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Should I or Shouldn't I neuter my 7mo GSP

10 replies

EastCoastDamsel · 10/10/2018 14:16

My dog's creche (he goes once or twice a week) are reporting difficulties in having him now that he is 6 months hold. Saying that he is showing a lot of interest in young female dogs, one in particular.

They are not on heat, but have not been spayed yet either.

DDog will not leave her alone when they are in creche together apparently and the owner of the creche is concerned that the bitch may be coming up for her first heat.

Apparently there is also some aggression being displayed by some of the older (neutered) males towards DDog.

DDog is full on and very boisterous but I have not seen any particular sexualised behaviour at home. He is not scent marking (not coking his leg yet even) and doesn't seem to be any more interested in male/female dogs we meet out on walks. He is jumpy and very confident though.

Vet has recommended that we wait until 12 months if at all possible.


I have just had a conversation with Creche owner and I wonder if the problem they are having with him is just that he is too energetic and not wanting to play too much, rather that any sexual behaviour.

Does any one have any thoughts/experience? Did you neuter your dog before fully grown and did it have any effect on his behaviour? Did he become more placid and easier to manage?

Thanks

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Floralnomad · 10/10/2018 16:05

This is the issue with using day care . I personally wouldn’t neuter a large dog nail they were fully grown but then equally I wouldn’t expect a daycare to keep taking him if he’s a nuisance humping other dogs . My boy was a rampant humper of everything from about 6 months and we had him neutered at 10 months and it did stop the behaviour unless he gets really over excited and then a firm no stops him , however he is a 13kg mix breed not a big dog .

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BiteyShark · 10/10/2018 16:42

6 months is a difficult age anyway for behaviour. Are they used to having such young puppies?

Are you tied to that daycare? Some daycares have no stipulations about castration but some won't take uncastrated dogs.

My medium sized dog who is on the small size for his breed was castrated just before 11 months of age. It made very little change in his behaviour but he didn't show any sexual behaviour beforehand. Also I noticed you mentioned not cocking his leg but some dogs (including mine) never cock their legs ever (have read that it's a learned behaviour).

I would look for other daycares first but as I use them myself I appreciate your hands may be tied if that's the only one you can use and they refuse to have him unless he is castrated.

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Floralnomad · 10/10/2018 17:43

Mine cocked his leg when out on walks from about 6/7 months he never cocks his leg to wee in the garden I assume because he feels no need to scent mark .

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BiteyShark · 10/10/2018 17:50

I don't think my dog at 2 years will ever cock his leg none as he has never done it Grin

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Wolfiefan · 10/10/2018 17:51

They shouldn’t have an unneutered bitch coming into season at daycare.
He’s far too young to neuter.

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EastCoastDamsel · 10/10/2018 18:43

They accept puppies from 14 weeks and DDog has been going since he was 17 weeks old. The also have a number of large breeds that attend (at least 2 fully grown Great Danes and one GD puppy)

It is the only daycare in the area that is open for the times that I need it to be.


What ticks me off is that DDog has been aytgending for 12 weeks and the bitch jas only just started coming and apparentyl itnos not only DDog that has been showing her a lot of interest.

I appreciate that they shouldn't be expected to put up with a dog that humps every thing but I am going to have to do some serious thinking about it as they had already accepted this week's booking and then rang me to ask if I missed to skip one of the days to accommodate the affected bitch, as a favour.

So tough

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Wolfiefan · 10/10/2018 18:51

If they have a bitch in season then she can’t go to daycare.
If she’s not in season then neutering won’t likely help as it’s a behavioural issue.

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EastCoastDamsel · 11/10/2018 13:25

Thanks all. I am going to talk to the vet about it.

I have never seen him "hump" anything or any dog and we are working on him being more polite with dogs he doesn't know.

On walks with me, he is really good at coming back to me instead of just running after every dog he sees and only seems to get over excited when he is on the lead when meeting other dogs. (I always pop him onto the lead when we encounter dogs we don't know out on walks).

I am starting to think that the creche just likes to have all dogs over 6mo castrated as they then don't have to worry.

Waiting for vet to ring me back.

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mydogisthebest · 11/10/2018 20:27

The larger the breed of dog the older it should be when neutered. Your dog is far too young.

That was the main reason my dog couldn't go to doggy day care when he was young. I couldn't find one that would take an unneutered dog and two vets had said he should not be neutered before 18 months, preferably 2 years.

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anniehm · 12/10/2018 22:16

We neutered at 9 months due to wanderlust and being cheeky with the female members (human) of the house. Think it solved it, he passed his obedience exam a few weeks later, though he does still consider fences just something to climb over whatever their height (6ft even)

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