Behavioural changes after neutering?

[hoover]

Thought I would try a poll on the subject of neutering!

Have you had your dog(s) neutered, and if so, did you notice any changes in behaviour afterwards?

We had our year old male dog neutered one month ago when he was 11 months old.  He has been a tough dog to work with - prone to resource guarding, location guarding, frustration and redirected aggression, barking etc.  The one and only time we left him at a doggy day care centre they made it clear that he (and they) had had a very difficult time. The one and only time we left him with a well respected dog walker I got a call from them at 2pm asking me to come and collect him early as he was besotted with another neutered male dog there, would not leave him alone and snapped at any other dogs that got in the way of his fixation.  When separated from this dog he howled incessantly.

We hummed and hawed over neutering, so much new advice about aggression being fear-based and the removal of testosterone possibly making things worse for male dogs.  We pondered to what extent can guarding be considered fear based - fear of losing the possession, place etc or an act of dominance. 

Anyway, in the end we went for it, as we could see that we could not leave him at any day care or dog walker because of him still being intact and his fixation on females and neutered males was an even bigger problem than everything else.  In the first week post op he was as bad as ever, possibly worse, but since then he has definitely been better with people.  His resource guarding, whilst still present, has turned down several notches. I made the mistake recently of going to clean his ears whilst he was lying on his mat and I completely forgot he had a bone there.  Such an approach would have previously resulted in lunging/ snapping and instead he let me clean his ears for a few seconds before I heard a low rumbling of discomfort and realised he had a bone. He is now much easier to handle as well - previously if he had jumped onto a sofa he wasn't allowed on (and attempts to call him or lure him down had failed) he would have snapped if we had tried to lead him down by the collar, he would also have snapped at us if we tried to intervene in a scuffle with another dog/ lead him away from females in season/ food he had found on the ground.  Now he does none of the above and will happily let us lead him away from situations.

He is, in general, much less restless and agitated, and is happy to lie quietly with us on the sofa in a way that he would never really do before. He still bombs around the park, and goes for 5K runs and is no less active or less playful.

On the downside he seems to have suddenly become very intolerant of puppies so we are keeping him away from the local dog park for the time being.  He also continues to guard balls from other dogs and this has stayed the same since neutering.  Urine marking has surprisingly stayed the same - this as the one thing I thought might have a decent chance of being reduced, but no.  Guess he has the habit now.

Anyway, who is to know how much of this is related to the neutering, or if perhaps he is at an age where this might be happening anyway, or perhaps our behaviours and expectations have created a shift in dynamic (I tend to think this isn't a main factor, however) but I just thought I would share our experiences and ask what other people's experiences were.

[Redked]

Bonnie was spayed around 14 months, after her first season. The change was very positive, after the initial hormone disruption (which saw her revert back to pre puppy training  ). She Became less interested in other dogs, which had always been an issue as she was just too boisterous around them. She calmed down a lot too. The only negative was her increase in appetite (she became so greedy and still is) but I'd say this is common in cockers anyway so maybe nothing to do with her being neutered. All in all, a positive improvement but, as you say, some of this may have happened without being neutered as the age we tend to have it done is when they would be maturing anyway.

[Blueberry]

My little lad is only 14 weeks tomorrow, but the vet at his initial health check advised neutering him at 6 months old, unless he has any behaviour issues, in which case he said they need to be resolved first.
6 months seems very young to me, but I guess he's the expert.

[Londongirl]

We had Henry neutered at six months, which seems to be the standard recommendation of vets. He had started humping things and the only change I can put down to the neutering is that my soft furnishings are now unmolested!

Because he was so young, I don't know what changes are due to neutering and what to general maturing. There was no immediate change in his behaviour.  At 10.5 months he has recently really settled down, earlier than we expected, so maybe this early onset of more grown-up behaviour is a result of the neutering.

[Blueberry]

Yeah, humping has already commenced here - the first time was at 11 weeks.

