Each have their pro's and cons and obviously bitches have seasons.  But in our experience (our own pets and those of other family members) bitches, if spayed become overweight and incontinent to some degree and their unrine stains carpets and kills grass and dogs cock their legs at every given opportunity whether outdoors or in!  Am I right in thinking that the dogs have the better temperaments and are much more loving and tolerant?  I already 'own' a pre-school aged son ;) and, after all the reading I've been doing on here am now very concerned that a bitch won't tolerate his generally very-young-boy-like-behaviour (although he isn't the sort of child who goes up to every dog and fusses it - he tends to stay back until given 'permission' to stroke them gently!).  So, the question is, dog or bitch?

peewee

I can only talk from experience, but I prefer bitches, both mine are spayed, and neither are overweight, but as with any dog they be will if overfed, my old girl is 16yr next month, and is not incontinent, neither is my 4yr old. Yes dog urine will kill grass........joys of dog ownership there am afraid :) and IMHO I think bitches are more affectionate and easier to train, but am sure you will get to hear the 'dog' owners views too :D

I don't know anything about shelties as a breed, but have owned both dogs and bitches of other breeds. A couple of points - both dog and bitch urine scorches plants - bitches tend to scorch grass (which later grows back lusher than before) while dogs kill all greenery below their body-height from cocking against it. Container plants seem to be particular targets! However they're no more likely to wee indoors than a bitch is - with both it's a sign that they haven't been properly housetrained - so not their fault.

Temperament-wise I personally will never have another dog - although dogs are great I find bitches are much easier, gentler and more tolerant of human failings. :)

Our dog used to wee in the house (an other people's) because he'd been abused by his previous owners and it was a nervous thing bless him :(

Thank you all.  Its all things I already know but confirmation is always appreciated so thanks again!

:)

I absolutely, 100% disagree.  I have had dogs and bitches, and if I can help it, I will never own a girl again.  Dogs are much more loving, patient, and sensitive.  I have 2 male Shelties at the moment, and when I go to get another, it will be boy, hands down.  I still maintain that girl dogs are called bitches for a reason :-)  From my experiene, they're less loving, more independent, and more cranky.  Just thinking back to all the dogs I have owned and lived with, every single girl dog we have had, as much as I loved them, I wouldn't want another like them.  Every single Sheltie person I have asked (including my dog's breeder) has said that if they could have just one, they would choose a boy.

I do think the it varies with the breed.  I would agree with you about Sheltie males.  A delight, like Rough Collie males. :)

Apologies as my comments referred to dogs and bitches in general, not sheltieswhich is not my breed.

So why do we both only have bitches, Val? :D - says Marina, fully expecting to end up with a sable boy and a black'un in her garden at some point over the next few years ...

And what are you all doing posting at silly o'clock!?!  Don't you have beds to go to?

I always had bitches, never dogs, that is until a couple of years ago.  As in a lot of breeds, sheltie bitches are at times like gold dust.  I was lucky with my first one as the breeder was intending to keep her but changed her mind just before the pups turned seven weeks.  When I wanted a second, I tried for over six months to locate a bitch within a 3 or 4 hour drive.  Impossible, any bitches born were being kept by the breeder or the stud dog owner.  Eventually, I couldn't really see any reason not do buy a dog pup as my bitch was spayed and he would be fixed when old enough.  I actually now have three shelties (1 bitch 2 dogs) all 'fixed' and I honestly don't think there's a great deal of difference temperment wise between them.  There are all very affectionate and love to be with me whatever I'm doing.   Another point with shelties is that dogs generally have a fair more profuse coat than  bitches but a good groom every days keeps the coats looking good. 

If I had a choice I would still probably pick a bitch over a dog but that's just me. 

Our dog was absolutely lovely despite having an awful start to life (*grrrrrrr* to his previous owners!!!).  Our bitch was loving but in a totally different way.  The dog just adored attention whereas the bitch just liked to be next to you but not neccessarily fussed.  We've never experienced 2 dogs or 2 bitches together so what would be the best mix - 2 of one or one of each (both spayed/neutered)?  Unless we can get 2 shelties (of different ages) together then we are only going to get 1, wait about 9 months to a year and see if we can find it a companion (unless of course it's completely happy to be a 'lone canine') so thats why I ask.

:)

I've had four shelties, three bitches and one male. All were/are a delight and in my limited experience of the breed there is not much difference between males and females.

We have a male neutered sheltie in our extended family, he's an absolute delight :)  My only problem with him is his overly profuse coat :(  Having talked to Sheltie breeders at the shows its something to expect when neutering a Sheltie :( so something to bear in mind ;)  It does make his coat a real challenge to cope with and I'm used to full coated long haired dogs :(

My boy was also neutered aged 4 because he had an undescended testicle. If I had known what it would do to his coat I'd have left him the descended one. He went from having a nice, typical sheltie coat to having a coat that was almost impossible to keep on top of. When he was very old and had bad arthritis we even had to clip him to save him the trauma of constant grooming on poor old sore joints.

In my experience, I have had little difference in the coats between my neutered and my unneutered boys.  Right now I have a 12 y/o neutered male who has always had a very moderate coat, and I have a 2 y/o unneutered male who is the fluffiest dog you will ever see.  Shelties may have a lot of coat, but even the hairiest ones do not require professional grooming.  General brushing and clipping is usually sufficient.

Clipping????  A Sheltie??????  Surely not! :(
I hope that you meant brushing and combing??

Lol...perhaps clipping was the wrong word.  Trimming perhaps?  I was just referring to trimming the long stray hairs that grow off of their feet and ears.  They can look really shabby if left untrimmed.

Phew!! ;)

Unfortunately the neutered male sheltie I know has so much coat he looks like a mound of fur with a head and tail :(  this is despite regular thorough grooming :(  He just doesn't seem to cast any coat at all, it has to be dragged out of him :(

Our male unneuetered sheltie was really 'fluffy' so we're used to daily grooming anyway.  We had both our girl and boy professionally trimmed about twice a year up until they were around 7, then my Dad started doing it himself and made a blummin good job of it!  It was basically just the feet, the feathers on their legs and what we used to call their 'knickers' (underneath their tails) that needed the most attention but their ruffs got a trim once a year and they looked gorgeous aferwards :)