neuter or not?

[maisiechain]

Bit confused about this & wondered what the general consensus would be on here.
My dog is a golden retriever, 10 months old, now in fully fledged teenage stage. Humping everything in sight, including the kids (they think he is dancing with them!). Out of no-where he has stopped listening on walks and runs off. Dogs are very aggressive with him.
Today I had him on a lead and another dog off lead came over and started a fight for absolutely no reason. Owner was surprised and apologetic, but this is becoming a very frequent thing. He was pinned to the ground and the dog really went for him. The owner pulled his dog off before any real damage was done.

We have had behavioural support for our dog since the early months because of his people fear & general timid nature. We have been told specifically not to neuter until fully grown & preferably not at all. I think this is because the hormones will actually help his fear issue & neutering could make him more fearful.

I was on board with all this, but now all this humping, running away, lunatic behaviour outside is causing me to question whether neutering would help? Of course I am also training him & no longer letting him off lead unless I know the dogs so he can play. But honestly he nearly yanked my shoulder out of its socket to get to a bitch on heat the other day & also this aggression from other males is quite scary.

WWYD?

I would, as soon as the vet recommends it.

We had decided not to have our dog neutered, then ended up having it done when he was aged 5 because of dog-on-dog aggression. It was getting worse and worse. He still isn't trustworthy after neutering, although it's bought his aggression down a notch or two. I wouldn't hesitate with another male dog if we got one. It hasn't affected him negatively at all.

Although it absolutely wasn't a problem sexually, when he was intact. Didn't hump, and wasn't interested in bitches.

Neutering won't stop the teenage behaviour, unfortunately, it's already started and even if you got him neutered now you'd still just need to wait it out until he grows out of it.

My nearly 9 month old is being neutered tomorrow. He doesn't show any aggression towards other dogs and is not scared of them but is wary of people but never to the point of any aggression. I came at it from the point of view that every single dog I or any of my family have owned has been neutered/spayed and all have lived to a ripe old age(except one who was killed in an accident) with no ill effects, excess weight etc.
I haven't hesitated in booking this one in.

I would. I did! My boy's a smaller dog than yours, and I got him done at 10 months, although he could've been done sooner. I would check with your vets as to what age they would recommend. My boy was people-fearful and we worked on that a lot pre-castration, and are continuing to work on it afterwards. I don't think the hormonal change has really affected him at all; he seems no more fearful than he was before.

I found with my boy that some of the teenage behaviour (some humping, lots of compulsive peeing, different attitudes to/from male dogs he'd previously been fine with) cleared up very quickly. Castration didn't solve his sudden ignoring of commands, but I think that was a growing up and gaining confidence thing so we're working on it as part of general obedience training. That's just my boy though; might be completely different for you.

The general consensus you are likely to get on here for male dogs will probably be fairly split between those of us who are strongly pro-castration and those who are strongly against it. All I can really suggest is that you read it all through, weigh up the potential risks and benefits for each choice and then find out what you're comfortable with.

Yes I'm not expecting the teenage behaviour to disappear, I realise training is key and will need to carry on for a while yet.

Interesting to hear that the people fear thing didn't get worse, which I guess is my only reason not to castrate.

The dog on dog aggression is swinging me in favour of castration right now, especially after what happened today. If neutering solved that, I think I would neuter tomorrow!

I'm pro-neutering, but, there's evidence that neutering large breeds (and there's a study using golden retrievers) before they've finished growing can cause joint problems, so IMO the fear issue isn't the only reason to put off neutering.

I was also worried about stealing dogs to breed from which is an increasing problem and my dog is rather handsome although I admit I may be biased. At least if he's neutered the risk of him wanting to run off and then getting taken is reduced.
I looked into the increased risks of prostate cancer etc and the risk for his breed is very low anyway so a very small increased risk didn't seem too bad compared with the risk of him heading off in search of love and getting run over or pinched.

For male dogs there is an equal amount of evidence for neutering as against. In large breed dogs there is evidence that neutering can increase the risk of bone and prostrate cancer, whilst reducing the risk of testicular cancer. There is a large amount of evidence that neutering can make fear aggressive dogs much worse than they were before.
I am on the fence and say to everyone of my owners it is a personal decision, but if I had a fear aggressive dog I would not neuter him.

Thanks:)

Lonecat, he is not fear aggressive with other dogs, just dogs seems a bit aggressive with him. He is scared of people, although Ive made big improvements. So when you say you would not neuter a fear aggressive dog, do you mean one who is fear aggressive with other dogs or do you mean fearful in general?

A nervous dog that can be aggressive I would not neuter as there is considerable evidence that without testosterone the fear and the aggression gets worse.