[Letichia]

I have Maverick who is 12 months old and is currently not neutered.
Personally I am against spaying/neutering at 6 months old. I feel it is far too young and based on the research that I have read it can actually cause more health problems.
I don't tend to neuter my dogs unless there is a medical reason to do so.
Blueberry - have a read of this article   
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

Lily my 3 year old cocker was spayed at 2.5 years old after 2 seasons. The changes are in her coat and her appetite so I guess they would count as negative 

[zenon_bass]

http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/three-reasons-to-reconsider-spayneuter/

Interesting article here!

I really support spaying/neutering, but think the dog has got to physically mature before the op.

Also the method of neutering needs to be considered: if one removes all the 'bits' then a large portion of the endocrine system is gone, leaving the dog open to other illness later in life. I've heard that when done by keyhole surgery, the outlook is more positive in older age.

What do others think?

[its.sme]

Bea was done after her second season, it was only at this point that I thought she was mature and able to stay still for longer than 5 minutes after the Operation

She had Key Hole mainly due to the quicker recovery time, it turned out she is allergic to the stitches so I'm grateful she only had 3 small wounds.

[Murphys Law]

Millie is getting spayed a week today. She is one year old on the 27th July.

I did a lot of research on the subject and decided to go for key hole. I think it is a much easier operation on the dog. Unfortunately, my vets don't do key hole and they tried their best to talk me out of it. They also recommended getting her spayed at 6 months of age.

[elaine.e]

Yeah, humping has already commenced here - the first time was at 11 weeks.

Humping at 11 weeks is just playful excitement and nothing to do with hormones or sexual arousal. Any dog or bitch, puppy or adult, entire or neutered, may hump when playing or feeling anxious (it can be a stress reliever) or just because it feels good without it having anything to do with either sex or dominance.

The worst humper I know is a Golden Retriever bitch, spayed at about 12 months old, who has always humped my two male Cockers when the three of them are playing together.

[elaine.e]

I prefer to keep my dogs entire unless there's a medical reason for neutering. One of my current two, William, was castrated at 15 months because of an undescended testicle. I waited until then to give him time to stop growing and to be reasonably mature mentally and physically.

It's a very contentious subject, with some vets recommending neutering at 6 months or even earlier. Many others recommend to wait until sexual maturity has been reached because of the importance of hormones in the development and physical maturity of the dog. Some vets don't push for neutering at all.

Neutering prevents testicular cancer and some benign prostate conditions, but increases the risk of some cancers too, such as prostate cancer, bone cancer and hemangiosarcoma. Dogs and bitches neutered before their growth plates have closed and before puberty are at increased risk of early onset joint problems.

This is another useful article to read http://www.dogsfirst.ie/health-issues/dog-neutering/

At the end of the day we each make our own decision, but I believe it's best to do so after doing some research

[Jane57]

We had the mindset of leaving Riley entire unless for medical/health reasons.
He had no real issues but when he got to about 2 he would sometimes become deaf to us on walks, we would be invisible, we live in a hugely populated area by the coast with literally hundreds of dogs.
I thought he might be affected by bitches in season. He went from being a focused dog at these times to one who would follow a scent like it was a drug trail . We were genuinely worried for his safety / our sanity.
One time he was like this on a walk and we came right home he sat by the back door and howled.

We had him neutered at 3 years old and wow what a difference, honestly literally from day 1 he changed.
Well from when he was allowed out off lead that was.
He now has no interest in other dogs, he stays by us, yes he will go off for a sniff but constantly is watching us and if we get a bit far from him he will run and find us.
For us , for this reason it was the right decisions.

He has got a lot more greedy since then though, literally pesters for food a lot more now.
His coat has changed a bit , bit more hairy but nothing too bad as i have him in a show type clip now.
He doesnt mark quite as much on walks and one thing we never ever thought of is that his wee has changed. It used to smell really bad, if he wee,d on his skirt etc we would smell but not now, the strong odour has gone, I never knew that would happen.

I would probably do it again for another male dog but wait till at least 2 years old.