How to determine the gender of the puppy?

Having decided to get a dog, each owner thinks for a long time about which breed of dog is more suitable for him. It is also important for him to determine the gender of the puppy. The conditions for females and males may vary. For example, during pregnancy and feeding, the female requires special feeding.

Knowing the sex of a dog from early childhood may be required for several reasons. They are described below.

• Perhaps the owner of the newborn is a breeder. Then he needs to learn to accurately determine the gender of the pet so as not to mislead future buyers who have come for a particular puppy.
• There is also a flip side, when it is better for the buyer of the puppy to make sure of the sex of the pet on their own, if there is a suspicion of dishonesty or inexperience of the breeder.
• Without knowing the sex of the dog, the owner will not be able to come up with her nickname and leave the pet without a name for this period.
• The breeder must know the sex of the animal in advance in order to determine its future fate. Perhaps the seller will keep the dog for further breeding.
• Knowing the sex of the dog in advance is also important in a situation where the pet starts a second animal. For example, two dogs of different ages rarely get along in the same apartment.

It is better not to torment the newborn puppy in search of the genitals - this is unlikely to bring success, and harm can be caused to the weak body of the animal.

Even more accurately determine the sex of the animal at the age of 8 weeks. By this period, the genitals of males become distinguishable.

Particular attention should be paid to the rules for examining a puppy under the age of one month. Movements must be careful so as not to hurt the puppy and not scare him. In this case, you should use the recommendations of professionals.

1. Before examination, you need to wash your hands thoroughly and wipe them well. It is necessary to carry out manipulations only in a warm room.
2. Before you take a puppy, you should make sure that his mother does not mind. There are individuals that can show aggression even to the owner, if they feel that something threatens the puppy. If a chubby dog ​​does not express aggression, but shows anxiety, then you should not touch its cub yet - it is better to try to examine it another time.
3. Carefully and without haste, you need to pick up the puppy in your arms. If he begins to whine or tremble, then it is better to return the baby in place and try again next time.
4. Then it is necessary to put the puppy on its back in a warm, dry towel so that the stomach is clearly visible. In this case, you need to support his head.
5. You should carefully examine the puppy's belly. Do not confuse the umbilical cord with the male genital organ, since both parts look the same, but the umbilicus is located under the chest, and the genitals are lower: in the abdomen between the hind limbs.
6. You do not need to hold the newborn in your arms for more than 5-10 minutes, otherwise the smell of the puppy will weaken and become poorly visible to the mother dog, and this is fraught with the failure of the female to feed.

It is worth recalling that up to 4 weeks it is quite problematic to determine the gender of the baby, and errors often occur.

You can distinguish between girls and boys at the age of one month by the following signs:

• in guys under the belly button you can observe the “button” with a small hole - this outgrowth is the foreskin of the male genitalia;
• in girls, the genitals are much lower: at the base of the abdomen.

When the puppy's age reaches two months, you can determine its gender by examining the anus.

• In boys, the anus is located under the tail, there is nothing nearby.
• In girls, under the anus you can see the labia. The loop at this age is still small and flat, but you can already observe a barely visible vertical slit. In addition, female genitalia are always covered with hairs.

The sex of puppies whose age exceeded three months is most easily determined., although in this case difficulties may arise, because depending on the size of the dog, the size of the male genital organ can vary greatly, and then the male can be confused with the female. At the age of two months, the scrotum can be observed in the guys, and until that moment there may be a smooth space between the hind legs, since the testicles have not yet lowered into the scrotum.

If the same manipulations are carried out with a three-month-old male, then you can feel the bulge in the place of the male genitalia. In boys of long-haired breeds, a bundle of hair is often observed on the genital organ.

The behavioral differences between females and males are rarely taken into account, although here the difference can also be caught. For example, dogs of service breeds are often more decisive and fearless, and girls try to stay closer to their mother. In puppies of native breeds, the opposite type of behavior is manifested. For example, females often express courage, masculinity, can themselves go on the offensive, while boys, at the sight of danger, try to stay away. Dachshunds also have a more familiar form of behavior: dachshund boys are more energetic, courageous, brave, and girls prefer to avoid conflicts whenever possible.

Usually the largest puppy appears first in the litter, and he is more often a male. Comparing his appearance and behavior with his littermates, one can roughly assume which of the puppies is a boy. Females usually develop faster, they are active, distinguished by dexterity, show quick wit early, learn to use acquired skills faster.

Boys are usually more massive than sisters. They have a large build, a powerful skeleton, a rough face.

However, these signs are not indicative and can only serve as an unreliable preliminary method for determining sex, since much depends on the breed, the health of the mother dog and the condition of the puppy itself.

There are also several additional features that will help distinguish the male from the female.

• You need to watch how quickly the puppy begins to mark the territory. Males mark their possessions at the age of 2-6 months, and for young females this behavior is not characteristic. You can distinguish the desire to mark the territory from normal urination by the behavior of the dog: he quickly empties the bladder in many places, often does it intentionally after careful study and sniffing of a particular area. Dogs girls during a walk can stop in places curious for them and sniff an object for a long time, but they will not urinate on it.
• Every six months, each female has estrus. For the first time, the process can occur at the age of 6-10 months. Blood flow lasts for approximately three weeks. During this period, the genitals swell in the dog, the animal seems more alarmed. Discharge from the vulva can be not only bloody, but also transparent. Many owners, seeing blood from the genitals of the dog, mistakenly believe that this is by all means a girl. However, this symptom is typical for dogs with problems of the genitourinary organs, so it is important not to confuse and promptly show such a dog to a veterinarian.

• The surest way to determine sex is to go to a veterinarian or an experienced breeder. If the owner doubts the gender of the new pet, then you can consult a specialist. This can be done even online. For example, you can take a picture of the baby’s stomach and genitals that started to develop, and then send the picture via the Internet. Experienced dog breeders can easily determine sex even from a photograph.

Inexperienced owners often determine the sex erroneously. This may be due to some factors.

• Before six months of age, some males sit down before emptying the bladder, which mislead the owners and give reason to determine their gender as female. There is also the opposite situation when a young clean female leaves her hind paw in front of her urine in order to keep her coat clean, although many people think that such a manner is characteristic only of males.
• All dogs, regardless of gender, have 8 or 10 nipples. At an early age, they are not clearly visible. In many puppies you can see only 4 nipples, but, according to some owners, just so many nipples has an individual male. From here again confusion occurs - a young female with four visible nipples “becomes” a guy, and a grown-up boy, who has seen 8 nipples, “turns” into a female.

How to determine the gender of the puppy, see below.