The Difference between the Male & Female

I asked a friend of mine who is an animal behaviorist about the difference between the behavior of the male and female dog. Her explanation was simple and in our case sure made sense.

A male puppy see's his father chewing a nice juicy bone. It looks so tasty so he goes bouncing over to his dad for a little snack. The father dog gives him a serious growl and the little puppy backs off. He still isn't sure that his father won't share the bone with him so he goes back for another try. The second time the father growls and snaps, the little male decides this is enough and his father is serious about not sharing. He leaves and soon forgets about the bone.

Now, the little female puppy goes through the same process. The second time the father snaps and growls she too backs off but she is only regrouping not quitting! She watches her dad and thinks "there has got to be another way to do this"! The third time she crawls over to her dad on her little belly totally ignoring the bone. As she gets closer she starts licking her fathers face ... now she is climbing all over his head, licking his face and giving him playful little nips. The father gets tired of this real fast and decides he wants nothing to do with this little pest. He forgets about the bone and leaves. Next thing you know the little girl puppy has herself a nice big bone!

The Difference between Our Male & Female

Jake was our second Doberman, a wonderful male whose life was all too short and left us when he was only 5. Then came Jenna, pictured above. Jenna enlightened me that she was a FEMALE and life with her was going to be different! I can not speak for the behavior of all dogs, I can only share with you our experience.

Jake was always so eager to please that when he stepped out of line and was scolded he turned into a big blob of quivering jelly. He would run in the bedroom and jump in his bed, as if he was so ashamed he could no longer show his face. Poor guy was just mortified when he thought he might have done something that displeased us.

Jenna joined our family a month after we lost Jake to Cardiomyopathy. She was this adorable little 8 week old girl and she seemed to know right from the beginning that she was a GIRL and SPECIAL! Even when she was that small she knew how to look up at you with those innocent eyes. I think perhaps in another life she was a model for glamour photos. She drapes herself over the footstool usually crossing her back legs, she sits on the arm of the couch like a little lady and when scolded she looks at you like you must be crazy and talking to somebody else!

One example in the difference between Jake and Jenna is how they relate to Max. Max and Jake grew up together as puppies, with Max being a few months older and the first to join our family. Jenna came into Max's life when he was almost 6 years old.

Max and Jake had a daily game they played at dinner time. They ate in separate rooms, but Max would not eat until Jake was finished and came into the living room where Max was supposed to be eating. Jake would stop at the far end of the room, not wanting to invade Max's space. Max would instantly run across the room and jump to bite Jake in the throat, then he would go back and eat his dinner. Jake never reacted to Max, he didn't even consider showing his teeth. Once Max had finished eating he would walk away from his bowl, look at Jake and growl, then he would walk off. This was his way of giving Jake permission to polish off the left over's. They did this every single night and never once did Jake show any aggression towards Max.

Max decided he was going to play this same game with Jenna. At first Jenna seemed confused by this weird ritual and she all but ignored Max when he ate. As she started getting a little older (and with really big white teeth!) Jenna decided she wanted to change the rules and play a new game. She will NOT eat in another room, in fact her dish is about 5 feet away from Max's dish. When Max finishes eating he turns around to bare his teeth and growl at Jenna ... unlike Jake, Jenna gets right in his face and bare's her teeth, one scary looking girl. For special effects she used to also stand her hair up on her back. This snarling, growling teeth baring goes on for a few seconds until Max leaves and Jenna promptly cleans up his dish. Jenna looks like she is about to tear him into shreds but this has been going on for 3 years now without a single bite.

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