Does castration reduce the risk of attack?

[heatseeker14]

Our near 11 month old puppy was attacked a few months ago by a dog. The owner was not close so wouldn’t have been aware of what happened. Today the same dog came across a fairly large stretch of grass to get to my dog. Started sniffing my dog who then rolled over and submitted. My dog then got back up and the dog went crazy growling loudly, snarling and pinned my dog who started yelping loudly. I split them up and the owner called her dog away. The owner was mortified and apologised numerous times. It left me shaken up for a few minutes. Why do you think this dog has an issue with mine? Is it to do with dominance? Could it be because our dog hasn’t been castrated yet? Will having him castrated help stop other dogs having a go at him?

[Stackers382]

Sorry I don’t know about the castration issue but I was advised once that the best way to stop a dog attack was to squirt it with water. I always have a bottle on me, never had to use it so I don’t know how true it is. Just thought it could help if your paths cross again.

[PollyPolson]

It was because the other dogs owner was a knob - and I expect had done the same thing to many other dogs, castrated or not.

Sorry your dog had to deal with this situation

[getdownonit]

Some male dogs do react badly to in tact dogs, yes. I have a rescue, who was castrated late at just over two. He's an on lead dog, so no chance to attack. He can sense, smell or see an intact male dog a long way away and will start to react, no matter how friendly, submissive and lovely the intact dog is.

So I wouldn't take the fact that there are weird dogs like mine out there as a decision maker as to whether you castrate, but yes, some dogs are more likely to pick a fight with an intact dog.

[Witchgonebad]

I agree the other owner is a knob.
I had the same thing happen to my pup. The other owner said it was because my dog was entire.
He’s met plenty of other dogs castrated and entire and not had problems.

His dog has aggression problems and he is a knob.

[PollyPolson]

I have a rescue that was castrated early he is also targetted by bully dogs and knobhead owners. Lets not give them excuses it is bad ownership and poor training that encourages aggression in dogs not castration.

[Whoknowswhocares]

It will only help if testosterone is what is causing the problem. Yes some dogs react to an intact male. However an overly submissive dog can also bring out bullying behaviour in some dogs....this particular dog could be doing this for either reason (or just be a badly controlled arse for another reason entirely) .do you know how the other dog behaves around other dogs to get a clue as to why it’s behaving that way?

[heatseeker14]

Thanks everyone for your replies. Whoknowswhocares, I haven’t seen how the dog interacts with others. The way the owner reacted makes me think her dog doesn’t usually react that way. My dog is very friendly and submissive and gets down on his back a lot when he meets other dogs. Perhaps that encourages other dogs to bully him. It’s not the first dog that has done this to him. Other owners have been caught off guard when their dog for no apparent reason starts having a go at him. I just thought it was due to his testosterone being high and older males putting him in his place.
@Stackers382, that’s good to know. I always take a squeezy water bottle with me on walks.👍🏻

[sessell]

@heatseeker14

Our near 11 month old puppy was attacked a few months ago by a dog. The owner was not close so wouldn’t have been aware of what happened. Today the same dog came across a fairly large stretch of grass to get to my dog. Started sniffing my dog who then rolled over and submitted. My dog then got back up and the dog went crazy growling loudly, snarling and pinned my dog who started yelping loudly. I split them up and the owner called her dog away. The owner was mortified and apologised numerous times. It left me shaken up for a few minutes. Why do you think this dog has an issue with mine? Is it to do with dominance? Could it be because our dog hasn’t been castrated yet? Will having him castrated help stop other dogs having a go at him?

Hi @heartseeker14 if you manage to see this - 2 years later! - I'd love to know how things worked out with your dog. Mine sounds very similar, submissive and a target, so also wondering about castration, though worried about the impact. I've just posted a question on that too. How did you get on? How is you DDog now?

[heatseeker14]

Hi Sessell, it helped our dog. He was regularly having dogs have a pop at him for no reason. He is submissive but not nervous, so I wasn’t worried about it affecting his behaviour. I’m glad we decided to go ahead.

[SarahSissions]

My dog isn’t castrated and plays beautifully with a range of other dogs. I find that the ones that are aggressive are poorly socialised and owned by more inexperienced owners.

[pilates]

My dog when he was complete used to have dogs having a go at him. It did stop once he was castrated. He now barks at complete dogs. Not sure how to stop it tbh.