# Male vs. Female LGD?



## KY Goat Girl (12 mo ago)

My current LGD, Millie, is getting old (she’s almost 10) but still going strong. I’m not really ready to get another LGD just yet (plus Millie hates puppies) but I’ve been thinking about it lately. Our first LGD was an adult GP and she had already developed bad habits of digging out, chewing things that weren’t hers, etc. We got a male pup but Bella taught him those bad habits and we had to rehome both of them. Then we got Millie and Mable (sisters), 1/2 GP, 1/2 Aussie, free as puppies and they’ve been the best dogs and stayed with the goats. We left Mable in Texas with the new owners of the house when we moved though because her and Millie weren’t really very close and Millie was very submissive to Mable. Millie is a totally new dog this past year living here in KY and she doesn’t act her age at all! That being said, we’ve mostly just had experience with 2 good LGDs and both are females. I’m thinking I might want a male next but I wanted opinions from other LGD owners. Is there a big difference in the way a male vs. female works with the herd? Does either one have a stronger protective instinct? Do LGD owners have personal preferences? Any other things y’all think of I need to know please tell! Thanks!


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## toth boer goats (Jul 20, 2008)

If you have female you want to get male. Hopefully she or he is fixed.

Male to male, female to female will fight.


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## KY Goat Girl (12 mo ago)

toth boer goats said:


> If you have female you want to get male. Hopefully she or he is fixed.
> 
> Male to male, female to female will fight.


I wouldn’t really have them too long at the same time because Millie is so old. And she is fixed  And whether my next is a male or female it will be fixed as well. We had two females at the same time and they only fought once when they were young because we put their food bowls too close together so our fault. Even if I did get a male he would stay with the bucks until Millie is gone because she hates puppies. I’d have to spend a lot of time with her to make her like it.


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## Lyreth (9 d ago)

I have two males and one female LGD. Our boys don't fight, they don't really interact much at all. One boy is fixed the other is not. The younger boy (~9 mos) will play wrestle with our girl (~4 y), but he also looks up to her and will follow her around when she walks the perimeter. I don't notice a big difference in how they interact with the herd between the boys and the girl. I think the individual personality and training is more important than picking based on male or female.


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## Doe C Doe boers! (6 mo ago)

I personally prefer female dogs they stay with the goats better and take their job more seriously but I do like a female male combo


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## KY Goat Girl (12 mo ago)

Lyreth said:


> I have two males and one female LGD. Our boys don't fight, they don't really interact much at all. One boy is fixed the other is not. The younger boy (~9 mos) will play wrestle with our girl (~4 y), but he also looks up to her and will follow her around when she walks the perimeter. I don't notice a big difference in how they interact with the herd between the boys and the girl. I think the individual personality and training is more important than picking based on male or female.


That’s what I’m thinking. Since we’ve pretty much just had females I want to try a male (I also feel like males are bigger love bugs). I was just interested in knowing if people who have had both had a preference. That’s great yours get along!


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## KY Goat Girl (12 mo ago)

Doe C Doe boers! said:


> I personally prefer female dogs they stay with the goats better and take their job more seriously but I do like a female male combo


That’s something I’ve thought about but I’m wondering if he’s fixed then he won’t be as prone to wander and find lady friends. Plus in the goat lot a big dog couldn’t get out unless they dug or were just really adament to squeeze through an aluminum gate.


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## Boer Mama (10 mo ago)

I’m amazed at where Luna would squeeze thru the poles on the goat pen. She had to twist her body sideways to get her barrel thru, and she had the wood polished 😂

Luna, female GP, has been great with the goats from the get go. Very maternal and loves her babies and seems to know where she’s needed most. She’s now 6.
Buckwheat, male Akbash/GP, is starting to hang with the herd more and is going out to meet the danger at 6 months old. I have yet to see how he acts with the babies, but I don’t foresee any trouble. And I’m positive Luna will quickly put him in his place if needed.
I chose a male for my 2nd LGD because Luna is very hard on my female Sheprador. Strangely enough, she doesn’t seem to be bothered by the little female border collie that adopted us.


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## KY Goat Girl (12 mo ago)

Millie squeezes through things the goats don’t even try and I’m always amazed


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## FizzyGoats (Apr 14, 2021)

I’d would personally choose a male if the dogs’ time together is going to overlap at all. We’ve had same sex dogs work great together but males seemed to do better than females in same sex working groups (even unaltered males got along well).

There is a saying in the LGD world that males fight for breeding rights and females fight for breathing rights. 

I believe it because the only time growing up with LGDs that we had a fight where it would have been to the death had we not intervened was between two dominant females. But that was only once and we had a handful of females who worked together great but that fight is engrained in my brain forever. 

As far as a sticky dog or a perimeter guarder, we found it boiled down to more individual personality than sex on who stuck close to their stock and who was a perimeter guard. We usually had a pretty even split on male and female and who would patrol and who would just stay with the stock, and then we had quite a few that landed somewhere in the middle.


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## KY Goat Girl (12 mo ago)

Gotcha. Millie is in the middle too. She stays with the goats (well, won’t stay with the boys because she’s too confined in their pen) but in the mornings she always makes perimeter checks outside the goat lots then comes back. When I take them up on the hill she goes around the woods/pasture/fences checking everything before coming to where me and the goats are.


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