Castration Advice

[Loo13]

Hi,

I am looking for advice about castration. We have an 8 year old Cocker Spaniel who is intact and have recently got a Labrador puppy who is now 6 months old. He has started to try and hump her and gets aggressive when we try to separate them.

As she hasn’t had her first season yet, my concern is when she does is he is going to be even worse and go wild!

we have spoken to the vets and they have advised for us to chemically castrate him, not surgically as it could make his behaviour worse?

So I am looking for thoughts on this please before I make a decision.

Thank you 🙏🏻

No advice on the situation as such but our male lab (16 months) has recently been chemically castrated. The procedure was very straightforward (basically an injection into his neck) and no adverse side effects.

I don’t know anything about chemical castration, but I got my female cocker spayed at around 9 months, before her first season, due to a similar situation. Although the male dog in my situation was my parents and they wouldn’t consider any other options for him so I had very limited choice. Spaying was safer than a potential ‘teenage’ pregnancy.

Could your male dog go stay with someone else during her season?

So I am looking for thoughts on this please before I make a decision.

You should have asked several months ago.

Chemical castration at his age will not change his behaviours
He will very likley still hump her but once the chemical castration takes hold, it takes about 6 weeks to work he will at least be unable to get her pregnant if he does manage to get hold of her

You should be able to keep them separate and if not find ways to do so, stair gates and crates if you must.

I do like chemical castration, my boy is just past the 7 week mark and it is obvious it has worked but he has had less time with the testosterone so the behaviours are not learnt.

He is my sisters dog who now lives with us so unfortunately it was not down to me to make this decision

Personally I think just get him castrated and then deal with the unwanted behaviours if they continue.

Im not convinced by the chemical castration argument, seems like a lot of money and faff to me.

My point is, I suspect there will always be problems with these two living together. His behaviour might be stress related given the fact he's had to move home and away from his owner. You lab is going to go through adolescence when he's becoming an old man.
Not sure when your sister's dog came to live with you but you can only have had her for four months max. As hard as it is on you, it might be better to return her to her breeder. A six month old lab should get a new home easily.

I disagree with the above. I bought a puppy and 6 weeks later took on a 9.5 year old. The first nine days were a little fraught, but since then thy have been best buddies. If anything, the puppy has given the older dog a new lease of life.

What behaviours does the vet think might get worse? Is there something other than the aggression when you try to stop him humping?
If you have only just rehomed him, the humping could be stress related. It might be worth consulting a qualified behaviourist. IME the majority of vets know very little about dog behaviour.

Blimey some major over reactions in some posts!

Yes try the chemical castration Not because of the humping but you will need to protect your bitch from pregnancy. You can get one that lasys 6 months and see how your dog copes with it. Some dogs can become fearful and anxious but others are as right as rain. Be prepared for a couple of weeks after the injections for things to get wors but then the testosterone will die back. Many dogs are fine on the chemical castration.

Humping is not often a sexual act usually just over arousal. So look to give your dog more chilll time, more time away from the puppy. 6 month old labrador puppies can have very annoying behaviour and your older dog is just trying to get some peace!

Very ver normal behaviour between dogs. Just try to manage it so that your dog can have some peae from the puppy.

This too will pass.

You will probablly have to have 2 seasons with your lab so if the injection works you can get another one and then have the bitch spayed

Thank you everyone for your responses. So we decided to get him surgically castrated and then if humping continues we will get a behaviourist to help. At least there will be no unwanted pregnancy!

And to the person who said to give my girl back to the breeder, no chance. They are dogs, these things happen it is how responsible dog owners handle it.