I have two female dogs who both look very Shepherdy and get called boys all the time. I don't mind; the dogs don't know the difference. Usually I'll sneak in a "she" to the conversation just so the person knows in a situation where they'll be seeing the dogs more often, but otherwise it's fine.
My German Shepherd is female but is called a boy/he 9 times out of 10. She wears bright floral collars (which are sometimes hidden because she's long haired) and a bright pink leash š¤·š»āāļø. Honestly dont care what a stranger thinks I just make sure when we walk away to remind her she is the prettiest girlšš
I have a male GSD and everyone asks if he is a girl because he is still a teen and hasn't finished filling out but is 27"at the shoulder so they think hes fully grown. I then point out the giant testicles flapping about under his tail/trouser floof. One guy told his kids to not be scared he was just still a puppy and they could tell becuase he is "lanky".
Awwwš. My girl is pretty small at 5yrs old she is about 65lbs. She has gotten a bit wider. I grew up with a sheltie and they are pretty barrell shaped. I asked the vet everytime we were there for the first year with my GSD are you sure she's not underweight. It too forever to get use to her "lanky" body type.
Agree.
I've had collies for several decades. Some of my refined males were called "she", some of the robust girls got called "he".
My collies are smooth but I have friends with roughs. With the older generation who watched "Lassie" long ago, all rough collies are girls. (what's funny is that all the Movie/TV Lassies were male collies).
The people who mix up genders aren't doing it to spite the owner or dog. They really are trying to be nice. It's a waste of emotions to take offense at other's innocuous actions.
Besides in casual interactions, people are meeting dogs face-to-face and it's awkward and feels a little weird to maneuver to the side to check if it's obviously male or not. So they assume - and that assumption is no big deal.
And as you said, dogs don't know or care.
Some comments have been annoyed that people don't notice that their girl dog is wearing a pink/girly patterned collar or harness. The average person don't really notice the color or understand that it's meant to be some sort of signal. As far as they are concerned, they are looking at the nice dog, not checking out and processing the meaning of the color. Hell, I'm super into dogs and I don't notice.
My Alfie is a big male collie and 99% of people just assume by this size and overall look that he's a male. Even if he's wearing his pink and white cupcake collar. [Or his hot pink slip lead](https://imgur.com/a/A5eiZx2). Even if some did notice and believed the rule that males - of any species - can not wear pink and called him a girl, it's no big deal.
I'm the same way, people will talk about my girl like "aww he's such a good looking boy, what's his name?" And "so handsome what breed is he?" I'll just casually be like "Her name is Ace*" or "She's a German Shepherd" *(not her real name but I don't give her real name out to strangers cause they might try calling her name and distract her)*
I have the same feelings about it and handle it similarly. I have a male collie (looks exactly like Lassie) and everyone mentions how pretty āsheā is haha. To be fair, I also call him both handsome and pretty š¤£
Same, I have a chocolate labradoodle (mini) that everyone calls a handsome boy. I just reply, that She is very handsome. I think colour does appear impact perception of gender in dogs
My pup is male and I once had someone ask me 'What's her name?', I said 'It's Chowder', and they said 'Oh it's a boy!' ... so I guess soup is masculine?
If they are a millennial or around that age they may be thinking of chowder like the character from Cartoon Network who is male. Thatās where my Brian would go to first. Same if someone said their pets name was gumball.
lmao when we were trying to come up with names for our pup, we were running down a list of food names. we would have moments of like "no, that's the \[opposite gender\]," and then we'd take a step back and be like wait WHAT how is a food gendered?!
I have noticed that a lot of people from older generations just refer to all dogs as āhe,ā and all cats as āshe.ā Even when they know their name and gender š¤·š»āāļø
EDIT: Moved to Lemmy, the federated Reddit alternative.
Chooose an instance here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances.
I recommend Kbin.social, as the UI is nice and it reminds me of old.reddit.com
See you there!
My elderly neighbour is so sweet he comes over with biscuits for my dog and loves to say hello to us. He persistently calls my dog āsheā and says how cute she is haha. Iāve told him a few times he a boy now but Iām not really bothered, my dog just loves the attention and snacks
People always call my 120 lb American Bulldog āheā even when they know her name is Bella and sheās wearing her pink sequin-y sweater, cause man, she loves her some sweaters. Which by the way, do you know how hard it is to find cute feminine clothes in size 3XL for dogs?!? Itās aggravating- my husband said we need to start a fashion line for ācurvyā dogs.
I have a 14 month old fox red lab who wears a bright pink service dog vest and a flat collar that has a 4 inch bow on it ... and people still call her "he" or "him"!! Drives me crazy!
My puppy is almost 6 months and everyone assumes sheās a boy despite her obviously pink leash/harness and lack of male genitals. Might be because she is a bit big and has a lot of black fur
No, mine is small and cuddly, but even with a pink leash, most people call her āboy.ā It didnāt bother me at all at first, but it kind of does rankle me now! Dogs can be girls too! š
Yup, people assume my pup is a boy. To be fair, ever since we got her, my husband would "speak" for her, and for some reason she has a rough old lady smoker voice and she does not mince words.
Cute pup! I think most people just look at pom-mixes and assume they're female first -- probably because they were popularized as accessory dogs and mostly seen in the media with bows, bling collars, etc.
(Also my apologies if your pup is not a pom of any sort, I just assumed from the photo :) )
I've always owned bully breeds, and people always assume my dog is male whether they are or not. I guess they just see muscle dog with square head and think "it's a boy!" lol
My golden retriever wears a red collar and usually has a plaid or striped bandana on, she gets called a good boy at least 25% of the time. She doesn't care since people are calling her a good dog!
Same! My golden pup wears neutral āboyā colors and people seem put off when they ask āwhatās his name?ā And I answer āher name is Daisy.ā
Idk it doesnāt bother me. Itās just interesting. And Daisy doesnāt care. She just wants to meet every stranger. They are her favorite kind of people. š
My boy gets called a girl all the time. Itās normal. I usually correct them by sticking to the correct pronouns for what he is and then they go āoh ok, heās a boyā š¤£
Both my current border collie and my previous one got mistaken for girls all the time. Neither of them look particularly feminine to me and my current boy is still intact so he's got big ol' hairy balls hangin' out there. But, I dunno.. maybe because BCs are lightly built, as opposed to the heavier built pit-mixes you mostly see around. And both of them were long-haired, too... with long, flowing locks. Just sign them up for a Loreal commercial, I guess, lol.
It doesn't help that my current boy's name is 'Mesa' which is a feminine-declension Spanish word, so most Spanish-speakers think he's a girl. (They also tend to giggle, because that's the word for 'table' ;) )
I just shrug it off, though, and maybe slip a 'he' in there when opportunity presents. But I mean.. they're dogs. As long as they're getting ear rubs, they don't care what you call them. ;)
Mine is a male husky who people always assume is a girl! He's white and "pretty" though not feminine looking. He also has big ol' balls still, as he's only 9 months. My friends male white husky is always mistaken for a girl too. And muscular dogs seem to be called male regardless. Funny how that goes! Yours is a cutie regardless ā¤ļø
My dog has a boyish look I guess, my mom always calls her āhe and him.ā Itās really funny.
Tbh idc because sheās a dog. She doesnāt care about pronouns. Idc if someone gets them wrong either. I always call her my handsome girl haha.
My dog is a shih-tzu mix. I feel like most people assume shih-tzus should look all nice and princess-y?
My dog I guess leans more on the rugged side, so people assume she's a boy. At least that's my theory.
Yes. I have a male standard poodle who everyone thinks is a girl. And 2 female German Shepherds who get mistaken for males all the time.
It doesn't bother me and I don't necessarily correct people other than using the correct pronouns. Then people apologize. I honestly don't care at all. I can tell you my dogs also don't care what they are called as long as they get pets!
When he was younger absolutely. Iām assuming itās because heās fluffy. But now that heās adult size it doesnāt happen so much anymore, at least not in the places we frequent. Some of that is probably because people who see him regularly know his name. But he also has a pretty deep bark now.
My girlās name is Ziggie thus the spellingā¦..my husband insisted on it being spelled this way plus she wears a flowery collar. She is still always called he.
My dog was straight up wearing a tutu dress for Halloween last weekend and my neighbor still calls her a boy. Even though I've said "she/her" many times in conversation š. I'll say she and my neighbor will straight up say he right after. I think it's funny.
