R Pups at 5 Weeks

Well… how do I explain this with out getting too graphic.

Primary sex characteristics are the main things that differentiate the genders, the plumbing that is unique to that gender.

The secondary characteristics differentiate the genders in areas that are common to both sexes. For example, both male and females have faces, heads, shoulders, hips, skeletons, etc., yet we most of the time you can just glance at a person and get a sense of their gender. Secondary sex characteristics translate to the feminine or masculine…with out the need to check the primary sex characteristics…i.e. the plumbing.

An example of poor secondary sex characteristics is when you see a dog and you are not sure if it is a male or female and you find you have to glance at the under belly to check for a more tell-tale sign to make a determination. Some breeds secondary sex characteristics are not important, such as Papillons, which is a toy breed. GSD secondary sex characteristics are important, they should have a distinct look of the masculine or feminine.

If you read some of the older posts on the blog you will see references to doggy-bitches (a female that looks like a male) and bitchy-dogs (a male that looks like a female).

Many of my girls have very strong heads. You will hear me refer to Allie as being a little doggy looking because of her big strong head. She is often mistaken for a male, except she does have a body of a female dog. If Allie were a human people would probably describe her as a “handsome” woman rather then a “pretty” woman.

I absolutely do not want to a bitchy male, yuck, boys must look like boys! I prefer a stronger head on my girls, I do not want them overly feminine looking. You need a strong female to produce big handsome males.