Chemical castration experience and diary for anyone interested

[MakeMeJuno]

Hello. For a long time we didn't know whether to go ahead with any castration of our 20 month old dog as he doesn't really exhibit any negative behaviours, only humping in the evening and scent marking. He is a very confident and sociable boy... can be selectively deaf as he has a very high prey drive. After lots of thought and numerous discussions with our lovely vet we opted for a chemical trial to see. He is a small breed - 10kg ish.

We're 2 weeks in now. I wanted to document our experiences as I was so nervous about 'ruining' him! So far:

• Insertion was a lot, lot worse than I had prepared for. We are now working on desensitising at the vets. We should have prepared better. Didn't realise he would have to be muzzled - first time he had ever worn a muzzle. Very distressing but seems to still be happy to go in to the vet, but won't go on the table yet
• Immediately back to normal, no ill effects
• Had been warned of a 'surge' behaviour - nothing yet. He seems exactly the same, but did try to hump another dog at the beach today which he has never done

Will check back in as and when

Thats interesting, thankyou for posting I am sure other dog owners will be grateful for your dogs diaries.
I hope your pooch makes a quick recovery and leaves other pooches alone .

Please can you explain more about the insertion, where it goes and what it's like etc?

Our lab had the chemical castration before we decided to surgical castrate him (as he is a bit nervous and were worried being castrated would make him worse).

The injection is just like the microchip, same syringe and the pellet is similar. The vet explained that dogs find it more painful than the microchip as their skin gets thicker as they get older. The vet gets extra sharp needles for the job.

Our dog reacted really well and we went to get him castrated which is a simpler job once their testicals have shrunk.

@movinghouse12 our vet said she needed assurance that the dog would stay still throughout - it took maybe 30 seconds to do the cannula type needle and then feed the tiny implant through. As our dog has shown fear based aggression once before we couldn't 100% predict his reaction to the big needle so she asked if we would muzzle him. As he'd never been muzzled before that totally freaked him out and then he was panicking big time, but we managed to get it done. In hindsight I would have said just go for it as he's never had a problem with injections before. He didn't seem at all fussed as soon as the muzzle was off. I didn't know before that they needed him to stay still, so I would warn anyone curious of this.

Update - definitely more humping today and much more interested in other dogs on our walk. I would still say just slightly hyper though, nothing too OTT. Nervously awaiting the surge I was warned about...

We went back to the vets and he was totally fine - eager to get on the table lol

Watching with interest for my 14 month old BT.
He's very confident and social, quite exuberant, lovely temperament at home. Humping not so much of an issue, unless he's overstimulated by my daughter. Scent marks a LOT! Not at home, but he's done it at 2 home boarders and the groomers and all have said until he calms down with that, they can't have him back! So that's our main motivator really.

hello @JaneIves sounds similar to us - nothing hugely compelling to make the decision. Right now his scent marking is ridiculous, but I am told it's the surge before it starts working! I will certainly keep you updated of how his behaviour turns out in the next few months. Our vet was keen for us to wait until 18 months, so just something to consider

P.S I love a BT - gorgeous little dogs! Ours is also a terrier - he has a mind of his own and recall is a constant work in progress, but we wouldn't change him

Thanks!
I'd happily wait another few months but my husband is keen from anytime now really. I keep putting off phoning the vets!

When my dog had it inserted, they took him out the back, he had a really horrible time between 4 and 6 weeks where he snapped at me several times and just looked so confused, I felt so guilty as currently peri-meno and have haywire hormones and at least I know why I feel like Ii'm going crazy, I might have sobbed all over him out of feeling guilty, he did settle well on it, but it started to wear off around the 4 month mark and so I went ahead and had him surgically done, but we then had to go through the swing of hormones again not quite as badly but still upsetting for him.

Have you been warned that his testicles will shrink alarmingly and that you need to check them regularly as in rare cases they can pop back up, also neither the implant or surgery has had any impact on him marking.

Yes he's been a little snappy with my husband this evening when he tried to lift him on to the sofa - very clingy with me. Yes been warned about the shrinkage! Shame about the scent marking... I have to be hopeful as it is truly ridiculous lol

Out of interest is he normally snappy or has he ever snapped before?

We were considering this but I have large dogs…don’t fancy being snapped at by one of those!

Watching with interest here. My 12 month dog loves to hump and scent mark but I read that proper castration doesn't necessarily fix these issues so...

Not normally snappy at all - very chilled, no reactivity. However when we moved house last year he went through a period of showing some resource guarding behaviour over me, directed at my husband. We worked with a behaviourist and got it under control, but honestly I think it just naturally stopped when he got over the stress of moving, big renovation project etc. I would say what we saw last night was similar - he thought my husband was lifting him away from me, so he growled... snapped was probably too strong a word but I know if DH hadn't backed off the snap would happen. We'll just go through the same management techniques as before (reducing time spent with me, lots of training/walks/other activity with my husband, removing sofa privilege and not allowing him upstairs for now).

We took great care to work with the behaviourist before castration to identify that it wasn't fear-based aggression, as castration would have made it worse. We actually needed her sign-off at the vets before they'd go ahead which I thought was very diligent.

I will let you know! It's a mixed bag in terms of reports on how it helps, hence we wanted to do the chemical trial.

I have found the humping (he only humps his stuffed toy Dawg) has dwindled to almost nothing but he still likes to pee up every blade of grass on a walk, but can be dissuaded if I tell him to come along before he lifts his leg.

I regret making the decision for my dog to get the implant, I have found he has been more anxious and it was painful for him to have it done, the Vet had to muzzle him. He had it done last July and appears to be wearing off now and he certainly doesn't seem right, I am wondering if this is due to his testosterone levels increasing again. I have decided to have him castrated when his bits are back to normal, I wish I had just had it done to begin with.

I would get him castrated before his bits are back to normal otherwise he has to go through the hormone rollercoaster again.

Thank you, I have been so unsure of what to do, he is the most highly strung dog I have had and can be very reactive to some dogs even though he has been well socialised from a pup.

Hyper active today! My gosh. Took off after a seagull 🙈chewed a wire, barked at a dustpan and brush...

God, this sounds like my pup every day. He's at the beginning of adolescence. I'll be watching this thread with interest!

Adolescence was certainly a challenge - this feels a bit familiar which makes sense! I remember once crying in the park as my dog did laps avoiding me barking like a maniac. It does get better! Our trainer said to me that provided you have done the groundwork with a puppy, when they hit teenage-dom your only goal is not to allow bad habits to form... don't panic they've forgotten everything, they haven't they're just testing the boundaries.

Thanks for this thread.

Mines booked in for Wednesday. I’m really in two minds about it as I’m terrified of him becoming aggressive but what if it goes well and life’s easier? Who knows!

@Princessponies if I can put your mind at ease he's absolutely not suddenly become aggressive, but he is a bit of a 'lad' boisterous atm! Nothing we can't manage at all and I am assured it will then settle in to lovely calm (here's hoping!)

Have you had any advice about the insertion Weds?

I think we are going to go for sedation and then insertion. Mainly because my dogs huge and will flatten us all.

Hes such a worried soul I’m worried it could make his nervousness worse, but he’s also so stressed by the females around plus hates entire males (and they always try and attack him)
Im still debating it but it’s worth a try if it’s reversible.

@Princessponies bless him. I think sedation is a good idea - don't want him to become worried about the vets!

Especially with a larger dog it will wear off more quickly if it doesn't work for you but if your vet is in agreement it sounds like it could be worth a try