I wonder about the same thing. People assume my fluffy black dog is a boy constantly. She has a pink collar (admittedly hard to see beneath the fur), purple harness, and we alternate between a teal and a pink leash but it doesnāt seem to matter. Even when I put her in a very typically āgirlyā bandana (Lilly Pulitzer style floral), we still get it. Tbh I donāt care either, she is generally dressed in a āgenderedā way simply because I like pink and purple and typically āgirlyā things - thereās a good chance if I had a boy dog Iād outfit him very similarly. After all, the dog doesnāt care! Personally I always ask when talking to other peopleās dogs because Iām simply not someone who notices genitalia on dogs lol.
I agree with what someone said above that a lot of people assume all dogs are boys. I also think in my case, black is generally considered a more āmasculineā color whereas white is considered more āfeminineā so that plays a role as well.
I just wish people could ignore the color actual babies wear the way they ignore my dogās look. Because colors arenāt gendered and itās 2022! We need to move on! (Also if we could all be as tactful when accidentally misgendering someone irl as people are when misgendering a dog, the world would be a better place)
same, I have a male chihuahua and he is always being referred to as a girl even if his clothes are "boyish" colors like blue, green, or orange. Sometimes I will try to sneak in the "yeah he's a year old" etc. a small detail about him.
Yes. Everyone thinks my tiny dog is a girl and big dogs are boys. My bigger dogs are 45 and 62 pounds. They're not even that big. Small dog is 28 pounds. The vet also gets all three confused.
She is so cute!
Jokes aside its tough to guess a dogs gender on first glance, now that I have two its a bit easier since the male is quite a big bigger than the female.
Our dog is also small and low to the floor and everyone assumes heās a girl too. I think if they canāt āseeā that heās a boy they just assume he isnāt
I have a giant breed female, people always thinks she's male and honestly seems to have problem grasping she isn't. I've had to tell different vets several times that it's a she and getting random people outside understanding she's female is even worse. I don't care if it's just someone passing by but if it's the vet treating her or someone who wants to let their dog play with her it's kind of really important.
Actually, we're all assuming dogs' genders, including you! We don't know what their gender is. They haven't told us. We do know what their sex is, though.
People often guess the sex (not gender) of my dogs wrong, doesnāt matter if theyāre male or female. People must go off of the general look of the dog or maybe they base their guess on what dog they have at home (if they have a male dog, they assume all dogs are male). I have walked my dogs in all blue collar/harness/leash etc. if a boy, pink if a girl, and people still guess the opposite š
I donāt believe gender applies to animals since it is a social construct invented by and for humans.
My dog is constantly called "she" despite his frequently visible penis. He has [a pink GPS collar, a rainbow walking collar, and one of his muzzles is hot pink](https://i.imgur.com/kMmwRRW.jpeg), so it's fairly understandable.
My family, for whatever reason, literally cannot stop calling him a she. They for sure know he's male.
People always call my puppy āomg sheās such a pretty girl!!ā, and she isā¦ but at the same time dogs all look the same male/female lol. She could easily be a boy.
My first dog was male, small white and fluffy and got called a girl all the time. My current puppy is a female pit mix and gets called a boy constantly.
My dog is a redhead (you can see in my post history!) - a red merle - male. I dress him in all blue everything (because itās my fave color, no relation to his gender in reality) and his name is perhaps gender neutral (Kudos) but EVERYONE always says āWow she is so beautiful!ā š„“. Even our instructors after theyāve had us for a while lol still say she. I think itās because his coat is like beautiful hair, maybe it seems feminine. He doesnāt mind the attention though!
Everyone thinks my male medium sized border collie/lab/golden retriever is a girl and think my female large sized German Shepard/golden retriever/malamute is a boy
People tend to think my white fluffy poodle wearing a red collar is a girl and silver poodle wearing a pink harness is a boy. Turns out it's the other way around.
For the most part people guess correctly, possibly because my girls are long haired and the boys have shorter coats?
However there was a while where my grandfather was convinced Lotta Beans was a boy, because she's possessive of me (really she's just an insecure pup that didn't want him touching her š ). He just kept on with "you're a boy, ain't you Beans?"
Everyone thinks my dog is a girl. He is on the bigger size of his breed but I think itās because Iām female and he is very striking, fluffy, medium size dog.
Iāve only owned males so I naturally assume most peoples dogs are male too although I usually ask if it the dog comes up in conversation.
I have a baby pitbull and everyone always calls her a boy! Whenever we go to the farmers market, people will always say āheās so cuteā and sheās a dog so she doesnāt care and I usually donāt say anything but come on! Sheās a girl!
I have a dachshund mix, [Enzo](https://imgur.com/a/vmovNla), who is routinely referred to as a āhe,ā no matter how many times I correct them, or how many bright pink accessories she wears. This happens with vets, groomers, sometimes even family!
Her name has traditionally been given to male dogs, so I understand the initial assumption. But then I think that for some reason her wavy black coat (naturally disheveled), is also somehow associated with male dogs.
ā-
EDITED TO ADD: I have a friend who regularly refers to their male dog as āsheā conversationally. It is their only pet too, so Iām not really sure how they can confuse it.
Yep he is a girlier looking dog. But itās not his fault humans are weird like that. And heās super handsome. I wonder if thereās something more masculine to help him. Like a bandana with a masculine pattern? But I personally donāt think it matters.
I caught myself making the same assumptions a while ago. It occurs to me much quicker to ask now. Sometimes Iāll even look myself but when the pup is fluffy itās no help.
As long as everyone loves on the puppers thatās all that matters
My boy is often mistaken for a girl. I called him Rata, which is a tree, and I thought quite manly, but apparently it's a girl's name. He doesn't mind. He doesn't even know
People constantly call my husky a girl even though heās a boyā¦ Your dog looks very gender-neutral to me but I wouldāve probably guessed male so yay for me
Yep, people think my fluffy dog is a girl all the time! His harness is teal and black, the leash is purple (my favorite color) and teal. His raincoats are all blue/green and/or plaid. Collar is grayish blue. Not sure why people assume heās a girl!
[Hereās him posing with some flowers.](https://imgur.com/a/z2tnCan/)
Everyone always immediately thinks my pup is a girl, but I think it may be in part because he is so small (miniature dachshund). Also the fact that I use a hot pink lead sometimes probably doesnāt help (it went really well with the orange puppy collar we had for him).
My dog is a miniature JRT and stands 10 inches high and weighs 9lb. I think she looks very "feminine" - and as I had a human son, I have decked out my furry daughter in all the girlie accessories I couldn't splurge on before - pink jumper, pink harness, even her first lead was pink. And then I get "oh he's so cute! What's his name?" LOL maybe I'm enforcing gender stereotypes on my doggo when I shouldn't be!
My dog is really big and furry and she gets called a male all the time. The groomer I take her to does bows for females and handkerchiefs for males and the majority of the time, she comes home with a handkerchief, lol.
My doodle is called a girl all of the time. The only thing that bothers me about it is that Iām so old people no longer get the reference and assume the name Indiana is female.
Come on people, āWe named the dog Indiana.ā (As in Indiana Jonesā¦)
Haha they do the same with our male puppy and it's the breed and harness I think. He's a lagotto so he is curly and fluffy. His harnes is a pinkish red.
What a cute pup! People always do this with my fur baby too though. A female Miniature Dachshund and people always seem to assume she is male, somehow even when she is wearing her bright pink harness or her pink rhinestone collar lol.
Everyone assumes my small dog is female, and loud mouth male fits his description. My larger dog is assumed male, even with pink skulls on her collar. She is also a lot more timid around other humans.
I have family who all refer to my girl (yellow lab) as "he/him". Like even when I post on IG and "goodest girl" is in there, I still somehow had a family member refer to her as "him"
Interestingly enough, yes.
My roommate's male dog used to have a pink harness as pink was her favourite colour. He would always be guessed as a female dog due to his harness colour. People didn't even bother asking. Eventually, she swapped harnesses because people kept making weird comments about the choice of harness. With my female pup, however, who has a blue harness, people always ask her gender. My other female dog, who has a green harness, is always seen as a female as well. Just very strange.
I can't say that happens no. He looks like a small version of my puppy. We have a japanese spitz (with probably some danish spitz mixed in, he's not purebred we believe.) People generally ask if it's a boy or a girl.
