Hi all I have posted this in a breed specific forum ( golden retriever) but have not got many replies and wondered of the collective wisdom of MN might have any thoughts.
I wonder if anyone else has had experience with this.
I have two male dogs aged 4 and almost 8.
Noah the older male was diagnosed with a perianal tumour. This was removed and he was castrated at the beginning of August.
Thankfully histology results were a benign tumour. Noah’s physical recovery has been excellent. He appears back to normal, has plenty of energy , his appetite is normal and he does not appear depressed.
However he has stopped interacting with our other dog, Brodie.
Prior to this they had a very close relationship. Noah definitely thought Brodie was ‘his” dog and was very attentive to him, licking his ears and grooming him. They played together several times a day and actually it was often Noah who instigated the play.
Brodie looks very confused, has tried getting Noah to play but he will not.
They have lots of exercise ( we limited this for Noah when he was recovering) and he seems perfectly normal out on a walk.
I understand he must be affected by the drop in testosterone and maybe he is feeling a bit depressed?
He is a sensitive dog and I think it must have been more of a psychological trauma for him than a physical one as he hates the vets.
He has always been part of a pair apart from 5 months after the death of our older dog... they had a brilliant relationship too with lots of play.
Any thoughts? I am obviously so grateful that the tumour was benign but hate to think he has had a huge personality change.