. I know there are some rescues that have a bad name, but this one is a gem.

Anyway, we never considered a breeder dog, that just wasn't our speed I guess. We wanted a middle sized dog. Lab, beagle, retriever. Just a.... dog. It seemed there were rescues full of that!

We looked at a few dogs from a few rescues. Started out wanting an adult dog, but when visiting the above-mentioned rescue, there was a room with a mom and new puppies. The mom was very obviously an English Springer Spaniel. The pups appeared all over the place! Some were solid - brown, black or blonde. Some looked Springer-y with the feathery ears and tail. Some looked Lab-like. The kids wouldn't hardly leave that room to meet the 3 year old dog we originally came to see. We got our pup at 12 weeks old, I believe. Very young. She looks nothing like an English Springer Spaniel, doesn't have a the hair of that at all. Sort of like a lab, but her legs are too long for lab. One of these days we should do the doggie DNA just for fun.

We picked a girl for no real reason. I have a friend who has always had girls just because she didn't want to see dog junk. Lol. They now have a boy dog and a girl dog. The boy dog came about because a neighbor got a dog from a backwoods breeder. They were a "mistake batch" a something doodle with a different something doodle. When my friend expressed interest in a sibling they mentioned, they got the info and went down. They felt the situation there was horrible and weren't about to leave this sibling dog down there, so it was a "breeder turned rescue" in their eyes. She now longer cares about "boy dog junk". Ha. Anecdotally, we don't have yard burn and they do. Not sure why, but we have a girl and they have both. We do have different types of grass, so that probably has more to do with it than the gender of our dogs.

The girl dog is a 100% retriever breeder dog, but not papered (I don't think). It is a family-type operation, they do training and breeding. Very small. The kids of the family use the money for their college funds. They are solely word of mouth and they are super nice people who love the dogs and take their time to get to know the potential owners and to have them interact with multiple puppies over time, they don't just sell to anyone with cash.

Another neighbor has a purebred golden retriever, with papers and all. He got her from a retriever specific rescue. She is an AMAZING dog, was surrendered due to a death and then health diagnosis in the family. The owner carefully selected this rescue to find this dog the right place to land. (I'm boggled they didn't have someone they knew that would take her, but I digress.) Not all dogs are surrendered because they are "problems".

I really think dogs are like people. You can make generalizations about who should be healthier and have longer longevity and why, about which gender has which personality types and why. But, when it comes down to any particular individual - all that might fly out the window and you just have to take a leap one way or the other when you find someone who clicks with you.

[twowhat?]

Over the years our immediate family has owned 2 purebred dogs (our childhood dogs) and 3 mutts. The mutts were by far the "better" dogs, in our opinion, LOL! But I agree that this has more to do with the individual dog's personality. Health...still can be a gamble. Mutts supposedly healthier because of genetic diversity and of our 3 mutts, 2 are very healthy and one died of cancer when he wasn't really that old yet.

Male/female - agree again that this is more based on the dog's individual personality but we've owned 5 dogs (4 girls, 1 boy) and the boy was by far the sweetest dog EVER. The peeing thing was really the only annoying part - boys want to mark. Our boy wanted to mark (outside) and was smart enough to make sure his bladder was never empty (which caused us some anxiety when we used to work out of the home even though he never had an accident inside). In fact, our boy was so smart that when he saw us get his leash for walks, he would RUN to his water bowl and drink AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE as quickly as possible before we headed out the door. It made us laugh so hard.

eta: I personally will never own a purebred again or non-rescue dog again, we have loved our mutts so much (not to say the purebreds I grew up with weren't great dogs but there was just something extra-special with all of our rescue mutts).

[khm]

In fact, our boy was so smart that when he saw us get his leash for walks, he would RUN to his water bowl and drink AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE as quickly as possible before we headed out the door. It made us laugh so hard.

eta: I personally will never own a purebred again.

Our girl dog likes to pee every couple blocks on every walk as well. It's like, "How is there anything left to pee! You've peed a eleventy million times!!"

The lapping up the water beforehand is hilarious!

[wencit]

I am a first-time dog owner, so for me personally, I wanted a purebred puppy so that I had a better idea of what I was getting into. While I loved the idea of rescuing a dog, I was anxious about not knowing its history, personality, behavioral issues, etc. I made sure to get him from a very reputable breeder, and I had to wait about a year because her wait list is long and she doesn't breed very often. I knew to do lots of early socialization and also signed him up for behavioral classes as soon as he was eligible. I don't know if it was all the work we put into him when he was young or if it is more indicative of his breed traits/genes (maybe both), but he is absolutely the chillest, sweetest, smartest, most loving dog we could have ever imagined. He is just about the. perfect. dog. Our breeder also did a fantastic job matching him up with us.

We didn't have a gender preference either way, but someone once told me that "girl dogs love you, but boy dogs are in love with you." I don't know if that's true because we've only had a male dog. Oh, and he never marks. Ever. He still squats to pee, too, even though he's no longer a puppy. I agree with the previous posters who say personality is more important than gender.