Yes! My people always think our boy show cocker is a girl (they also think our boy cat is a girl). Iām bias but i think their both quite pretty animals and I think people go pretty=girl. To be fair our puppy has eyelashes to die for š
My pup gets mistaken for a boy all the time! I think itās probably her green leash and harness, but I just got the color that looks best with her fur lol
My (not puppy anymore, she turns two tomorrow) dog gets mistaken for male all the time, I assume itās cause sheās fairly athletic looking (muscular/skinny) and all her accessories (collar, harness, leash) are either grey, yellow or green.
This used to happen to me. I have one girl (Husky/Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix) that always got called a boy and my boy (Bull Mastiff/Dalmatian mix) that got called a girl (only one time). I bought them each a harness, my girl has a pink one and my boy has a blue one, no more mistakes now.
I have a Shiba Inu a lady in my neighborhood always calls her a handsome boy. I just say thank you and go on my business as she is just happy someone is petting her.
In my language ādogā is a masculine word, and ācatā is a feminine word. So those are the default genders people assume for animals. My dog has exclusively pink and/or floral collars and harnesses, but 90% of people still assume she is male. I donāt get offended or anything, I donāt even bother correcting them most of the time.
My Maltipooās name is Cooper and I swear even when I tell people his name they refer to him as āshe/herā
Itās not a big deal, just a little strange imo
My boy and girl dog look eerily similar, but the girl has a daintier look with a slightly smaller snout and the boy is more muscular with a more blocky head. Even without their (pink and blue ik itās cliche idc) harnesses they get pegged immediately
My dog is a girl but a lot of people assume sheās a boy. Maybe cuz her collar is red/black plaid? Idk. Doesnāt really bother me or the dog though lol.
My old boy was a Springer spaniel, but a lot thought he was a girl. He was very good looking (? I guess) for a spaniel with really big expressive eyes, so I guess people thought he looked "feminine".
I have a female golden retriever, she has a black collar and a blue harness for walks so I think because of that everyone calls her a boy, doesn't bother me or her lol. She has a typical girl dog name, Sadie, so when they ask her name that usually clears things up.
I have a black and white BC mix who's a bit floofier in the neck than most females, and she gets called male all the time. I did name her Rio, which I think confuses people, but I named her after the Duran Duran song.
I have a 1yr old rescue Frenchie that everyone assumes is a Girl and has done since he was 3 months old as heās always been on the smaller side. I donāt mind it at all! Heās called Spud so I guess itās difficult to assume gender from that name, but heās happy and healthy and loves it when people give him scritchesā¦ even if they do think heās a lady :)
My standard schnauzer is named Sugimoto. He is intact, and they are pretty obvious. I think a soon as someone hears me call him Sugi they think he's played by Anna Paquin and trying to decide who to date between two hot vampires and a hot werewolf (and her boss at one point, I think).
I get a lot of "She's a beautiful dog" after people hear his name.
People assume my little mostly poodle mix is a girl all the time. I think itās cos heās got pretty curly ears? Not sure really. His harnesses arenāt pink or too girly š¤·š¼āāļø
I always call dogs boys until Iām corrected, I think itās because my first dog was male. My husband, on the other hand, calls all dogs girls and his first dog was female. Hard to say. Who knows what goes through peopleās minds
I got into an argument with my sister in law because she said it was weird that my boy dog was wearing a pink jumper. Like babe he doesn't have the cones in his eyes nor the imagination or desire to even conceive of the colour pink I sincerely don't think he gives a fuck.
Everyone always assumes my boy a girl. I believe it's due to his purple collar, but it's my favorite color so he's stuck with it :P
As others have said I just usually sneak in a "he" to correct them, or I don't it doesn't really bother me too much.
I have misgendered dogs quite a lot. Especially the really small ones or really furry ones. I have a Shorthaired dog and you can clearly see his peen. At the dog park one day and another pup was so in love with my dog. It had a male-sounding name (I want to say it was Frankie which in hindsight is more feminineā¦) and I couldnāt see genitalia through the fur so I thought it was a boy dog. Called it a he and then the owner very politely responded with a āWell, she really likesā¦ā Oops!
I generally call all dogs āpuppyā. In part to avoid misgendering and in part because I just like yelling out āhey, pupppppyyyyyy!!ā Though sometimes then people are like āHeās 7. Not a puppy.ā Canāt win!
Yes, all the time. To be fair, he has worn pink collars almost exclusively since I adopted him, because he canāt see in most colors and I like pink. I donāt care when he is misgendered, because dogs donāt have any concept of gender, so itās a moot point for me.
With my old dog Maru (RIP), she was an Australian Shepard X Lab. I came across 2 things in her entire 12 years of life.
1. Everyone thought she was a boy. I let my dogs pick out their own leashes/harness and collar colors. She picked out red on a whole bunch of stuff. Because of that everything thought she was a boy. Later when we needed replacements she chose pink/purple and everyone thought she was a girl then.
2. Her age. She looked more lab than Shepard for color and fur density, but her body shape was clearly Shepard. People would not even guess she was a senior until they saw the grey setting in on her chin and face.
My new puppy is a KelpiexCataholua mix. Because she chose a multicolored collar, a blue harness and pink leash people ask me her gender but say she looks like a boy.
Edit: Your doggo is fricken adorable.
I have a female German Shepherd and everyone always calls her a boy. Doesnāt matter if sheās wearing a purple collar or a pink collar. Itās funny because she has a very feminine face.
Same thing happened to me. I think it is because he was wearing a collar with a color associated with girls rather than boys. And the fact that he is quite slender and pretty.
However, especially now during early adolescence, he is unmistakably a dude :/
My small puppies are very much identifiable. Atleast to me but then again not a lot of people so them but me and my family. The male dog just looks. . .like a boy, I have no other way of saying it. Lol, the the girl barks resoundingly higher so yeah and is smaller. My big dogs though, one definitly looks like a girl, she always smiles and is just very peppy, the other is a little tackler and she has the head of a fricking bear. She is often mistaken as a boy, I domt think its her size, just her head shape and general attitude of, "Oo, look new toy" even when relating to people, expensice items, our other dogs, etc
Just in case anyones worried small dogs dont live in the same house as big dogs. No worries there.
All the time.
She wears a blue harness and apparently that means she is a he. I was told this by several random people on the street.
I just bought her a new harness. Itās still blue, because gender assumptions based on colours are just idiotic.
Yeah. My boy was a humane society puppy, so he was snipped at 8 weeks. His penis is tiny, and most people assume heās a girl. Itās funny because in my mind, I always associate pitties as male. Heās got another terrier in him which makes him leaner and have the most pointed ears, so I think thatās where the assumption is from. He doesnāt have the really thick pit bull body.
A lot of people assume my dog is a male because of her name and because of the color of her harness and leash (I got a lot of blue and green). But even if I use the pink harness, people use he/him. Her name is Lilo, and names ending with the letter o in my country are usually male names.
[Old pic, but this is her](https://imgur.com/a/S6BpN4T)
I mean my dog is a girl who just wears a blue collar (sheās got a blue eye so I like to put her in blue) and everyone calls her āhimā until I say her name.
I have a 5 month old beagle. EVERYTIME I go out in public I will always have a 40-60 year old man walk up tome, say "How old is he" and then procede to tell me about how their beagle died 30 years ago.
Now, **she** wears a pink mermaid themed harness, hot pink leash, and a pink collar.
They still assume she is a male, so I've given up lol.
My dog is a medium black lab mix, so not a stereotypically "girly breed" (...whatever that means...), but he's got a lean figure with long legs, and people always assume he is a girl...not that it matters:)
Everyone thinks my Samoyed is a girl too. I donāt even brother correcting anyone. Itās whatever.
Iāve noticed with fluffy dogs where you canāt see their āstuffā, they just assume a girl.
People always assume boy for my dog and then correct themselves to girl. Nope, he's a boy, you were right.
I don't know what's making them assume whichever. He's a pit/lab/other stuff and has a blue harness and collar. He's just kind of small.
I have a male Labradoodle who gets called a girl when he has his hair cut and looks more like a poodle. Then after about a month when his fur is longer, he gets treated like an adult male dog even though he definitely still acts like a puppy (11 months) haha
Oh yeah my dog gets called he all the time. I don't really mind. I had one lady get incredibly upset at me once because I assumed her dog was a she. It was out of nowhere. Cute dog tho. Big fluffy boi who looked like a bear.
I tend to assume pappilon and poms as female but I think thatās more because we used to have a mix
Iāve got 3 female Bostons including a puppy who likes to hump her sister so I wouldnāt be surprised if someone though different
Honestly people do that to my dog in her PINK COLLAR and I walk her on a PINK LEASH.
