Is there a notable difference between male and female Frenchies, i.e., is one easier to house break, friendlier, smarter, easier to train, more affectionate, more laid back, better looking, etc. than the other?
Some of you may have a hard time deciding whether a male or female Frenchie will make the best companion for you and your family. Obviously, we own several of each, and we honestly feel they are equals in most aspects, as long as you neuter or spay him/her at the appropriate age of about 6 months.
All of our Frenchies are very friendly; they LOVE people and are extremely affectionate and good with kids. Both males and females are very smart and relatively easy to train, including kennel training and housebreaking.
Physically, males generally have larger heads and are bullier looking (though a few of our females have looked just as bully as most of our males and some of our males are just as small and non-bully as most of our females). It is a matter of individual preference; while some like big and bully, others like small and petite. We track all of our puppies’ weights and growth for comparison to their littermates, as well as previous puppies we have had, and this information, along with their parentage, gives us a good idea of their future size more so than gender.
While there are modest physical differences on average between males and females, there are no such apparent personality differences between males and females (assuming they are both fixed as all bets are off when it comes to intact females, especially when they come into heat). Every French Bulldog male or female, like every human being, is blessed with an individual personality that makes him/her unique and special, and gender does not seem to be a significant determining factor. While all of our Frenchies LOVE people and get along very well with each other (with the exception of a couple of our breeding females who can’t stand the sight of each other:-), there are some very interesting differences among them personality wise. They range from outgoing to shy, from very active to very laid back, from bold to cautious, from dominant to submissive, from excitable to calm, from inquisitive to satisfied. Certainly, a good part of a Frenchie’s personality is determined by his/her environment, but some of it is present at birth and starts coming out at only a few weeks of age. But, every Frenchie is so unique and special – we love them all. (As for the BlueHaven family, Bick Sr. and Lacey have a slight preference for males and Donna has a slight preference for females, and the rest of the group is similarly mixed on preference, although all of us believe you couldn’t go wrong with either.)
The important thing to remember is that neutered and spayed Frenchies make the best pets. They will have fewer health risks and will not have some of the annoying habits that intact males and female exhibit such as marking territory, humping your neighbor’s leg, soiling the rug, having big mood swings, being a flight risk, etc. (see “When should I neuter or spay my Frenchie puppy and what are the benefits?”).
