Good or bad idea to neuter dog?

[thwinka]

Hi, I was hoping for advice really from people experienced with this kind of thing as me and my partner are really not sure weather to neuter our dog or not? He has a very nervous temperament and is fear aggressive, especially towards vets/large dogs. He has also been known to snap at people if he is startled/scared etc. This is very carefully managed by us and we have been working with behaviourists advice for the last year with some success/improvement in his abilities to tolerate other dogs/people.
Our dilemma is that the first behaviourist we saw strongly advised us not to have him neutered as she thought it would make his fear aggression worse. She retired but the behaviourist we are now using also has concerns about us neutering him? She thinks it would benefit him in one sense, but there is a good risk that it could indeed worsen his aggression.
The problem is though that he seems to be randy ALL the time. Whenever he is exited, he tries to hump anything If we play with him, he tries to hump us etc. He is constantly running out into the garden, running round in circles smelling the air? (not sure if this is relevant, but I feel like he's trying to pick up the scent of the ladies!!) We are trying our best to socialise him gently with other dogs, but once he gets past the fearful stage of a new dog, then he goes completely the other way, and wont leave them alone, constantly sniffing and licking their rear ends, and often trying to get randy with them. Sadly he's not fussy and will attempt to hump male dogs as well as bitches

Sorry for the length of the post,I just wanted to give as much info as possible as. We want him neutered to try and calm him down,and also to eradicate any risk of unwanted puppies although we are very careful to not allow him off lead near unspayed bitches obviously. But the thought of his fear aggression worsening is not pleasant:(

I have a fear aggressive dog and our behaviourist and vet have both said that neutering could well make him worse.

I'd get him neutered, I'm no behaviourist but I've known lots of dogs and walked / looked after them & have always seen a change for the better once done.

Would he interested in others reactions, what evidence is there that fear agression gets worse after neutering?

Sorry, meant to add that it makes socialising him with other dogs to improve his fear/doggie manners difficult because they mostly get very fed up of him attempting to pester them/sniffing/licking their behind.

Also my friend has a dog that humps, got him neutered. He still humps, its made no difference at all.

That's my concern really, that it makes no difference to his humping ability I can live with his obsession with regards to humping us, I just wish he would curb his obsession with other dogs as it is a vicious circle trying to socialise him with other dogs. I keep him on lead in situations like this, but he spends the time just pulling at the other dog and twisting himself in the ruddy lead!!
missmarples there is quite a lot of evidence apparently where fear aggressive dogs are concerned? The thinking is that if you take away their testosterone, then you are removing the hormonal support and the dog may well feel even more vulnerable which will increase the aggression further? At least that's what both behaviourists have told me:)

I do see where you're coming from. But if two different behaviourists have given the same advice, and you can live with his humping obsession, I think you're better off leaving it.

Aha well I'll bow to the experts, hadn't heard that!!

Personally coudn't bear a humping dog all the time & agree socialising while he's constanly randy must be a strain.

What does your vet think? Some behaviourists are more qualified than others to advise.

My vet thinks I should neuter him ASAP as if I wait much longer than neutering wont help him from a behaviour point of view. But then she is adamant that neutering a dog does not increase aggression whereas I can see what both behaviourists are saying does make sense.
Both behaviourists are very highly recommended in all fairness so I guess I should leave his manhood intact for the time being.
Thankyou for the replies though:)

I've had dogs all my life and personally I'd always neuter a dog as apart from anything else it makes them less appealing to thieves looking for breeding dogs.

I've always neutered my dogs and I've noticed a decrease in the amount of humping with some and not with others. They do seem calmer generally though but then that said I wouldn't have anything to compare their behaviour to had I not done it.

MMMnn I'd take a vets trained clinical experience over a behaviourists any day TBH

Neutering plus behaviour retraining.

We have a very nervous rescue dog who sounds quite similar to yours, minus the humping, and our fantastic and very experienced vet has said point blank that she would not neuter him because she strongly believes it would make him more fearful. Her partner at the practice said exactly the same thing. I am usually very pro-neutering because I'm involved, albeit very peripherally, with rescue, but in this case I've gone with the vet's recommendations.

There are really good studies that show that castration and removal of testosterone can make fear agression a lot worse. I always advise owners of fear aggressive male dogs not to have them neutered. After all I don't want to get bitten any more than is strictly necessary.
From your description the humping is related to excitement and not sexual in orientation so neutering will not make a huge amount of difference.

It's worth remembering that a lot of vets have no idea on behaviour unless they go on to study it.