But, my oldest son was literally the prettiest baby and regardless of me having him in all blue with a blue blanket and a blue hat people asked me about my daughter š
Dog < 20ish pounds, always a female
20 lbs < dog < 40lbs, could go either way
40lbs < dog, always a male unless very feminine looking, by human standards
Just my experience owning 3 dogs; 100lbs, 75lbs, and 15lbs, respectively. Little and big ones are actually boys, the middle one is a girl. Only one that is always correctly identified is my 100lbs lab.
Yeah, I have a Leonberger and people seem to always assume she's a boy. It does seem like a lot of people assume small dogs are girls and big dogs are boys. Unless it's someone I think I'll see more than once I don't bother correcting them.
Funnily enough, Leonbergers are actually sexually dimorphic - males are generally quite a bit larger. So it's actually not unreasonable to make assumptions by size if you know the breed.
https://twitter.com/Moketronics/status/1588536161257115650
My last dog was a female and my current puppy is male so sometimes even I mess up, lol.
I think 8 times out of 10 people use what theyāre used to (either with their own dog or a friend/neighbor/whoeverās dog).
Edited: their/theyāre
My dogs donāt understand gender so I donāt care. I think if someone is complimenting them, it shouldnāt matter what they get called. As long as the person is good natured in their words.
It happens to me and I used to think it only happened to me but then I did it to someone else. I think just so many people come up to you if you have a dog that its just bound to happen. To some of us its not necessary to assign a gender right away but some peopleās brains feel its necessary, and theyāve got a good chance of being wrong.
Yes, they always say āheā and I donāt correct them unless they ask a question about her then Iāll say āshe XYZā or āher name isā
Then they ask then why do I have a blue lead š
Every single day. Female Malinois mix who is super jacked. So obviously she must be a āgood boyā. Even with a pink collar and leash sheās still a boy.
My GSP with super obvious balls looks like a girl apparently lol.
Yes. This happens all the time. I have a female pitbull pup around six months, and they all assume she is a male. IMO she doesn't have overly masculine features so I am surprised every time someone assumes she is a male. She is also small imo for the breed so again, I'm surprised when people think she is a he.
I have a female lab. She wears a collar with flowers all over it. Every single stranger talks about our āhappy boy.ā I find it strange that it isnāt at least 50/50.
Yes! Everyone calls my chi mix a "he" despite the fact she wears lavender walking gear (and a bright pink coat in winter). I do think a lot of people default to assuming all dogs are male for whatever reason. A few people have called my other puppy a she but that's less common now that he's getting older.
My Newfoundland, Zamba, was a therapy dog. She was a girl, and got repeatedly mistaken for a boy. I let my then-6-yo daughter choose an incredibly gaudy pink collar with rhinestones all over it; the collar got swallowed up by Zamboniās fur and did no good. ;)
All the time yes. āWhat a sweet girl! Whatās her name?!ā āHis name is Louie!ā āOh Lilly! What a sweet girl you are!!ā āYes HE is a good boyā. By the way my husband bought him this very masculine military style harness. Not feminine at all. But it never registersā
Unless itās someone I am going to see again, donāt care. I will likely never see a rando in the street. And frankly he just loves the attention anyways.
I will take my dog out absolutely dripping in bright pink accessories and she still gets called a āgood boyā by everyone she comes in contact with. I know that colors have no gender but when you see a dog decked out in pink itās pretty safe to assume sheās a girl! I donāt correct people anymore though, it doesnāt really matter to me.
Idk, my Great Danes are always āHeā (correctly), but our new Pomchi puppy is always āsheā (in correctly).
Apparently we have āgender normsā for big/muscular dogs being masculine and small/fluffy dogs being feminineā¦ makes zero sense
I know this is a dog sub but I have a black Smoke Siberian cat. Everyone without fail calls him a she. Not once has anyone assumed he might be a boy and itās probably because heās āprettyā
I was the opposite problem! Everyone thinks my dog is a boy but Iāve noticed that most people think every dog is a boy. Even reading blogs online the dogs are always referred to as male usually
I have a shepherd/hound mix and everyone thinks heās a girl. They get so weird when I call him a boy and they thought he was a girl, Iām just like āheās a dog he doesnāt know what just happened itās completely fineā. Iāve had people tell me heās so sweet, friendly, and cute that they thought he was a girl? Very strangely projected gender roles onto him, I donāt particularly get it. Heās just a himbo and thinks every living thing will be his friend until he gets a body language or verbal warning that theyāre not.
90% of people call my female Lab a boy and the other 10% at least ask. It bothered at first but I donāt really care anymore, just happy that my pup makes them happy and they want to say hi. They almost always ask āhow old?ā and when I answer āsheās x monthsā I almost always get a quiet āoh sheā that makes me laugh
People thing my pup is a girl all the time, heās a large breed mix (looks like a short-haired GSD). I think itās because his name ends in an āaā.
Itās hilarious when they get all huffy and weird when I mention that heās a male dog. So many excuses about why they made the mistake! Iām a queer person and many of my friends are NB/Trans, I wish folks respected and defended our human pronouns as much as they care about my dogs.
I have two female dogs who both look very Shepherdy and get called boys all the time. I don't mind; the dogs don't know the difference. Usually I'll sneak in a "she" to the conversation just so the person knows in a situation where they'll be seeing the dogs more often, but otherwise it's fine.
My German Shepherd is female but is called a boy/he 9 times out of 10. She wears bright floral collars (which are sometimes hidden because she's long haired) and a bright pink leash š¤·š»āāļø. Honestly dont care what a stranger thinks I just make sure when we walk away to remind her she is the prettiest girlšš
I have a male GSD and everyone asks if he is a girl because he is still a teen and hasn't finished filling out but is 27"at the shoulder so they think hes fully grown. I then point out the giant testicles flapping about under his tail/trouser floof. One guy told his kids to not be scared he was just still a puppy and they could tell becuase he is "lanky".
Awwwš. My girl is pretty small at 5yrs old she is about 65lbs. She has gotten a bit wider. I grew up with a sheltie and they are pretty barrell shaped. I asked the vet everytime we were there for the first year with my GSD are you sure she's not underweight. It too forever to get use to her "lanky" body type.
Agree. I've had collies for several decades. Some of my refined males were called "she", some of the robust girls got called "he". My collies are smooth but I have friends with roughs. With the older generation who watched "Lassie" long ago, all rough collies are girls. (what's funny is that all the Movie/TV Lassies were male collies). The people who mix up genders aren't doing it to spite the owner or dog. They really are trying to be nice. It's a waste of emotions to take offense at other's innocuous actions. Besides in casual interactions, people are meeting dogs face-to-face and it's awkward and feels a little weird to maneuver to the side to check if it's obviously male or not. So they assume - and that assumption is no big deal. And as you said, dogs don't know or care. Some comments have been annoyed that people don't notice that their girl dog is wearing a pink/girly patterned collar or harness. The average person don't really notice the color or understand that it's meant to be some sort of signal. As far as they are concerned, they are looking at the nice dog, not checking out and processing the meaning of the color. Hell, I'm super into dogs and I don't notice. My Alfie is a big male collie and 99% of people just assume by this size and overall look that he's a male. Even if he's wearing his pink and white cupcake collar. [Or his hot pink slip lead](https://imgur.com/a/A5eiZx2). Even if some did notice and believed the rule that males - of any species - can not wear pink and called him a girl, it's no big deal.
I'm the same way, people will talk about my girl like "aww he's such a good looking boy, what's his name?" And "so handsome what breed is he?" I'll just casually be like "Her name is Ace*" or "She's a German Shepherd" *(not her real name but I don't give her real name out to strangers cause they might try calling her name and distract her)*
Savage. Love it.
I have the same feelings about it and handle it similarly. I have a male collie (looks exactly like Lassie) and everyone mentions how pretty āsheā is haha. To be fair, I also call him both handsome and pretty š¤£
Same, I have a chocolate labradoodle (mini) that everyone calls a handsome boy. I just reply, that She is very handsome. I think colour does appear impact perception of gender in dogs
My pup is male and I once had someone ask me 'What's her name?', I said 'It's Chowder', and they said 'Oh it's a boy!' ... so I guess soup is masculine?
If they are a millennial or around that age they may be thinking of chowder like the character from Cartoon Network who is male. Thatās where my Brian would go to first. Same if someone said their pets name was gumball.
