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Original poster

When to castrate??

26 replies

LucyLemon · 16/08/2006 18:12

We have a gorgeous 10 month old retriever-collie cross dog called Freddie. He is a very boisterous chap and the cause of much stress at the moment.

He absolutely loves people and would rather play with them than their own dog. He even gets himself in between them and anything else in order to gain their affections. Needless to say, it just pretty much pisses them off as he is a big animal. We have massive jumping issues with him. For 5 months we have been trying to train him to not jump up by making him sit and turning away when he does jump. He gets loads of praise when he does it and we try to ignore if he does it again. It just seems that the excitement takes over.

Now, I think the excitement is a problem and he is perfectly behaved when he calms down. Is this excitement testosterone fuelled? In which case could his training be aided by castration? I know castration is not the key to all behavioural issues but our problem is definitely his nuttiness and eagerness to please.

Any advice is very welcome as I just don't know what to do and should have nipped this in the bud a long time ago.

Thanks

OP posts:
Piffle · 16/08/2006 18:15

I want to know as well
my 2 jack russell boys are turning gay... constantly humping each other and macho posturing

Original poster
LucyLemon · 16/08/2006 18:20

[snigger][snigger]
My dog was performing fellatio on an elderly dog yesterday...yuk. Felt guilty for spoiling their fun but yuk, yuk, yuk!

OP posts:
Piffle · 16/08/2006 18:33

I know! When our smaller JRT does a wee the other one is all over his wiener. It gets a bit much
I've only ever had female animals before, so am not sure what is "normal"

Piffle · 16/08/2006 18:38

I just googled and it said most dogs reach maturity 8-10 mths so that is a good time
or 6 mths as early castration helps with prostatic issues later on...

Original poster
LucyLemon · 17/08/2006 08:59

Hmm, thanks Piffle. Sounds like castration might be a good idea then in any case. Hope it helps with your little poofters!

Anyone else out their got pets with similar issues?

OP posts:
horseshoe · 17/08/2006 11:11

It's always hard to tell with Dogs if the castration will calm them down or not. Sometimes it doesn't make a blind bit of difference. I think the problems you are describing are more likely linked to the fact that he is still very much a pup and on-going training is needed. Collies especially dont tend to calm down until around the 2 year mark.

having said that I would always recommend castration anyway unless a dog has shown any sort of behavioural problems such as protective of toys or excessive biting and then I would still recomend it but treat the dog with extreme caution until you can be sure his behaviour has not deteriorated.

If you have any big concerns it's always worth discussing with your vet.

horseshoe · 17/08/2006 11:14

Lucylemon.

Another tip for his jumping is...as he jumps remove him from the room completely. wait 10 minutes and let him back in. If he jumps repeat until eventually he stops. Then reward the good behaviour. Eventually and I mean eventually he will realise that in order to remain in the room he must not jump.

Hope this helps.

Blu · 17/08/2006 11:34

I liked this thread best when it was just below a thread called 'Sausage rolls'

Piffle · 17/08/2006 11:37

nice juxtaposition

Pamina3 · 17/08/2006 11:38

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Piffle · 17/08/2006 11:41

now it's next to
PMSL

2 yr old - Spitting !! -Temper Tantrums

PanicPants · 17/08/2006 11:47

Lol at thread title, was thinking along the lines of 'when he p**s me off' until I saw it was under pets

I had my 2 jack russell dogs done at 6 months, and although it didn't stop the humping completly it did help.

But Piffle, what I didn't know was that 2 jr boys will fight to the death (even brothers) if your not careful, even with the castration our 2 are occassionally very vicious with each other, causing many a trip to the vet. In the end they had separate beds as the dominant one would never let the other one near it.

Piffle · 17/08/2006 11:52

panic pants interesting that
there is no obvious dominant one, they are both equally capable (5 mths) I notice the younger one is more keen on barking, snarling at the other one so figure he has the bad ass JRT attitude.
They share a crate nighttime wth no problems, they will be allowed the run of the kitchen once I can be sure they have stopped piddling inside (the little one again is the offender)
I may have to look into splitting them at some stage then.
TBH its the humping thats doing my head in, their play fighting is quite harmless atm...

