Late castration

[ToothbrushThief]

I have a lovely JRT. He has been a gentle, affectionate dog. He's intact (I got him age 3). Lately he has displayed occasional grumpiness and has now twice snapped at people.

I'm dealing with the triggers for the snapping but have lost a bit of confidence in him.

Just wondered if castration at his age (8) might help this

We had our last dog done at 3 (shortly after having dd; dog was a humper and we could foresee problems!) It pretty much dealt with that, improved his formerly picky appetite but I wouldn't say it altered his character. He still hated Boxer dogs and window cleaners.

So, I'd say there's no problem doing it late (for health reasons probably a good idea) but I wouldn't take bets on it making him less grumpy.

I dont think so (others may disagree). I would however take him to the vets to rule out any physical causes of the grumpiness. You must not loose confidence, you have to be absolutely confident otherwise he will just walk all over you. It could well be a dominance thing, but i just think that at the age of 8 it has become a behaviour rather than a testosterone thing.

Some simple things to put him in his place

No more dog on sofa, no more dog upstairs
Ignore him, just walk away from him if he comes to you (not all the time obviously), and only pet him on your terms, when you go to him(this is really really hard to do believe me).
Always feed him after you eat
Go through doors/gates before him

What are his triggers?

I had my rottie castrated late, prostate problem, and whilst it did him no harm it ruined his coat (apparently common). It certainly didn't change his personality in any way, but then he was always a good boy [stupidly proud mummy emoticon]

He has been allowed on the sofa. Youngest is the main encourager of sofa though. I will lay down the law on that.
He's a dog that only eats at certain times of day so food is down all the time. I'll find this difficult to enforce because I am a soft touch
Petting is pretty much on my terms because I'm so busy
I insist on going through doors before him because he is a forceful fighter for first place. Doors are the trigger for both snapping incidents.

I now order him to bed when I leave and he grumpily and snarling, goes there.

My main concern is that once he sees snapping is a successful scary move he'll use it. If I become aggressive back he gets worse - his fear makes him really react. I'm currently being calm, low voiced and persistent in the bed thing.

In summary...
I sense that it's a mix of fear and anxiety (snarling if I shout at him) and dominance over being first out of the door.

So tackling with low voice
...and not letting him go ahead

When my lovely little bastard terrier was about 8 MONTHS old he took to growling at me. I used to pick him up by the scruff of the neck and uncermoniously dump him in his bed. This seemed to work. I don't suggest you do this with yours.

dominance about snarling if you shout at him too tbh

I think you might need to consult a behaviourist becuase if those snaps connect wth a DC then the consequence coudl be dire :(

I am a firm believer in being v firm and dominant wiht dogs but i am not sure what the right course would be with your lad as he is responding aggresively. I am sure someone more experienced will come along

I totally totally totally disagree with Lucyellenmunamechange and I KNOW for sure that it is not dominance. You can push him off the sofa if you like and walk through doors before him he will not give a jot and will still snarl and snap.

I do agree with getting him to the vet to get him checked over. Ironically if it is a fear reaction castrating him will make him worse as he has less brave testosterone.

Can you give a little more information on when he does snap?
What is happening etc

I would only feed him twice a day put down his food let him have it for 1 mins then pick it up again. If he is hungry he will eat. He will get used to being feed like this.

Castration alone will not help with behavioural problems and if the problems are fear based it can actually make them worse. A check over with the vet and if there are no health problems referral to properly qualified behaviourist probably would help you more.

Strangely enough, I agree with Lizcat ;)
Have him checked over and don't rush into castration at this age.

He snarls when we leave the house/room (well...mostly angry barking but can descend into snarls and twice, bites which have been 'withdrawn' as he did them as if he shocked himself). No major damage caused but obviously not good.

He doesn't destroy the house and once we are gone he lies in his bed very calm. It's the act of passing through the door rather than being alone. Even if one family member leaves and the others remain, he still does it. He launches at the door like a rapid guard dog when the post man comes and is very aggressive unless he is 'allowed' to run out and sniff their ankles. If restrained (which he now is) out of deference to terrified post man he snarls and has to be shut away (cue more hurling himself angrily at that door) As I put him away he loses his temper and control so much so that I think he could snap then.

Online shopping came tonight and he would have done it tonight as I left the sitting room ...but I'm telling him to go to bed firmly and persistently until he stays and that seems to calm him.