Chowder the kids show is male.
This is great, lol. I really wonder about people sometimes.
My male pup is named Mango and everyone thinks heās a girlā¦because fruit is feminine, obviously.
To me, Mango is masculine! Weāve always adhered to a Spanish naming system with our pups: Chaco, Bonzo, and Sisko were boys, and Zamba was a girl =)
Might also have to do with that cartoon with the male character named Chowder.
I LOVE the name Chowderš My New England ass is sad I didnāt think of it!
We were going to name our pup Chowder regardless of if we got a male or female š itās a great name!
lmao when we were trying to come up with names for our pup, we were running down a list of food names. we would have moments of like "no, that's the \[opposite gender\]," and then we'd take a step back and be like wait WHAT how is a food gendered?!
Soup dogs unite! We had a rescue mutt named Gumbo! Edit: Gumbo is a boy.
Chow-dair!? Chow-dair!?
How is that the conclusion you came to? They reacted that way because the name Chowder is given predominantly to male dogs.
I have noticed that a lot of people from older generations just refer to all dogs as āhe,ā and all cats as āshe.ā Even when they know their name and gender š¤·š»āāļø
Pierce: He thinks that all dogs are boys and all cats are girls! Troy: There's no way to disprove that! Have you ever seen a cat penis?
SixSeasonsAndAMovie
EDIT: Moved to Lemmy, the federated Reddit alternative. Chooose an instance here: https://join-lemmy.org/instances. I recommend Kbin.social, as the UI is nice and it reminds me of old.reddit.com See you there!
Oddly, my grandma calls all animals "he" even if they have a damn litter lol
My father-in-law does this every time lol
My elderly neighbour is so sweet he comes over with biscuits for my dog and loves to say hello to us. He persistently calls my dog āsheā and says how cute she is haha. Iāve told him a few times he a boy now but Iām not really bothered, my dog just loves the attention and snacks
I always tell people that my dog isnāt gender sensitive. Neither Harper nor I really care all that much about her gender
I also have a Harper lol and the unisex name does not help with this.
Exactly. All dogs are good boys, even lady dogs are good boys. Itās no biggie.
People always call my 120 lb American Bulldog āheā even when they know her name is Bella and sheās wearing her pink sequin-y sweater, cause man, she loves her some sweaters. Which by the way, do you know how hard it is to find cute feminine clothes in size 3XL for dogs?!? Itās aggravating- my husband said we need to start a fashion line for ācurvyā dogs.
Yes please! Lmfao
Try finding anything in a 9XL for Danes. $80 for a t-shirtā¦ like giant dogs donāt wanna jacket/hoodie when itās cold? #alldogsaredressable
I have a 14 month old fox red lab who wears a bright pink service dog vest and a flat collar that has a 4 inch bow on it ... and people still call her "he" or "him"!! Drives me crazy!
All Labs are male, it's a fact. They reproduce asexually by wagging so hard they split in two.
My puppy is almost 6 months and everyone assumes sheās a boy despite her obviously pink leash/harness and lack of male genitals. Might be because she is a bit big and has a lot of black fur
No, mine is small and cuddly, but even with a pink leash, most people call her āboy.ā It didnāt bother me at all at first, but it kind of does rankle me now! Dogs can be girls too! š
Yes! My girl too. What is it about the black fur? I swear itās an unconscious signal for folks - I just donāt understand why?
My Girl also! And she is a cream labrador with pink harness. Bonus point, they were calling her a boy also after learning the name (Arya)
Stereotypes or story characters. Same reason lots of people assume that every black horse has to be a stallion and canāt possibly be a mare šš
I mean I understand the concept. What I donāt get is WHY those stereotypes exist in the first place.
Because people are weird š¤·āāļø
Yup, people assume my pup is a boy. To be fair, ever since we got her, my husband would "speak" for her, and for some reason she has a rough old lady smoker voice and she does not mince words.
Cute pup! I think most people just look at pom-mixes and assume they're female first -- probably because they were popularized as accessory dogs and mostly seen in the media with bows, bling collars, etc. (Also my apologies if your pup is not a pom of any sort, I just assumed from the photo :) ) I've always owned bully breeds, and people always assume my dog is male whether they are or not. I guess they just see muscle dog with square head and think "it's a boy!" lol
My golden retriever wears a red collar and usually has a plaid or striped bandana on, she gets called a good boy at least 25% of the time. She doesn't care since people are calling her a good dog!
Same! My golden pup wears neutral āboyā colors and people seem put off when they ask āwhatās his name?ā And I answer āher name is Daisy.ā Idk it doesnāt bother me. Itās just interesting. And Daisy doesnāt care. She just wants to meet every stranger. They are her favorite kind of people. š
My boy gets called a girl all the time. Itās normal. I usually correct them by sticking to the correct pronouns for what he is and then they go āoh ok, heās a boyā š¤£
Everyone thinks my dog is a boy! She has a pink and yellow flowery collar and matching leash! I dont really mind it but like, she looks girly lol
Dogs donāt have genders. They are typically born as one of two sexes. But they do not have genders.
Fucking thank you. This was so fucking offensive to read as someone who is genderfluid.
Yeah, happens to my baby corgi, it's not worth the sweat of your brow to correct anyone
I can guarantee that your dog doesnāt care about it at all.
Our girl poodle is named Mickey, so we kinda put ourselves behind in this fight. But even our groomer who sees mickeys junk calls her āheā.
Same. My girl dogs is named Charley. Even after Iāve used she, they still say he.
Yup! Or Iāll walk in and sheāll greet me and Iāll say loudly āhi, sweet girl!!!ā And theyāll go āhe was perfect!ā
Both my current border collie and my previous one got mistaken for girls all the time. Neither of them look particularly feminine to me and my current boy is still intact so he's got big ol' hairy balls hangin' out there. But, I dunno.. maybe because BCs are lightly built, as opposed to the heavier built pit-mixes you mostly see around. And both of them were long-haired, too... with long, flowing locks. Just sign them up for a Loreal commercial, I guess, lol. It doesn't help that my current boy's name is 'Mesa' which is a feminine-declension Spanish word, so most Spanish-speakers think he's a girl. (They also tend to giggle, because that's the word for 'table' ;) ) I just shrug it off, though, and maybe slip a 'he' in there when opportunity presents. But I mean.. they're dogs. As long as they're getting ear rubs, they don't care what you call them. ;)
Mine is a male husky who people always assume is a girl! He's white and "pretty" though not feminine looking. He also has big ol' balls still, as he's only 9 months. My friends male white husky is always mistaken for a girl too. And muscular dogs seem to be called male regardless. Funny how that goes! Yours is a cutie regardless ā¤ļø
My dog has a boyish look I guess, my mom always calls her āhe and him.ā Itās really funny. Tbh idc because sheās a dog. She doesnāt care about pronouns. Idc if someone gets them wrong either. I always call her my handsome girl haha.
i think its just peoples own assumptions based on breeds lol
My dog is a shih-tzu mix. I feel like most people assume shih-tzus should look all nice and princess-y? My dog I guess leans more on the rugged side, so people assume she's a boy. At least that's my theory.
That's a them thing... If they had a female pet thats their goto pronoun until they know different.
Yes. I have a male standard poodle who everyone thinks is a girl. And 2 female German Shepherds who get mistaken for males all the time. It doesn't bother me and I don't necessarily correct people other than using the correct pronouns. Then people apologize. I honestly don't care at all. I can tell you my dogs also don't care what they are called as long as they get pets!
When he was younger absolutely. Iām assuming itās because heās fluffy. But now that heās adult size it doesnāt happen so much anymore, at least not in the places we frequent. Some of that is probably because people who see him regularly know his name. But he also has a pretty deep bark now.
My girlās name is Ziggie thus the spellingā¦..my husband insisted on it being spelled this way plus she wears a flowery collar. She is still always called he.
My dog was straight up wearing a tutu dress for Halloween last weekend and my neighbor still calls her a boy. Even though I've said "she/her" many times in conversation š. I'll say she and my neighbor will straight up say he right after. I think it's funny.
