# He may be frou-frou, but he's a BOY dog!

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-be-frou-frou-but-hes-a-boy-dog/622581>\
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion\
**Created:** [May 21, 2012, 3:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-be-frou-frou-but-hes-a-boy-dog/622581 "2012-05-21T03:20:46Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 2

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**Author:** ![Orca\_Eyes](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/4491bb/32.png) [@Orca\_Eyes](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orca_Eyes)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 8:07pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-be-frou-frou-but-hes-a-boy-dog/622581/21 "2012-05-27T20:07:45Z")

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> [@SurrenderDorothy](#):
>
> So I planned on coming home from the adoption event today with one new foster, but just fell for this little cuddly fluffy cutie pie. He looks like a havanese to me, but is listed as a bichon/shih tzu. Point being, he’s a little fluffy thing with a pretty tail and some pretty hair on his face (he had terrible skin problems when he came in, so his body is shaven.)
> 
> But everyone thinks he’s a her. I’m just now coming around to calling him “him”.
> 
> I think tomorrow, I may get him a spiky collar. And I’m considering having him completely shaven, too. We had a Havenese totally shaven (including her face) and she was the cutest thing ever. And his haircut on his head is kind of funny and uneven.
> 
> Anyway, what else can I do to make him look super-manly? I’m even willing to put him in stupid outfits if it will help. Maybe a headband across his forehead like Rambo? (which, by the way, might be a good name for him. He needs an masculine name because he’s such a sweete-pie
> 
> Any suggestions?

I sympathize with your feelings. I don’t understand why people would think that frou-frou dogs (especially poodles) are always female. That doesn’t make any sense.

I’m a cat owner, but I totally understand what you’re saying. My family has two Persian cats (one of each sex, but they’re neutered) and my male cat sometimes gets assumed to be a girl because he’s got long, silky fur which is more pronounced in him than in my female cat. And one of my friends has a female bulldog named Clementine, and she says that her dog is called a “he” despite the obviously feminine name.

Dogs other than frou-frou dogs are usually assumed to be male. It doesn’t help that some little kids think that all dogs (besides poodles) are male and that all cats are female. In fact, that’s how cats and dogs are usually portayed as in fiction. You hardly ever see movies with male poodles. (An exception: calico cats are almost always female because it’s related to sex chromosomes.)

On TV Tropes, there’s a whole trope about this: [Female Feline, Male Mutt - TV Tropes](http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Main/FemaleFelineMaleMutt)

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**Author:** ![AqualungBats5th](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6bbea6/32.png) [@AqualungBats5th](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AqualungBats5th)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 10:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-be-frou-frou-but-hes-a-boy-dog/622581/22 "2012-05-27T22:33:10Z")

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Is it really necessary to reinforce human gender stereotypes for the benefit of your dog?

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**Author:** ![PandaBear77](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/edb3f5/32.png) [@PandaBear77](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/PandaBear77)\
**Post date:** [May 27, 2012, 11:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/he-may-be-frou-frou-but-hes-a-boy-dog/622581/23 "2012-05-27T23:23:57Z")

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Name him Brutus.

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