Boys vs. Girls: Who's Easier to Train?
Oct 20, 2026
Ask a dozen dog people whether males or females are easier to train, and you'll probably get thirteen different opinions. Some people swear bitches are smarter, more focused, and quicker to learn. Others insist males are more eager to please, more affectionate, and easier to motivate.
You know I’m a nerd, right? Turns out there’s a lot of reputable research that’s been done on biddability of dogs vs. bitches and surprise! Neither sex has a universal advantage.
In a study of more than 1,500 dogs representing 11 breeds, researchers found no significant difference in trainability between males and females. But here's where things get interesting.
Breed matters! I know…big surprise, right? (Can you sense the dripping sarcasm in that question? You remember my breed is Siberians, right? Not exactly the valedictorians of the obedience class!)
This is where the research found meaningful differences between breeds. In some breeds, males scored higher than females. Maybe some of the gender bias we hear batted around in the grooming area comes from those who have breeds where the sex does matter!
When you consider what different breeds were developed to do, a dog bred to work closely with a human partner may approach training very differently from one bred to think and work independently. Gun dogs and herding dogs work closely with their person. Sled dogs and guardian dogs do not.
This is where a lot of people miss the mark. Different doesn't mean less intelligent. It means we need to understand the dog we're training.
So what about the human holding the lead – does their gender matter? Does a dog learn better from a man or a woman?
Research doesn’t point to an advantage for either. What matters is the person's training skill, experience, consistency, and willingness to put in the work. A study involving dogs preparing for the AKC Canine Good Citizen test found that the dog's sex didn't predict success. But characteristics of the owner and the time spent training did.
For owner-handlers, there's a valuable lesson here. Before labeling your dog stubborn, difficult, distracted, or slow to learn, consider whether your teaching methods make sense to the learner at the other end of the lead.
- Are you rewarding the behavior you want? Are you sure?
- Are you communicating clearly?
- Are you practicing consistently?
- Are you making the training sessions fun for you both?
Because whether you're training a dog or a bitch, a Siberian Husky or a Golden Retriever, the goal is the same: helping that individual dog understand what you want from them, and helping them enjoy doing it with you.
Wagalicious Wisdom
The smartest dog in the ring isn't necessarily the one who learns fastest. It's the one whose handler has learned how to teach it!