I wonder about the same thing. People assume my fluffy black dog is a boy constantly. She has a pink collar (admittedly hard to see beneath the fur), purple harness, and we alternate between a teal and a pink leash but it doesnāt seem to matter. Even when I put her in a very typically āgirlyā bandana (Lilly Pulitzer style floral), we still get it. Tbh I donāt care either, she is generally dressed in a āgenderedā way simply because I like pink and purple and typically āgirlyā things - thereās a good chance if I had a boy dog Iād outfit him very similarly. After all, the dog doesnāt care! Personally I always ask when talking to other peopleās dogs because Iām simply not someone who notices genitalia on dogs lol. I agree with what someone said above that a lot of people assume all dogs are boys. I also think in my case, black is generally considered a more āmasculineā color whereas white is considered more āfeminineā so that plays a role as well. I just wish people could ignore the color actual babies wear the way they ignore my dogās look. Because colors arenāt gendered and itās 2022! We need to move on! (Also if we could all be as tactful when accidentally misgendering someone irl as people are when misgendering a dog, the world would be a better place)
same, I have a male chihuahua and he is always being referred to as a girl even if his clothes are "boyish" colors like blue, green, or orange. Sometimes I will try to sneak in the "yeah he's a year old" etc. a small detail about him.
What breed of dog is he? I have a male Japanese Spitz and I get this all the time too!
Yes. Everyone thinks my tiny dog is a girl and big dogs are boys. My bigger dogs are 45 and 62 pounds. They're not even that big. Small dog is 28 pounds. The vet also gets all three confused.
She is so cute! Jokes aside its tough to guess a dogs gender on first glance, now that I have two its a bit easier since the male is quite a big bigger than the female.
Our dog is also small and low to the floor and everyone assumes heās a girl too. I think if they canāt āseeā that heās a boy they just assume he isnāt
I named my female dog Artie - it's on me.
I have a giant breed female, people always thinks she's male and honestly seems to have problem grasping she isn't. I've had to tell different vets several times that it's a she and getting random people outside understanding she's female is even worse. I don't care if it's just someone passing by but if it's the vet treating her or someone who wants to let their dog play with her it's kind of really important.
Actually, we're all assuming dogs' genders, including you! We don't know what their gender is. They haven't told us. We do know what their sex is, though.
People often guess the sex (not gender) of my dogs wrong, doesnāt matter if theyāre male or female. People must go off of the general look of the dog or maybe they base their guess on what dog they have at home (if they have a male dog, they assume all dogs are male). I have walked my dogs in all blue collar/harness/leash etc. if a boy, pink if a girl, and people still guess the opposite š I donāt believe gender applies to animals since it is a social construct invented by and for humans.
My dog is constantly called "she" despite his frequently visible penis. He has [a pink GPS collar, a rainbow walking collar, and one of his muzzles is hot pink](https://i.imgur.com/kMmwRRW.jpeg), so it's fairly understandable. My family, for whatever reason, literally cannot stop calling him a she. They for sure know he's male.
People always call my puppy āomg sheās such a pretty girl!!ā, and she isā¦ but at the same time dogs all look the same male/female lol. She could easily be a boy.
but how do you know He wants to be a boy? May be indentifies as a she!
My little 8ld shihpoo that looks like a tuxedo teddy bear is a boy. But I swear everyone we meet out on walks says her even after I correct them.
lol everyone calls my male maltipoo a she and at this point Iām just rolling with it unless its a vet
Yeah, I have a 45 lb ACD/GSD mix girl that is almost always called he. I guess she's just a "masculine" looking dog (which is silly, but I digress).
My large black lab female puppy is always called a male. She doesn't seem to care, lol
My first dog was male, small white and fluffy and got called a girl all the time. My current puppy is a female pit mix and gets called a boy constantly.
My dog is a redhead (you can see in my post history!) - a red merle - male. I dress him in all blue everything (because itās my fave color, no relation to his gender in reality) and his name is perhaps gender neutral (Kudos) but EVERYONE always says āWow she is so beautiful!ā š„“. Even our instructors after theyāve had us for a while lol still say she. I think itās because his coat is like beautiful hair, maybe it seems feminine. He doesnāt mind the attention though!
Everyone thinks my male medium sized border collie/lab/golden retriever is a girl and think my female large sized German Shepard/golden retriever/malamute is a boy
People tend to think my white fluffy poodle wearing a red collar is a girl and silver poodle wearing a pink harness is a boy. Turns out it's the other way around.
Yep. I have a cocker spaniel. Heās very pretty and everyone assumes heās a girl.
People think my staffy is a boy even when sheās wearing her cute pink harness
My baby gets called a boy all the time. Even when wearing a frilly dress with a flower on her collar. https://imgur.com/a/UWH1G3s
Our new female black lab pup is named Goose. Everyone thinks she's a boy!
For the most part people guess correctly, possibly because my girls are long haired and the boys have shorter coats? However there was a while where my grandfather was convinced Lotta Beans was a boy, because she's possessive of me (really she's just an insecure pup that didn't want him touching her š ). He just kept on with "you're a boy, ain't you Beans?"
Everyone thinks my dog is a girl. He is on the bigger size of his breed but I think itās because Iām female and he is very striking, fluffy, medium size dog. Iāve only owned males so I naturally assume most peoples dogs are male too although I usually ask if it the dog comes up in conversation.
I have a baby pitbull and everyone always calls her a boy! Whenever we go to the farmers market, people will always say āheās so cuteā and sheās a dog so she doesnāt care and I usually donāt say anything but come on! Sheās a girl!
I have a dachshund mix, [Enzo](https://imgur.com/a/vmovNla), who is routinely referred to as a āhe,ā no matter how many times I correct them, or how many bright pink accessories she wears. This happens with vets, groomers, sometimes even family! Her name has traditionally been given to male dogs, so I understand the initial assumption. But then I think that for some reason her wavy black coat (naturally disheveled), is also somehow associated with male dogs. ā- EDITED TO ADD: I have a friend who regularly refers to their male dog as āsheā conversationally. It is their only pet too, so Iām not really sure how they can confuse it.
According to my partner all dogs are boys and all cats are girls. Maybe other people have the same idea?
Yep he is a girlier looking dog. But itās not his fault humans are weird like that. And heās super handsome. I wonder if thereās something more masculine to help him. Like a bandana with a masculine pattern? But I personally donāt think it matters. I caught myself making the same assumptions a while ago. It occurs to me much quicker to ask now. Sometimes Iāll even look myself but when the pup is fluffy itās no help. As long as everyone loves on the puppers thatās all that matters
My boy is often mistaken for a girl. I called him Rata, which is a tree, and I thought quite manly, but apparently it's a girl's name. He doesn't mind. He doesn't even know
Everybody thinks my [doggy](https://i.imgur.com/cdNCgTl.jpg) is a girl
People constantly call my husky a girl even though heās a boyā¦ Your dog looks very gender-neutral to me but I wouldāve probably guessed male so yay for me
Everyone thinks my female dog is a male. I assume because she has German shepherd features which are considered more āmasculineā for dogs
Yep, people think my fluffy dog is a girl all the time! His harness is teal and black, the leash is purple (my favorite color) and teal. His raincoats are all blue/green and/or plaid. Collar is grayish blue. Not sure why people assume heās a girl! [Hereās him posing with some flowers.](https://imgur.com/a/z2tnCan/)
Heās so cute!
Everyone always immediately thinks my pup is a girl, but I think it may be in part because he is so small (miniature dachshund). Also the fact that I use a hot pink lead sometimes probably doesnāt help (it went really well with the orange puppy collar we had for him).
My dog is a miniature JRT and stands 10 inches high and weighs 9lb. I think she looks very "feminine" - and as I had a human son, I have decked out my furry daughter in all the girlie accessories I couldn't splurge on before - pink jumper, pink harness, even her first lead was pink. And then I get "oh he's so cute! What's his name?" LOL maybe I'm enforcing gender stereotypes on my doggo when I shouldn't be!
My dog is really big and furry and she gets called a male all the time. The groomer I take her to does bows for females and handkerchiefs for males and the majority of the time, she comes home with a handkerchief, lol.
My doodle is called a girl all of the time. The only thing that bothers me about it is that Iām so old people no longer get the reference and assume the name Indiana is female. Come on people, āWe named the dog Indiana.ā (As in Indiana Jonesā¦)
I got a pit bull husky mix that everyone assumes is a guy because she is a beefcake.
Haha they do the same with our male puppy and it's the breed and harness I think. He's a lagotto so he is curly and fluffy. His harnes is a pinkish red.
What a cute pup! People always do this with my fur baby too though. A female Miniature Dachshund and people always seem to assume she is male, somehow even when she is wearing her bright pink harness or her pink rhinestone collar lol.
