Female or male dog, that is the question..

Some of the puppies from the litter I'm getting a puppy from.

 Initially I was getting a female dog, or at least that was the plan. But the other day, when we visited the breeder, she asked if we didn't want a male instead. So now I have to decide. Do I want a male or female dog?

 A male dog is bigger, needs a larger cage/space/bed and eats more, i.e. it is more expensive. A female will come in heat 1-3 times a year (usually, some bitches come in heat more often), then there is the risk of pseudopregnancy and possible pyometra. A male dog is more or less in heat all year round though and is more likely to be aggressive towards other dogs. A female dog is more likely to be moody. A female dog is however easier to train, but will be more unstable and less reliable because of the heat. A male dog might initially demand more in terms of training, but once it has learned it is stable and reliable (unless there is a bitch that is in heat nearby). And before someone says that many of these problems would be avoided by spaying or neutering, let me stop you right there. Spaying and neutering dogs is illegal in Norway, unless it is for medical reasons. We don't have the problem of a lot of unwanted dogs that live in shelters. We don't have shelters at all basically, so there is no social reason to spay or neuter either.

Mother dog with her pups.

 Anyway, back to the question. Do I want a female or male dog? Well as of now, I don't know. There are so many advantages and drawbacks to both sexes.. And I know I've been overly negative in this post. I've focused on the negative sides more than the positive ones. But there's a simple explanation for that; what makes both sexes good is what makes a dog good, they have the same positive sides. What differs is their drawbacks. Well, one good reason to get a male dog is that I can bring it to work all year round, and bring it to the in-laws too (they have a male dog), without risking disturbing the other dogs with a bitch in heat. But the question still stands: Do I want a male or female dog?