If men are from Mars and women are from Venus,
I was curious to see if Martians and Venusians also have big differences in their preferences for dog breeds. Sure, there is the usual stereotype of men preferring larger dog breeds and women preferring smaller dog breeds but is this actually true?
To find out, I decided to collect top dog breed information from Yahoo! Answers.
Here are the five top dog breeds for women and the five top dog breeds for men.
Top Dog Breeds for Women 1
Labrador Retriever
Not too surprisingly, the Labrador Retriever is chosen as the top dog breed by women.
According to the AKC, the Labrador is the most popular dog breed in the United States, and has been so since at least 1997. The Labrador is also the most popular dog breed in the world according to Wikipedia.
This top place is well-earned because the breed is well-temperamented, enthusiastic, attentive, and willing to work. All these qualities make the Labrador a good family member, a loving companion, and a helpful hunting partner.
Top Dog Breeds for Women 2
German Shepherd Dog
German Shepherds are the third most popular dog breed in the United States.
They are self-assured, eager to learn, focused, obedient, and have strong guarding instincts. These traits make them a popular choice for law-enforcement work.
At home, they are a good and loyal protector, but must be carefully obedience trained and firmly handled. Otherwise, the German Shepherd may show dog aggression in his zeal to lead and protect his family.
Top Dog Breeds for Women 3
Golden retriever
The Golden Retriever comes in at a close third after the German Shepherd. In AKC rankings they are the fourth most popular dog breed in the United States.
Like the Labrador Retriever, the Golden is a versatile dog with a gentle and eager to please temperament. Perhaps they are less popular than the Labrador because of their longer coats which need more frequent grooming.
Top Dog Breeds for Women 4
Pit Bull Terrier
The term Pit Bull usually includes the American Pit Bull Terrier, American Staffordshire Terrier (#68 on the 2007 AKC rankings) and Staffordshire Bull Terrier (#85 on the 2007 AKC rankings).
Pit Bulls have gotten a fair amount of negative publicity which have contributed to their image as a dangerous, and aggressive dog breed. In fact Pit Bulls are banned in some cities in the United States and they are totally banned from some countries.
It is therefore somewhat surprising that Pit Bulls should come in at a strong fourth place, especially among women.
This ranking probably has a lot to do with the Yahoo! Answers population who are more online savvy and who are willing to do the research into the breed and discover that they are actually loyal, fun, and friendly dogs.
“A 2008 study of 6,000 dog owners who were interviewed indicated that smaller breed dogs were more likely to be “genetically predisposed towards aggressive behaviour.” Pit bulls were rated as “average or below average for hostility towards strangers.” ~~[Excerpt from Wikipedia]
Top Dog Breeds for Women 5
Chihuahua
The Chihuahua is 12th on the AKC list of most popular dog breeds (2007). Among the small dog group, Yorkies have recently become the second most popular breed in the United States.
Therefore, it is a bit surprising that the Chihuahua was picked as the most popular small dog breed by the women of Yahoo! Answers. We can only surmise that this discrepancy is due to the poor representation of Yorkie owners in the Yahoo! Answers community. Perhaps Yorkies are commonly preferred by more senior dog owners who spend less time online.
In is unexpected that only one small dog made it onto the top dog breeds for women list. I did not expect to find German Shepherds and certainly not Pit Bulls on the women’s top dog breed list.
The common stereotype that women prefer smaller dog breeds is certainly not borne out by this data.
Top Dog Breeds for Men
- German Shepherd Dog.
- Pit Bull Terrier.
- Labrador Retriever.
- Rottweiler.
- Great Dane.
Surprisingly, the choice of dog breeds among men and women are not that different after all. The German Shepherd, Pit Bull Terrier, and Labrador Retriever made it to the top five in both lists.
Perhaps the most striking difference is that the top dog breeds for men are all larger dogs, whereas the little Chihuahua made it to number 5 on the top dog breeds for women. Perhaps it is not so much that women do not like larger dog breeds, but rather that men have a preference against smaller dog breeds.
The most manly small dog breeds are the Jack Russell Terrier and Beagle.