I was doubtful about castration tbh but don't wish to risk a bite. Considering all options and certainly planning to approach all family regarding sofa dwelling and pushing out of the door first. I do think that is an issue which needs me to exert my dominance. I appreciate everyone's thoughts and it has certainly put me off castration

Agree with Snoopy and Lizcat.

This isn't anything to do with dominance. At a guess I'd say he's fearful around doors because he's reprimanded for doing what to him is normal - rushing to see what's out there. I'd bet he's shown a good few clues long before now in an effort to express this but because they've gone unnoticed he's escalated things to the next level. In response you're being even more scary and now there's a vicious circle set up. If this hunch of mine is right then this situation is a beautiful example of the dangers of applying 'dominance theory' to dogs.

Vet appointment first and if he gets the all clear ask them to refer you to a behaviourist.

I am dashing out now but will give more details later. However when you leave the room today before he starts to snarl throw treats on the floor behind and away from you. Dog will search for treats, walking away will be seen as non threatening, dog will be sidetracked by picking up treats rather than lunging snarling etc

He is a dog which ignores food and treats. The reason his food stays down is he doesn't eat it enthusiastically and I want him to eat.

I have tried the lifting food earlier in his life as I know it's what you are supposed to do - he ignored it when put down.

He eats when I arrive home and in the evening when I'm making a bedtime drink, loading dishwasher and other odd opportune moments.

Just reading your post an idea popped into my mind. Have you tried a dog gate in the doorway that is causing the issue? It might be the closed (or closing of the) door that is causing him some sort of issue, if he can see through the door he may then be happier. (disclaimer: not a behaviourist or anything, and can't explain my thinking, just a gut reaction)

Has anything happened in the doorway? (we have a Husky with OCD who sometimes cannot walk through the door in case someone shuts it on her - which happened when she was a puppy)

Has anything happened on the other side of the door that might of made him want to rush to your defence? i.e angry voices to a visitor, a loud exclamation that might have sounded (to dog) that you were scared, or upset by something on the other side of the door(which I'm assuming he couldn't see through) - we had an incident where my son lent over the sofa and kissed me, I wasn't aware he was there so yelped, now our dog cannot cope if anyone is behind the sofa.

Wholeheatedly agree with the suggestions above of taking him to the vets, and this doesn't sound at all like dominance and I fear that if you change any routines such as being allowed on the sofa, all you're going to get is a more anxious dog.

Hope you get to the bottom of it.

Some dogs are just like this about guarding entrances. Both my previous and current dogs are avid barkers/ankle threateners (previous once nipped a postman). Fortunately we have an inner door and they are OK just kept behind that.

It does sound as if there are several issues here. So any APDT member would be able to help you with this.

The food issue needs to be sorted out. Do not leave food down for him - especially if he has a tendency to guard this will definitely make things worse. So give him a small amount of food leave it down and then pick it up after 1 mins.

Do this for as long as it takes for him to eat at the times you suggest. Feed him twice a day at least 10 hours apart. Give him much less food. He will get used to the new regime but it will take him a while to work it out and he will not starve. In fact if he is a little hungry that will make training him easier.

What are you feeding him on?

Does he like toys? Will he play tuggy?

I would actually not feed him at all from the bowl but use the food only in training situations to start with. I would use good quality food or chicken, bits of liver cheese etc.

Do throw the food down as you leave the room - it is a tried and tested method to stop guarders. Collies and terriers can both have this same habit.

Re visitors just put him away in his bed/crate when they call.

In the meantime teach him a settle command. When he is relaxing and quiet I would use the clicker for this click and treat. He is showing typically stress and fear reactions so as you have found out the more you shout at him the more concerned he gets.

This is a very very commom problem that can be sorted out usually quite easily. A qualified ADPT member would be able to help as this is what they deal with all the time.

Reading and grateful for all ideas and comments.

Wagg Snoopy. Sounds like an instruction!

He will play tuggy and he has a ball which dispenses food -he does like that. He plays with chewy rope ball and a few other toys, more so that any other dog I have had. He brings them and offers them to me. He is never ever aggressive in play. I can rough play with him being quite rough and he just loves it - I watch him to make sure I never cross a line where he feels hurt/threatened or overwhelmed but we do play rough with no grumpy behaviour whatsoever.

Food was put down in the past but he was totally disinterested. Even playing with the food dispensing ball is done in my presence- never on his own.

Bed seems to be working as a settle command at the moment and his behaviour has been much calmer.

If I'm honest I think I'd settled into a pattern of not dealing with his 'door behaviour' in a way which reassured -it probably aggravated it.