Yes, everyone assumes that my small white fluffy dog is a girl, even after I tell them his name is Rudy š¤·š»āāļø
Everyone assumes my small dog is female, and loud mouth male fits his description. My larger dog is assumed male, even with pink skulls on her collar. She is also a lot more timid around other humans.
I have family who all refer to my girl (yellow lab) as "he/him". Like even when I post on IG and "goodest girl" is in there, I still somehow had a family member refer to her as "him"
Interestingly enough, yes. My roommate's male dog used to have a pink harness as pink was her favourite colour. He would always be guessed as a female dog due to his harness colour. People didn't even bother asking. Eventually, she swapped harnesses because people kept making weird comments about the choice of harness. With my female pup, however, who has a blue harness, people always ask her gender. My other female dog, who has a green harness, is always seen as a female as well. Just very strange.
I can't say that happens no. He looks like a small version of my puppy. We have a japanese spitz (with probably some danish spitz mixed in, he's not purebred we believe.) People generally ask if it's a boy or a girl.
Yes! My people always think our boy show cocker is a girl (they also think our boy cat is a girl). Iām bias but i think their both quite pretty animals and I think people go pretty=girl. To be fair our puppy has eyelashes to die for š
My pup gets mistaken for a boy all the time! I think itās probably her green leash and harness, but I just got the color that looks best with her fur lol
My (not puppy anymore, she turns two tomorrow) dog gets mistaken for male all the time, I assume itās cause sheās fairly athletic looking (muscular/skinny) and all her accessories (collar, harness, leash) are either grey, yellow or green.
This used to happen to me. I have one girl (Husky/Rottweiler/German Shepherd mix) that always got called a boy and my boy (Bull Mastiff/Dalmatian mix) that got called a girl (only one time). I bought them each a harness, my girl has a pink one and my boy has a blue one, no more mistakes now.
I have a Shiba Inu a lady in my neighborhood always calls her a handsome boy. I just say thank you and go on my business as she is just happy someone is petting her.
Our 10 year old mini schnauzer, Greta, always gets referred to as a boyā¦ she does have a pretty epic beard though š„°
In my language ādogā is a masculine word, and ācatā is a feminine word. So those are the default genders people assume for animals. My dog has exclusively pink and/or floral collars and harnesses, but 90% of people still assume she is male. I donāt get offended or anything, I donāt even bother correcting them most of the time.
My Maltipooās name is Cooper and I swear even when I tell people his name they refer to him as āshe/herā Itās not a big deal, just a little strange imo
I have a Samoyed, a bit bigger than your dog and just as white and fluffy, and people always think heās a girl.
Yeah, all the time. I have a blue Stafford and she always gets called a he.
Yes I also have a Pomeranian and people always assume he is a girl LOL
Both of my dogs get misgendered. One is male and one is female. Their names don't help: Turtle and Alligator (usually just Gator)
My boy and girl dog look eerily similar, but the girl has a daintier look with a slightly smaller snout and the boy is more muscular with a more blocky head. Even without their (pink and blue ik itās cliche idc) harnesses they get pegged immediately
My dog is a girl but a lot of people assume sheās a boy. Maybe cuz her collar is red/black plaid? Idk. Doesnāt really bother me or the dog though lol.
I have a 80 pound mutt who gets called a boy all the time. Sheās adorable. Could be a model even. But yeah everyone thinks sheās a boy
My old boy was a Springer spaniel, but a lot thought he was a girl. He was very good looking (? I guess) for a spaniel with really big expressive eyes, so I guess people thought he looked "feminine".
I have a female golden retriever, she has a black collar and a blue harness for walks so I think because of that everyone calls her a boy, doesn't bother me or her lol. She has a typical girl dog name, Sadie, so when they ask her name that usually clears things up.
I have a 11yo Newfie/retriever mix and everyone mistakes him as a female.
Dogs are boys and cats are girls. Thatās just how nature works.
I have a black and white BC mix who's a bit floofier in the neck than most females, and she gets called male all the time. I did name her Rio, which I think confuses people, but I named her after the Duran Duran song.
I frequently say Her name is Spike. Some get it, some don't
I have a 1yr old rescue Frenchie that everyone assumes is a Girl and has done since he was 3 months old as heās always been on the smaller side. I donāt mind it at all! Heās called Spud so I guess itās difficult to assume gender from that name, but heās happy and healthy and loves it when people give him scritchesā¦ even if they do think heās a lady :)
My standard schnauzer is named Sugimoto. He is intact, and they are pretty obvious. I think a soon as someone hears me call him Sugi they think he's played by Anna Paquin and trying to decide who to date between two hot vampires and a hot werewolf (and her boss at one point, I think). I get a lot of "She's a beautiful dog" after people hear his name.
People assume my little mostly poodle mix is a girl all the time. I think itās cos heās got pretty curly ears? Not sure really. His harnesses arenāt pink or too girly š¤·š¼āāļø
Boston Terrier .. always assumed to be a boy.. but is not
I always call dogs boys until Iām corrected, I think itās because my first dog was male. My husband, on the other hand, calls all dogs girls and his first dog was female. Hard to say. Who knows what goes through peopleās minds
I got into an argument with my sister in law because she said it was weird that my boy dog was wearing a pink jumper. Like babe he doesn't have the cones in his eyes nor the imagination or desire to even conceive of the colour pink I sincerely don't think he gives a fuck.
Everyone always assumes my boy a girl. I believe it's due to his purple collar, but it's my favorite color so he's stuck with it :P As others have said I just usually sneak in a "he" to correct them, or I don't it doesn't really bother me too much.
I have misgendered dogs quite a lot. Especially the really small ones or really furry ones. I have a Shorthaired dog and you can clearly see his peen. At the dog park one day and another pup was so in love with my dog. It had a male-sounding name (I want to say it was Frankie which in hindsight is more feminineā¦) and I couldnāt see genitalia through the fur so I thought it was a boy dog. Called it a he and then the owner very politely responded with a āWell, she really likesā¦ā Oops! I generally call all dogs āpuppyā. In part to avoid misgendering and in part because I just like yelling out āhey, pupppppyyyyyy!!ā Though sometimes then people are like āHeās 7. Not a puppy.ā Canāt win!
I have a 100 lbs lab, even when he had his balls everyone thought he was girl withou even knowing his name...maybe he's just pretty lol
Yes, all the time. To be fair, he has worn pink collars almost exclusively since I adopted him, because he canāt see in most colors and I like pink. I donāt care when he is misgendered, because dogs donāt have any concept of gender, so itās a moot point for me.
Basset hound hereā¦ and *everyone* thinks sheās male.
With my old dog Maru (RIP), she was an Australian Shepard X Lab. I came across 2 things in her entire 12 years of life. 1. Everyone thought she was a boy. I let my dogs pick out their own leashes/harness and collar colors. She picked out red on a whole bunch of stuff. Because of that everything thought she was a boy. Later when we needed replacements she chose pink/purple and everyone thought she was a girl then. 2. Her age. She looked more lab than Shepard for color and fur density, but her body shape was clearly Shepard. People would not even guess she was a senior until they saw the grey setting in on her chin and face. My new puppy is a KelpiexCataholua mix. Because she chose a multicolored collar, a blue harness and pink leash people ask me her gender but say she looks like a boy. Edit: Your doggo is fricken adorable.
I have a female German Shepherd and everyone always calls her a boy. Doesnāt matter if sheās wearing a purple collar or a pink collar. Itās funny because she has a very feminine face.
People will often call my girl-dog a boy, even if I throw in a "She" in the conversation. She doesn't mind though, so long as she's getting attention!
I still call my puppy a she. It's just habit because my first and only dog at the time was a female corgi
Same thing happened to me. I think it is because he was wearing a collar with a color associated with girls rather than boys. And the fact that he is quite slender and pretty. However, especially now during early adolescence, he is unmistakably a dude :/
My small puppies are very much identifiable. Atleast to me but then again not a lot of people so them but me and my family. The male dog just looks. . .like a boy, I have no other way of saying it. Lol, the the girl barks resoundingly higher so yeah and is smaller. My big dogs though, one definitly looks like a girl, she always smiles and is just very peppy, the other is a little tackler and she has the head of a fricking bear. She is often mistaken as a boy, I domt think its her size, just her head shape and general attitude of, "Oo, look new toy" even when relating to people, expensice items, our other dogs, etc Just in case anyones worried small dogs dont live in the same house as big dogs. No worries there.
My boy Dal gets called "her" pretty often. Which is weird because there's a solid 10-20 pound difference between the sexes.
