danisgoat
Moderator
Growing up with sporting dogs....there were a lot of men that handled setters and worked the dogs in field trials.
It must depend on the breed and the activity.
It must depend on the breed and the activity.
Handlers -- why so few men?
- Thread starter Phebe*DD
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Toffee's Mom
Forums Sage
Interesting
In Germany the Schutzhund trials are almost exclusively male and when I dabbled a tiny bit with it I didn't like most of the guys training methods AT ALL. It took me personally long enough to convert to a positive reinforcement training, you can only imagine how long it would take that lot of "Macho GSD handlers with prong collars... "
What made ME change, is when I saw the videos of agility handlers and obedience, frisbee and freestyle handler stuff... the type where you SEE the dog wags the tail when they hear a command! They just LOVE what they are doing... Now, clearly this is probably NOT gender specific, but I think there is something of a 'macho' factor and what kind of dog handling is considered more "manly" or competitive in the eyes of society? Is that even a fair thing to say??
Just ramblings of a mind with a head cold!
In Germany the Schutzhund trials are almost exclusively male and when I dabbled a tiny bit with it I didn't like most of the guys training methods AT ALL. It took me personally long enough to convert to a positive reinforcement training, you can only imagine how long it would take that lot of "Macho GSD handlers with prong collars... "
What made ME change, is when I saw the videos of agility handlers and obedience, frisbee and freestyle handler stuff... the type where you SEE the dog wags the tail when they hear a command! They just LOVE what they are doing... Now, clearly this is probably NOT gender specific, but I think there is something of a 'macho' factor and what kind of dog handling is considered more "manly" or competitive in the eyes of society? Is that even a fair thing to say??
Just ramblings of a mind with a head cold!
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
Oh it is.I find that there are more men competing in obedience than agility, and I find that curious - as agility is more 'active'.
I have not found more men doing obedience in my area. In an obedience trial class of 30 maybe 3 or 4 will be men sometimes none. I see more doing agility here. The same with the classes very few men. Even in the beginner classes the woman will train the dog and the man watch. I don't know why.
Justicemom
Forums Celebrity
I grew up in S. Dak. All the men had hunting dogs, Labs mostly. I know alot of men who do field trials and hunts tests very few women. Same with Schutzhund, I have 2 friends who do it(GSD and Bel. Mal), not many women I hear. So what about obedience and agility doesn't appeal to men?
BarbV
Forums Celebrity
I think its the nature vs. nurture thing...I think women tend to be more drawn to breeding and conformation and other dog sports, if its a hobby. Men (who a few notable exceptions on this forum) will keep dogs and get involved if it will help pay the bills.
Big generalization, but like someone said earlier, it's often the female of the family who has the luxory of staying home who can take the time to get beyond "companion" and get into the really fun stuff!
Big generalization, but like someone said earlier, it's often the female of the family who has the luxory of staying home who can take the time to get beyond "companion" and get into the really fun stuff!
SheltieChe
Forums Sage
it is quite revealing to see human owners with their dogs in doggie park... boy do I feel like that fairy tale... "Mommy look King is naked" we humans so used to covering up and pretending... but look at the dogs and their owners and truth is out...
initially I was surprised when DH was calling our puppy training "circus tricks"
and my hubby is very comfortable among female crowds/ think about ice skating for 30 years/...now after we went to see obedience competitions hubby is eager to start agility training... he would be great at it too...
initially I was surprised when DH was calling our puppy training "circus tricks"
and my hubby is very comfortable among female crowds/ think about ice skating for 30 years/...now after we went to see obedience competitions hubby is eager to start agility training... he would be great at it too...
Caro
Moderator
Last year I did a report to Govt on dogs and owners in our community. That actually comes up in the research - women are more likely to own dogs and be active with their dogs, they are also more likely to be the primary care-giver for a dog when there are multiple genders in the home (thats the research for Australia anyway). Hypotheses in the research included the nuture aspect, women are more often involved in community type activities, women are generally more sociable. The head of the RSPCA in NSW reckons its because young women aren't having babies!! (yes I thought that was a bit mysoginist)
If you go to flyball you will actually see slightly more men competing than women. At our club its about 60/40. I put that down to 1) flyball being seen as more 'male' (heck there is an awful lot of yelling, barking and baracking) and 2) men are more likely that women to be involved in team sports as adults.
I have also noticed that people involved in dog sports tend to be older. I am the youngest person trialling in agility at our club and I am over 40.
If you go to flyball you will actually see slightly more men competing than women. At our club its about 60/40. I put that down to 1) flyball being seen as more 'male' (heck there is an awful lot of yelling, barking and baracking) and 2) men are more likely that women to be involved in team sports as adults.
I have also noticed that people involved in dog sports tend to be older. I am the youngest person trialling in agility at our club and I am over 40.
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labgirl
Forums Sage
I think Caro has made a good comment. I think women tend to want to do these things more. As for breeds for men... on the lab forum I attend despite labs being definitely a 'man's dog' the majority are still women and a lot of them are into their field trials, gundog tests, etc. You do find men on there but they stick to the 'working' sections and very rarely involve themselves in the little chatty threads.
As for ages at agility, I am current youngest in my class at 25, but the oldest is 72. The very oldest lady in our training club is 80 and owns a 10 month working lines German Shepherd and has two more at home!! Talk about hard work, but she loves it!
As for ages at agility, I am current youngest in my class at 25, but the oldest is 72. The very oldest lady in our training club is 80 and owns a 10 month working lines German Shepherd and has two more at home!! Talk about hard work, but she loves it!
Our flyball class is 4 women and me. The club that is teaching the class is about 50/50 split. The men seem interested in the mechanics of the sport, tweeking this or that to make the times better etc. The women are focused on the fun, safety and team interactions. The women do seem more competitive than the guys so far btw..