PanicPants · 17/08/2006 12:12

They did have separate beds but still in the same room, just at opposite ends. The dominant one is the smallest one (think they feel the need to prove themselves!) and we can usually tell if something is about to kick off, as he goes all shivery and looks at the other one funny, so sometimes we can prevent it.

mumfor1standfinaltime · 17/08/2006 12:17

As soon as possible! I had a collie cross, we got him when he was 10 and he was so territorial outside the home and was sometimes viscious to other dogs.
He got a growth around his hmm bum which was according to the vet 'because he had too much testosterone!' He had it removed and had the snip at the same time (he was 15 at the time). If the lump wasnt removed it would grow dramatically. I would advise anyone to give their dog the snip early on.

daisy1999 · 17/08/2006 12:26

have only read the title. I would say once you have completed your family and are too tired for your dh's attention then castration should be performed (preferably but not exclusively with your dh permission)

PanicPants · 17/08/2006 12:54

lol daisy!

DogMum · 17/08/2006 15:37

Dogs mature at different ages. A lot of people recommend waiting until he starts lifting his leg, so he has some level of maturity. It doesn't sound as though Freddie's behaviour is testosterone-related though - just normal young retriever-collie behaviour. I think the difficulty with these dogs is that they need alot of stimulation but you shouldn't over-exercise them in the first year. To stop him from jumping up, ignore him completely when he does it and make sure other people do too. It takes a while, but if you're consistent it really works. If you can anticipate his jumping up and tell him to do something else before he thinks of it, even better. He might benefit from training classes - even if it's just to expend some energy and for you to get a flow of advice. Make sure it's kind, reward-based training though, or it could do more harm than good.

He sounds like a lovely dog and I'm sure he'll calm down as he gets older, neutered or otherwise.

Original poster
LucyLemon · 17/08/2006 18:45

Thanks so much for your tips everyone. That has given me some more thinking to do and I've made an appointment to see the vet on Monday. I think I'll get him castrated ASAP and sign up for some training classes. I had been worrying so much that I was a terrible owner who should have sorted this out by now but now feel happy thinking that I am taking some positive action.. Need to work on his place in the pack too I think.

How come the reprobates who live next door to me have a beautifully behaved Staffy who sits out the front and doesn't bother anyone, whilst they constantly scream, hit, punch and play loud music all day??? They just seem to yell at him when he's inside. And we try so flamin' hard with little Freds.

Didn't know you could see this thread anywhere else but under 'Pets'. How amusing.

xx

OP posts:
horseshoe · 18/08/2006 08:21

Proabably because he chews or something inside and he is so used to being expelled outside that he has learned to behave whilst outside.

The best thing to do for knowing their place is with the food. When making it up pretend to eat a little before you feed him. Also feed him after you have eaten if it is in the evening.

Original poster
LucyLemon · 18/08/2006 09:29

OK, hadn't heard that before but that makes sense. Would offering some to my dds before putting it down help this too? Or is this a step too far!!

OP posts:
Squarer · 18/08/2006 09:54

Dogmum has already picked up on the issue I was going to raise. When he jumps up you get him to sit and then ignore him. That's going to confuse the hell out of him as he has just done as you asked (sat) and then you ignore him for it!!
Ignore the jumping/fussing behaviour totally, no sitting, no eye contact, no nothing.
I think he's too young to be considered mature at 10 months btw. I thought 18 months to 2 years was the generally assumed age.

horseshoe · 18/08/2006 11:06

Getting DD's to feed him and do this will most certainly work.

In pack animals...the alpha dog always eats first, takes the best bits and leaves scraps for all of the others So anyone eating parts of the food first will be seen as alpha by your dog.

Collies are really intelligent dogs so he should work it out pretty quickly.

Original poster
LucyLemon · 18/08/2006 17:44

OK, will get my dds to eat the best bits of Butcher's Puppy Mix first. He always leaves the peas(green bits) so perhaps we should eat everything else and just leave him those?

Haw haw

Thank you so much for your advice. Really helps to feel that there is a solution for (almost) everything and that other people out there understand.

OP posts:
DogMum · 18/08/2006 19:33

Hi LucyLemon
Nextdoor's dog could just be a time bomb waiting to explode, whereas yours is a well adjusted family pet. As for place in the pack, things like food, territory and possessions are really important to dogs. Definitely giving your children food before you feed your dog is a good idea. Also, perhaps you could try and get him to sit and wait when you put his food down until you tell him to eat. (If you're not already doing this, you'll need to hold him back and say your command word (eg 'Take it') at the same time as you release him. As for territory, things like you and the children going through doors before him, where he sleeps and not being allowed on furniture are all effective, but honestly, unless he's a really ambitious dog (which he doesn't sound like), I wouldn't worry too much. As for possessions, you probably don't need to do more than have a couple of special toys that he only gets to play with when you or the children are playing with him and then take it back at the end of the game.

Hope it goes well at the vets (bless) and that you continue to have lots of fun with him.