Idiom question

[Natalie Maynor]

Mike Salovesh wrote:

> Yes, in U.S. English there is a bias toward thinking that generic "dog"
> implies male.  Listen, for example, to the frequent use of the pronoun
> "he" for any canine without regard to the animal's actual sex.  "Cat",
> on the other hand, often implies "female" even if used as a generic --

For the first five or so years of my life, I thought that dogs were
males and cats were females.  Then our dog had puppies.
   --Natalie Maynor (maynor at ra.msstate.edu)

PS: I also thought that ponies were baby horses.