Nightmare around other dogs - is castration the answer?

[Doodledangle]

DDog is 13 months and a rescue with us for nearly 5 months. We initially decided against castration but now wondering if we should consider trying chemical castration (vet's advice) but be good to hear from other experienced dog owners.

We're really struggling with his behaviour around other dogs and it's starting to
get us down. Some dogs, usually male both intact and done, send him absolutely NUTS. He gets in a complete frenzy wanting to be near them, VERY vocal and slightly manic. We usually just take him away but he'll be on high alert & highly strung for ages afterwards. If we try and let them meet he's never
aggressive but literally won't leave them alone and is obsessed with their
genitals and it's definitely got worse over the past months or 2. There's also a LOT of scent marking but that's not such a bother and certainly not reason enough but a reduction would certainly be a bonus!

The main reason we’re hesitant is he has separation anxiety. He literally can’t be
left alone at all which makes it’s extra tough as we can’t leave him but we can’t
take him if there’s other dogs! Some of the reasons we got a dog: long pub
walks, meeting friends with dogs are off the cards and it's really getting us
down.

He isn’t nervous or anxious in any other situation just being left alone.

What would you do in our situation?

I've had mine be chemically done to see how it went. He was a bit highly strung, always on high alert for any other male dog, sniffing and questing everywhere, very jumpy, impossible to keep focussed for training when out or at classes. Scrapping with other intact males. Because he was a bit anxious we did chemical rather than irreversible snip in case it made him worse.
But he is now so much more relaxed. I can walk him near other dogs, he recalls away from them no problem, he's just chilled out so much. He's just calmed down and walks are now a pleasure and training classes have recommenced! I'm happier, I'm sure he's happier. I'm glad we did the 6 month implant in case it made him more nervous, but it hasn't, and he'll be getting snipped when the implant comes to an end.

Mine was like that OP. Had him surgically castrated and now he's much more respectful/relaxedwith other males.

Had my large rescue boy castrated at 18 months. We held out until then but it was hard
I know people say it doesn't help but honestly it definitely helped him.

• He stopped trying to hump me all the time which was a very good thing. He still humps other dogs but no longer people or objects
• He became much more interested in food and therefore much much easier to train (he had zero interest before that to the extent of leaving meals). We suddenly made loads of progress on recall and heel walking when previously he just didn't seem to care.
• he is still very interested in other dogs and wants to play but he is a lot calmer and more manageable around them now. Previously training class with other dogs was just pointless and he would lie down on walks and strain and lunge to get to other dogs. Now he still wants to greet but he is more selective and can leave dogs alone that dont reciprocate and walk past politely

I don't think it's had any negative effects on him. He did start to put on weight but we sorted that by cutting his food right back and he is perfect now.
He's still bouncy, friendly and enthusiastic with loads of energy.
He is a bit more wary of intact male dogs and some of them he will bark at if they are bigger than him but that's quite a rare scenario and hasn't caused any major issues.

He's scared of and barks and lunges at motorbikes and he barks very scarily at delivery people but that's the same as it was before
He doesn't have separation anxiety but he never did before

I think the problem with neutering is that people always get their dogs neutered as teenagers, when their hormones are running wild. If your 4 year old dog is still humping everyone and everything it's going to be a solution but won't stop fear aggression, decorative ears or calmness. Those come with age and training. I suspect that neutering has become a bit of an earner for vets. I also don't really think female dogs should be routinely spayed with the scary excuse of pyometra. Fair enough if you don't want to cope with the mess of seasons, but we would never suggest routinely neutering people like this ( and there are other sections of MN where this is highly controversial!!!!)