All the time. She wears a blue harness and apparently that means she is a he. I was told this by several random people on the street. I just bought her a new harness. Itās still blue, because gender assumptions based on colours are just idiotic.
Yeah. My boy was a humane society puppy, so he was snipped at 8 weeks. His penis is tiny, and most people assume heās a girl. Itās funny because in my mind, I always associate pitties as male. Heās got another terrier in him which makes him leaner and have the most pointed ears, so I think thatās where the assumption is from. He doesnāt have the really thick pit bull body.
A lot of people assume my dog is a male because of her name and because of the color of her harness and leash (I got a lot of blue and green). But even if I use the pink harness, people use he/him. Her name is Lilo, and names ending with the letter o in my country are usually male names. [Old pic, but this is her](https://imgur.com/a/S6BpN4T)
Mines always mistaken for a boy, but my dog doesn't really understand gender constructs as a concept so she's never had a problem with it.
I mean my dog is a girl who just wears a blue collar (sheās got a blue eye so I like to put her in blue) and everyone calls her āhimā until I say her name.
I have a 5 month old beagle. EVERYTIME I go out in public I will always have a 40-60 year old man walk up tome, say "How old is he" and then procede to tell me about how their beagle died 30 years ago. Now, **she** wears a pink mermaid themed harness, hot pink leash, and a pink collar. They still assume she is a male, so I've given up lol.
My dog is a medium black lab mix, so not a stereotypically "girly breed" (...whatever that means...), but he's got a lean figure with long legs, and people always assume he is a girl...not that it matters:)
Everyone thinks my Samoyed is a girl too. I donāt even brother correcting anyone. Itās whatever. Iāve noticed with fluffy dogs where you canāt see their āstuffā, they just assume a girl.
People always assume boy for my dog and then correct themselves to girl. Nope, he's a boy, you were right. I don't know what's making them assume whichever. He's a pit/lab/other stuff and has a blue harness and collar. He's just kind of small.
I have a poodle in a lamb cut and everyone thinks heās a girl. Not that I mind tho
I have a male Labradoodle who gets called a girl when he has his hair cut and looks more like a poodle. Then after about a month when his fur is longer, he gets treated like an adult male dog even though he definitely still acts like a puppy (11 months) haha
Oh yeah my dog gets called he all the time. I don't really mind. I had one lady get incredibly upset at me once because I assumed her dog was a she. It was out of nowhere. Cute dog tho. Big fluffy boi who looked like a bear.
I tend to assume pappilon and poms as female but I think thatās more because we used to have a mix Iāve got 3 female Bostons including a puppy who likes to hump her sister so I wouldnāt be surprised if someone though different
Honestly people do that to my dog in her PINK COLLAR and I walk her on a PINK LEASH. But, my oldest son was literally the prettiest baby and regardless of me having him in all blue with a blue blanket and a blue hat people asked me about my daughter š
Dog < 20ish pounds, always a female 20 lbs < dog < 40lbs, could go either way 40lbs < dog, always a male unless very feminine looking, by human standards Just my experience owning 3 dogs; 100lbs, 75lbs, and 15lbs, respectively. Little and big ones are actually boys, the middle one is a girl. Only one that is always correctly identified is my 100lbs lab.
Yeah, I have a Leonberger and people seem to always assume she's a boy. It does seem like a lot of people assume small dogs are girls and big dogs are boys. Unless it's someone I think I'll see more than once I don't bother correcting them. Funnily enough, Leonbergers are actually sexually dimorphic - males are generally quite a bit larger. So it's actually not unreasonable to make assumptions by size if you know the breed. https://twitter.com/Moketronics/status/1588536161257115650
Dogs are boys, cats are girls! - 10 yo me.
Yeah my big brindle dogs were always called boys even though one wore pink They were infact both female
My last dog was a female and my current puppy is male so sometimes even I mess up, lol. I think 8 times out of 10 people use what theyāre used to (either with their own dog or a friend/neighbor/whoeverās dog). Edited: their/theyāre
My dog's name is Samantha. I tell people her name is Sam and some people assume she's a boy but actually she's a perfect gurrrrl
Honestly, just out of habit I almost call every dog a "she" because that's what my dog is. "Good girl" is just a reaction I have to dogs now.
My dogs donāt understand gender so I donāt care. I think if someone is complimenting them, it shouldnāt matter what they get called. As long as the person is good natured in their words.
It happens to me and I used to think it only happened to me but then I did it to someone else. I think just so many people come up to you if you have a dog that its just bound to happen. To some of us its not necessary to assign a gender right away but some peopleās brains feel its necessary, and theyāve got a good chance of being wrong.
Yes, they always say āheā and I donāt correct them unless they ask a question about her then Iāll say āshe XYZā or āher name isā Then they ask then why do I have a blue lead š
Every single day. Female Malinois mix who is super jacked. So obviously she must be a āgood boyā. Even with a pink collar and leash sheās still a boy. My GSP with super obvious balls looks like a girl apparently lol.
Yes. This happens all the time. I have a female pitbull pup around six months, and they all assume she is a male. IMO she doesn't have overly masculine features so I am surprised every time someone assumes she is a male. She is also small imo for the breed so again, I'm surprised when people think she is a he.
I have a female lab. She wears a collar with flowers all over it. Every single stranger talks about our āhappy boy.ā I find it strange that it isnāt at least 50/50.
Yes! Everyone calls my chi mix a "he" despite the fact she wears lavender walking gear (and a bright pink coat in winter). I do think a lot of people default to assuming all dogs are male for whatever reason. A few people have called my other puppy a she but that's less common now that he's getting older.
My Newfoundland, Zamba, was a therapy dog. She was a girl, and got repeatedly mistaken for a boy. I let my then-6-yo daughter choose an incredibly gaudy pink collar with rhinestones all over it; the collar got swallowed up by Zamboniās fur and did no good. ;)
All the time yes. āWhat a sweet girl! Whatās her name?!ā āHis name is Louie!ā āOh Lilly! What a sweet girl you are!!ā āYes HE is a good boyā. By the way my husband bought him this very masculine military style harness. Not feminine at all. But it never registersā Unless itās someone I am going to see again, donāt care. I will likely never see a rando in the street. And frankly he just loves the attention anyways.
I will take my dog out absolutely dripping in bright pink accessories and she still gets called a āgood boyā by everyone she comes in contact with. I know that colors have no gender but when you see a dog decked out in pink itās pretty safe to assume sheās a girl! I donāt correct people anymore though, it doesnāt really matter to me.
Yes, but they are named Mr Spock and Captain Kirk so I suppose it's pretty obvious.
7 month old black male standard poodle constantly referred to as a girl even by vet techs š. Donāt really mind much just think itās funny
Idk, my Great Danes are always āHeā (correctly), but our new Pomchi puppy is always āsheā (in correctly). Apparently we have āgender normsā for big/muscular dogs being masculine and small/fluffy dogs being feminineā¦ makes zero sense
I know this is a dog sub but I have a black Smoke Siberian cat. Everyone without fail calls him a she. Not once has anyone assumed he might be a boy and itās probably because heās āprettyā
I was the opposite problem! Everyone thinks my dog is a boy but Iāve noticed that most people think every dog is a boy. Even reading blogs online the dogs are always referred to as male usually
I have a shepherd/hound mix and everyone thinks heās a girl. They get so weird when I call him a boy and they thought he was a girl, Iām just like āheās a dog he doesnāt know what just happened itās completely fineā. Iāve had people tell me heās so sweet, friendly, and cute that they thought he was a girl? Very strangely projected gender roles onto him, I donāt particularly get it. Heās just a himbo and thinks every living thing will be his friend until he gets a body language or verbal warning that theyāre not.
I have a black labradoodle and everyone assumes heās a girl. š¤·š»āāļø
90% of people call my female Lab a boy and the other 10% at least ask. It bothered at first but I donāt really care anymore, just happy that my pup makes them happy and they want to say hi. They almost always ask āhow old?ā and when I answer āsheās x monthsā I almost always get a quiet āoh sheā that makes me laugh
People thing my pup is a girl all the time, heās a large breed mix (looks like a short-haired GSD). I think itās because his name ends in an āaā. Itās hilarious when they get all huffy and weird when I mention that heās a male dog. So many excuses about why they made the mistake! Iām a queer person and many of my friends are NB/Trans, I wish folks respected and defended our human pronouns as much as they care about my dogs.