I’m not pet owner and I don’t spend much time around animals in general. (Don’t get me wrong, I love them, It’s just I know I would be a terrible pet owner.)

How common it is for people to see, let’s say, a dog and immediately just know whether it’s “she” or “him”? If two dog owners meet in a park, would it be awkward for one of them to misgender the other’s dog?

Of course, I mean without looking at the “obvious” traits.

Are there behaviors that are typical for male/female pets outside the one directly related to mating?

I recognize that within the animal kingdom, the traits are not always clear, and I guess gender is quite more flexible than sex. I would be interested in both aspects.

What about cats or other animals?

  • netvor@lemmy.worldOP
    1·
    4 days ago

    unless you see them pee

    You mean see/not see the “pebbles”?

    Or do they tend to pee differently? I know dogs typically pee by raising one leg, but sometimes they just crouch by both back legs and just release. Is this what you mean?

    I vaguely recall when I was a teen we had a dog (he/him, and a mutt) and he would usually do the “this lamp post is mine now” pee but when he really needed to go he would just crouch and leave a big puddle.

    • technomage@lemmy.ca
      3·
      3 days ago

      Generally speaking, male dogs tend to lift a leg to pee while the females tend to squat. It’s nowhere near foolproof, of course, but you can usually say for sure that a dog is male if it’s lifting a leg. That said, I know plenty of male dogs that squat, or do the “lazy lift” where you can’t quite tell. So y’know…

    • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
      1·
      4 days ago

      if you own a female dog you can tell the difference between the pee and poop by the arch of the back. A male dog doing a puppy pee also looks different. Its possible female dog owners can tell easier.

      • netvor@lemmy.worldOP
        1·
        3 days ago

        i … i don’t know how i left you with the impression that i can’t tell poo from pee. … i must have done something horribly wrong. 🤣

        Actually I think for pretty much all mammals it’s as easy as telling liquid the difference between liquid and solid.

        • HubertManne@piefed.socialEnglish
          1·
          3 days ago

          with a female dog its a bit hard to tell. At night I often have to check the area she was in just in case. So if you see them pee then you know the sex. I was not commenting on your ability to. You know I sorta took your question to be a general thing. Like most people in general can’t but if you own one you are a bit more likely to but even then to just glance at a dog and know its sex is basically a superpower to me. I had someone comment like I was making a definitive statement about the human capacity to tell the sex of a dog at a distance.