all the same i think really. i've had other dogs, male and female, and neither was too much trouble. the one thing about males is that they do get more territorial when they hit puberty and will mark as time goes on. you can try to prevent it, but at some point there will be an accident, especially if you have other dogs around. i had a boxer that didn't mark inside until 3 years later, another dog entered the picture. he was not neutered. if you neuter your dog, there is less likelihood that this will happen.
RE: potty pads. i tried them and i don't like them. i think they reinforce that it's ok to go inside the house. i used them for a bit but stopped because i was afraid that rocco would not go outside. so, if you want to retrain, i would crate train. keep your dog in a crate when you are out of the house, and bring them out when you want to take them out to go. if you crate train at night, by morning they should want to go badly. take them outside and don't go back in until they relieve themselves in the designated area. tell them "go potty" or some other command as they are going and give them a treat or praise them highly during and afterwards. they'll associate going outside w/ good things and they will do it again.
soon enough, you'll be able to just say "go potty" and they'll go. rocco will try to go even when he's done when we say "go potty" to him now.
good luck!
