Timing of neutering!

[Sofadog]

Firstly I realise whether or not to neuter is a debate in itself, that’s not what this post is about, just looking for some input/advice on timing for our male dog.

He’s 9 months old and a Collie/Brittany cross. Advice from the vet was that we should wait until 12 months unless there is any reason to do it earlier i.e he turns into a sex pest and it becomes unmanageable.

We haven’t had any issues around this so far. We have a 2 year old female dog and apart from a couple of attempts as a small pup there has been no humping. She is neutered to be clear.

Yesterday evening our boy turned wild and spent a good 50mins attempting to hump me before I put him in his crate with a lickimat to calm down. I continually pushed him off but it was relentless. He started nipping and ragging on my clothes and he’s no longer a small dog so it was tough to deal with. He has been the sweetest dog with a lovely temperament so it was a shock.

This morning there has been some more attempts but not on the scale of yesterday.

I’m wondering now whether we need to nip this in the bud but also don’t want to do it too soon. Any thoughts?

At 9 months old, I'd perservere with training for another year or so, myself.

Humping isn't just sex-driven. It's linked to play and excitement and at a teenage-age he's just more easily over excited than he will be when he's an adult. Come a it from that angle: that he needs to be prevented from 'practising' the behaviour (e.g. a house lead) and calming down then rewarding for being calm.

Personally, I would not take away development hormones until a dog had finished mentally and physically maturing which is 18 months old, at least.

I feel for you, though - it's a minefield of a decision and one that many people have very different views on. Plus, you always have to take into account your own setup so, for example, if he starts to damage the relationship with your female dog by pestering her and you are not always available to prevent it, then you may decide an early neuter is the lesser of the evils - compared with two dogs who end up disliking each other because he was too much of a teenage pain to her.

It’s so difficult! I didn’t put him in his crate initially last night as I was hoping he would take the hint. He would offer a ‘settle’ when asked but on praising, which I thought I had done calmly he would leap up and try again. I suppose I need to get creative with other ways to distract, we’ve plenty of training/puzzles etc we can do. We’re pretty good at praising calm, a must given his breed mix, but clearly there’s room for more work.

My worry is our other dog, she’s really good with him but we do devote a lot of time to making sure she gets a break and we distract him if he is being a puppy terror, which thankfully isn’t as often now. If he starts on her then we will need to make a swift decision I think.

tbh it sounds like you have the measure of him already

His behaviour although appearing sexual will just be down to over arousal. So the same as when he was a small puppy and maybe more inclined to be bitey or mouthy. As he gets older and his teeth are less painful humping becomes a more common behaviour.

So more calm, in the day, he is still growing so despite what he thinks he does need lots of sleep and chilling out time. Loads of chewing toys and sniffing activities. No ball chasing, (not saying that you do) but hiding the ball and encouraging scenting balls is fab. Snifffy walks and impulse control and focus games are good for this age.

Absolutey do give your other dog (and you!) time away from him in to prevent the teenage terror rather than the once puppy terror!

This too will pass

Thanks @PollyRoulllson I know we need to just navigate this bit now! We have deliberately avoided ball games with him so far so no fetch or anything like that. He’s tried it again tonight. He sat for a while looking at me and then attempted a pounce so nothing exciting going on before hand as he had just been lying around. I was armed with some treats this time so a quick settle practice and he seems to have snapped out of it and is now snoozing.

Hopefully we can keep distracting him and will try some scenting as he does love a good sniff. He has that typical collie thing where even the most ‘calm’ practice seems to be a game so hopefully the sniffing will have a counteracting effect 😂

Humping is arousal but it's also dominance. My Yorkshire Terrier used to rag and hump his soft toys when he was a puppy but calmed with age (was neutered eventually). He is trying to dominate you and be the leader but you need to be strict with him and show him you're the boss. You could try to use the crate to calm him; every time he tries to hump you and ignores your commands to stop, put him in the crate to calm down. The behaviour will pass as he matures but he needs to learn you're in charge. He is still very young and is a larger breed so I wouldn't neuter too young because a large breed's joints take longer to develop. We are waiting until our German Shepherd has had her second season before spaying her. Just as a funny side note, my uncle's black labrador was female, spayed, and used to throw a cushion off the sofa and hump it on the floor when she got too excited

Just for the record humping is nothing to do with dominance = nothing dogs do is to do with dominance

These days I am bewildered how the dominance thing keeps going.

Some 'fun' reading on dominance and it's irrelevancy to dog training, including the question of humping...

apdt.com/resource-center/dominance-and-dog-training/

Bizarre question, OP, but are you menstruating ... ?

My DH works (as a graphic designer) for a veterinary CPD/postgraduate education company, so we have access to all their educational material, which is all evidence based and current best practice. So we referred to this when making decisions for our dog.

They recommended 6 months, so that is what we did for our dog.

When balancing up the decision, it is important to remember that they biggest reason for euthanasia of dogs under the age of 2 is behavioural issues, so anything you can do to improve behaviour, goes on your dogs favour.