Behavioural changes after neutering

[GSD20]

Can anyone please tell me if their boys changed in personality after neutering?

If they were reactive to other dogs did it make the problem worse or better?

Were there any other effects?

Thanks

my beaglier is as lovely as ever but he barks a lot more. maybe it’s a coincidence, but strange. he is also a lot more hungry. he’s fine with other dogs as he always has been though.

Labrador, waited 18 months. Incessant humping, which stopped (also didn’t want him to get cancer there).

Same loving boy he was before, just left our cushions and pillows alone!

Not reactive before or after.

It's very dog-dependent but studies show neutering can have a negative effect on dogs that were already anxious, which is why neutering is often not recommended for anxious or fearful dogs.

Had our pug neutered at 11 months. He had one poor dinosaur toy that got humped a lot and that has totally stopped now. His personality hasn’t changed at all, but he’s slightly less frantic when a girl dog walks past.

My springer was neutered in October at 18 months. He's so much more cuddly in the evenings now- will cram into any sofa space for a hug where as before he used to lay on the floor all evening. He had starting pee-ing on gfemale dogs when out which has totally stopped. He only ever humped his brother when they are together & they will both still happily do that if they can. He was always a bit dog reactive if they are bigger & fluffier than him, but before he was done I found he was being pinned down & attacked a lot by neutered males so I think that's where it came from. Since he's been done this has stopped completely he's still a bit reactive but no more than he was & it's something I'm working on with him

Thanks everyone!

I have one male who can be reactive with male dogs (nothing more than a growl and puffing himself up if they stare at him) and who can be territorial when other dogs walk past the house. Other than that he’s lovely in every way and has no problems away from the immediate area we usually walk in. He’s very well trained and manageable and will walk happily with other dogs if introduced carefully.

It seems it could go either way so I’ve put it off but i can’t get it out of my mind that neutering might help ‘settle’ him a little and take the edge off hence wondering about other people’s experiences 😊

So had a reactive rescue. We knew that neutering couldn’t make him worse but it was our last resort. We opted for a temporary castration (chemical) and I’m glad we did as it made him absolutely insane. All of his anxiety and fears were more so, he also started becoming anxious in the house (growling at us). We had the implant removed and thankfully he reverted back his old anxious but not dangerous state. Sadly he passed away suddenly 6 months late but it was unrelated to that.

Ask your vet about chemical castration if you have a reactive dog and are considering it.

*we knew that neutering COULD make him worse sorry

I agree chemical castration (Suprelorin) is a good 'test' - I did this for my boy before going ahead with surgical neutering.

When you neuter you are stopping testosterone, which is the 'brave' hormone. Reactivity is often based in fear so I would be cautious.

Science has the data backed evidence that reactivity will increase after castration of dogs

If you discuss this with a vet or behaviourist they should advise against castration in an anxious dog

I have two male dogs, aged 7 and 5. They were both neutered when they ere about one year old. I didn’t notice any changes at all.

On dog number four now. I have never noticed any negative changes. Dog number one had improved recall, for some reason. If you want to find out how he might react, get a hormonal implant that mimics castration. I think they are for six months or twelve months.

Mine didn't change noticeably - we got him neutered at 18 months.

He's always been a frustrated greeter on lead and neutering made no difference.

Humping stopped, harassing DDs teenage female friends stopped. Played with other dogs more gently.
Nothing major though but a few minor changes for the positive, no negatives

Slightly calmer and less likely to barge out of the house (broke through the screen door once) to find a local bitch in heat. Wasn't ever reactive to others.
My current neutered male does try to hump our unspayed female when she is in heat, but not obsessively.

Mine used to react to other unneutered males before he was done. He no longer does. I am yet to test him with the one he had a real problem with as I haven’t see him, but overall he’s a lot calmer.

other than that, no behavioural changes at all.

Interesting- I'm currently fostering a 18 month old chemically neutered dog. I actually had him from the age of 8-12 months and strongly recommended he was neutered as he was a very confident dog but was bonkers around female dogs.

He's come back to be after 6 months (he had the implant 3 months ago) because it seemed he's become quite anxious and reactive. He's certainly got more territorial and reactive to male dogs (if both are on lead). However this has coincided with him going teenage / quite hard to work out what's going on.

However, the family he went to were absolutely lovely but were not strict enough about boundaries and delayed puppyish behaviour. So it's hard to unpick if it was the chemical castration that did it.

He's certainly more nervous than he was but in my care he's calmed right down - he just needed consistent management and training.

The question is whether to let it wear off and see how he is or just go for the full chop.

He's basically a teenager at the moment so lots of behaviours will settle down in the next 6 months. I might see how he is once it wears off.

So I'm slightly on the fence. He's had too much going on to be able to say definitively that the neutering caused the change in behaviour. My gut tells me it was more of an owner problem than a dog one.

My concern with letting it wear off is that his hormones are going to be all over the place and he absolutely is a dog that needs calmness and consistency.

My dog was reactive before and remained reactive afterwards. He was also food-driven before, but afterwards it went off the scale. And he still drools if he smells a female in heat. I had him neutered because of an undescended testicle and cancer risk, so not bothered by these outcomes, but would have been fed up if I’d had him neutered to solve reactivity.