Handlers -- why so few men?

[HopeShelties]

While not as many as women, there are quite a number of men who compete around here. I can think of several who run shelties, and bcs, and one that runs dobies that I greatly admire.

 

[Ania]

Maybe this is a good time to interject this question (and hope I'm not hijacking the thread), but could it be that certain breeds are broadly perceived as more "man's dog" vs "woman's dog?" Where do you think Shelties fall? Noting the preponderance of women here on the forum as well. There's a GSP forum and that membership seems to be largely male.

I would say that would be true, but just about any dog can compete in agility - GSP, BC, shelties, JR, Collies, Dobies, terriers, etc. so a 'man' could compete with a 'manly' dog they do not have to have a sheltie (although, we all know, they are the best and the cutest )

 

[Caro]

I would say that would be true, but just about any dog can compete in agility - GSP, BC, shelties, JR, Collies, Dobies, terriers, etc. so a 'man' could compete with a 'manly' dog they do not have to have a sheltie (although, we all know, they are the best and the cutest )

Just having a look at this weekends catalogue - only 3 blokes in a field of about 100, and they are running Tollers and BCs. I know one bloke who owns a sheltie but his wife runs him.

 

[k9kreationz]

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.

In my short stint with agility, it's definitely dominated by women here. If you're a man, good place (or not) to look for a woman. lol. I say not, because she may be more dog focused than man focused. Most of the women, I'm told, are single. Even with my DH and my friend/co-trainer's (she trains with me) BF, there's still only about 10 men at a trial.

My co-trainer said it's mostly women because they don't have SO's and their dogs are their life. Was that a shot at saying we're all lonely women? lol. One thing I did notice (after talking to some people) is that most of them are older, kids are either out of the house, or they don't have kids (human kids that is). It's something for them to do. Kinda like some women do crafts/knitting/etc, others do agility. lol.

DH goes along with me but basically refuses to train. He's just doing the "family" thing. It's also the reason why we drag Miko along. I probably have less time than DH, so I don't know if it's a time thing. I work full-time, I go to school half-time. I train both dogs and groom them too. I also am trying to fit in exercising. DH works and does nothing else. My co-trainer works PT, goes to grad school FT, and does agility. Her BF goes to grad school FT.

I also noticed most of them are older. I either see an older crowd 40+ or young kids 20-. So, I'm in the middle at 35 and pushing the "older crowd". I'm one of the "young" ones. lol. Prolly doesnt' help that I look like i'm 20. HOWEVER, at the seminar this weekend. I'd say mostly everyone was in their.....30-40's. Young crowd, versus the trial crowd.

I'm also thinking it's an expensive sport. Do men WANT to put that money into it? If it was DH's choice, he'd take the $120/6 weeks for training and $60+ for trials and play golf (I play too, but I like agility, hehehe. I love my dogs). I see why it's an "older" crowd. A woman yesterday said, "my dog finally got his AX and it only cost about EIGHT THOUSAND DOLLARS!!" I was like...oh jeez. Maybe I should stop at novice jumpers. lol.

I know I'm babbling. sorry. I've always wondered about this too. i think it's because women want to bond with their dog and do something the dog loves. Men just love their dogs at home. Well, mine does.

 

[Ania]

Very true! I found that to be true here as well. I am one of the 'young' ones and I'm almost 37! Most of the people are women in their mid 40's and up. I love the sport and I love learning it with Maia. It brings me such joy to see her happy expression and her eagerness to learn and practice. (I wish I had the same enthusiasim for Obedience training with Chinook and he for it )

 

[Caro]

Wow Cheryl - are trials really that expensive there? Ours are $5-8 per run but usually we only get 1-2 runs per even, except the big shows (only a couple of year) which are $16. Now flyball, thats expensive $20-25 per dog.

I agree about the hobby thing - all the women I train with have grown up children (not me). All the men are married so its probably less scary for them to be around a lot of intense women.