Top Dog Breeds Data Collection
To collect the top dog breeds data, I did a search on Yahoo! Answers for the keywords “favorite” and “breed”. I then went through each relevant favorite dog breed question, and extracted the answers. When several breeds were listed, I simply picked the first one.
I collected a total of 1064 responses from Yahoo! Answers. 676 were from women, 190 were from men, and another 198 were undetermined because the names, photographs, and profile associated with the answer did not indicate gender.
For the purposes of constructing the lists above, I only used the clearly male and female responses. The undetermined answers were not counted.
An interesting statistic to note here is that the number of female responses is more than three times greater than the number of male responses. This may indicate that women are more active in discussing their dogs. It will be very interesting to see if more women than men own dogs.
I picked “other” because my favourite breed is border collie (my first dog was a border collie). I currently have a shepherd mix and my next dog will probably be another border collie (or maybe another mix breed).
My preference for dog breeds in terms of looks is wolfy looking dogs (huskies, shepherds, collie-types) and my preference in terms of personality is intelligent, obedient, high energy & gentle dogs so border collie is the best match of those characteristics (GSD are too aggressive, huskies are not obedient enough).
Border collie’s only downside is intense herding drive which can be triggered by and directed at the wrong targets without stringent training and management – with training this can be controlled though and they can be super reliable offleash.
I’ve never liked small dogs, and I don’t like overly large dogs either – dogs taller than 26 inches or heavier than 30kg are too big.
I’m female by the way.
The best dog in the world is the golden retriever. They are. Beautiful and very very loyal. Great with other dogs and love kids. I use to kid around that if a burglar entered my home she would offer them a drink. Lolololol. She is the sweetest dog I’ve ever had or ever seen. I just wish they could breed them with another loving loyal smaller dog so there would be a mini golden retriever. I would get one in a heartbeat.
I have a rescue dog that’s Louisiana Catahoula Leopard. She’s the most amazingly loving & smart girl I’ve had, close to my Golden Retriever. Great with other dogs, loyal to their owners, good with kids. Needs lots of yard time, exercise and playing ball/ Frisbee. Mine loves to ride, at 60 lbs, she goes with me and if I can’t take her inside, she relaxes in her car hammock or her bed. I have a SUV with the back of it devoted to my pet. Water bowl, food, treats, toys. I’m a firm believer that your pet reacts to the way they’re loved and trained. Last but not least, they are a great alarm for your home! My Keira is 12.5 yrs old and just as active as ever. I noticed that this breed wasn’t even mentioned, they are a herding dog and a working dog, trained to hoard wild hogs in Fla, Louisiana, & Texas mostly. Mine was rescued in a swamp in Fla with her litter of 5, the Mom wasn’t found. ( you’ll find some bad reviews, I’ve had 2 “Houlas” and both have been awesome loving, kind pets.
I have had a Dane, a Mastiff, and now a Shepard mix. My favorite was the Dane but I do love my Shepard mix. His dominate nature is a challenge but I am learning. I love his “conversations” and he is smart as a whip.
My favorite breed of dog is the rough collie. They are very beautiful, sweet, gentle, intelligent and extremely loyal dogs.
Aaaaw my favourite breed ‘Siberian Husky’ isnt on the list. Oh well… i guess it because they are quite hard to train and a lot of effor to take care of… But one of his doggy kisses is payment enough lol…I Luv My Little Man…x
+1. I was looking for them for ages. Hey, maybe most of the “other” people are Sibe lovers 😀
Yeah I love Sibes as well. They are so beautiful, affectionate, and always ready for action! 😀
I’m glad pitbulls made the list. My mom has three and I used to have one as well. They are simply the sweetest, most loyal dogs in the world. They wouldn’t hurt a fly unless one of us was in danger.
Golden lover 6, that is the stupidest thing that I have ever read. Pit bulls are not evil, it is the irresponsible owner that causes the wrong that these dogs commit. I have had pit bulls and they are among the most loyal, and loving dogs that I have ever been around. Just remember, “Blame the deed not the breed!”
Its true, pit bulls when properly trained are wonderful and gentle
I have a 1 year old Cavalier King Charles Spaniel and recently got a 3 month old black American Pitbull. My ex boyfriend has two American Pit Bulls and I fell in love with them. A great dog for single women.