Transgender Dogs

Image Credits: Pixabay

When it comes to awareness, a transgender dog does not exist. The main qualification to be a transgender is to make sense of one's own gender which is not linked to the sex of the body. Canines do not have this awareness. There are many instances, however, when owners have found their dogs to be so, and the animals subsequently had gender reassignment surgery. There is a good reason owner have felt their dogs to be transgender.

One example can be given of a British couple who adopted a female puppy. They soon figured out that their puppy is exhibiting unusual behavior. Since it was trained to urinate in a female position, it did so inside the house. However, it did the same deed in the male position when outside. When the owners took the dog to the veterinarian, the specialist told them it could be a hermaphrodite, meaning the dog has both female and male genitalia. Later investigation led to the realization that it was an intersex dog. Canines of this kind whine more and lick their bodies more than other dogs. These dogs also urinate in the male position even though it appears like a female.

Training and maturity

If your dog is intersex, do not worry. The innate nature of a dog depends on how it got raised and trained. A canine can be affectionate or aggressive. It depends on the environment within which the dog was brought up. Any dog's behavior depends on its training. The sex of the dog, however, affects its rate of learning. The female dog is smarter and learns quickly. They are smaller compared to male dogs and reach maturity earlier. It is easier to train a female dog than a male one. Do understand that training has nothing to do with intelligence but depends on maturity. Since females mature faster, they are also much easier to train. Start training your dog when it is still a puppy. If it has not been neutered or spayed, then do the procedure as quickly as possible. 

More than we expected It is not unusual in the animal world to have some animals which can change sex between genders and have both male and female characteristics. It is to be kept in mind that the male and female sex could overlap both in humans and in animals. Dogs cannot be an exception. Animals which can change their sex do this through a process termed sequential hermaphroditism. Three outcomes can be done in this regard: protogyny where females change into males, protandry where males turn into females, and where a living thing is born both male and female and has the power to assume any sex later in its life. The last can be observed in fishes.