To snip or not to snip? The question of castrating dogs.
If you have a male dog, even a puppy this is a question you may have already asked yourself. There is a lot of confusing information out there on castrating dogs so here I have condensed it all down. So that you can make the right, informed decision for you and your dog.
If you have a female dog please see our blog about spaying here.
Population control
One reason people consider castration is from a population control point. In the UK dogs should always be legally “under control”. As we do not have a large free-roaming dog population, this is generally easily managed even with entire dogs. When you have multiple dogs in the same household of both sexes this can be more difficult.
If you are considering breeding from your male also consider his genes. Is he really the best, mentally and physically, of his breed to pass on to the next generation? Does the world really need more puppies? Will he be more frustrated following one mating?
Many people think they would like a dog to have one litter, but this can lead to a huge increase drive to get to girls. Often people also presume they will be able to make substantial money from having a stud dog. Unless you have a top specimen that people are desperate to breed with theirs then you are unlikely to make much money this way and it can be a very stressful life for stud dogs.
Behavioural benefits
There are many people, including many vets who believe castration is the cure for most behavioural problems. This is not the case. Castration removes the testicles and therefore removes testosterone. The only behaviours that castration will affect are those behaviours driven through testosterone.
Male dogs will vary in their levels of testosterone hugely for many reasons. (Including number of puppies in the litter, ratio of boys to girls in the litter and age of dog.) This means the behaviours driven through testosterone will be more apparent in some dogs than others.
Behaviours driven through testosterone include;
- Urine marking. The extreme version. This is when dogs HAVE to mark every time they smell another dog. This would include in your own home. Many castrated dogs and females will mark when out on walks. As this is a normal behaviour it will unlikely be affected by castration.
- Mounting bitches in heat. This is not the same as humping – other dogs, people or toys (see below). A dog who hunts out bitches and tries to actually mate with them is driven through testosterone. Castration will hopefully improve this behaviour.
- Fighting with other dogs around bitches in heat. This does not include general aggression towards other dogs or in any other situations.
Behavioural concerns
As said above castration removes testosterone. Testosterone is a confidence building hormone and so we risk reducing their level on confidence. In dogs who are already confident this change is usually not noticeable. But if your dog already shows behaviour driven through low confidence (e.g. behaviours driven through fear, anxiety or frustration) there is a risk you will make these worse.
Common behaviours I would strongly recommend avoiding castration in include;
- Low confidence driven behaviour. Aggression towards people and other dogs, separation related problems, guarding issues, noise sensitivity or general anxiety or fear responses.
- High arousal behaviours. Things dogs do because they are over aroused will not be affected by castration. Mouthing, humping (people, toys, cushions and dogs who are not in heat) or “over excited behaviours” will not be improved and could be made worse with castration.
- Urine marking. If marking is due to low confidence, then this can actually be made worse through castration.
Even testosterone driven behaviours which have become learnt behaviours will not improve with castration. If you have a dog who has been marking in the home for years and you then decide to castrate him this behaviour is unlikely to change.
Health pros and cons
Health benefits of castrating dogs are usually promoted by most vet practices. There does seem to be some health benefits but there are some conditions in which the risk is increased by castrating dogs.
- Testicular cancer. Castration eliminates the possibility of testicular cancer. But it is also a very low risk disease in dogs. It is not very common and it is relatively easy to detect by monitoring your dog’s testicles. Treatment via castration is often curative. So this benefit of castration is not necessarily as good as it seems.
- Prostate problems. Non-cancerous prostate problems are less likely in castrated dogs but the risk of cancerous prostate problems may be increased. There is not currently enough evidence as to whether it is beneficial from a prostate point.
- Health risks. There is some evidence that castration can actually increase the risk of osteosarcoma, a very dangerous, malignant cancer which often kills dogs. There is also evidence that it increases the risk of hypothyroidism. This is not a life threatening condition but does require life-long treatment.
- Weight gain. Many castrated dogs will gain excessive weight. This can be controlled with appropriate diet and exercise but often their metabolism will slow down so they can’t eat as much as entire dogs. Overweight dogs have lower quality of life and are susceptible to more health problems and have a shorter life expectancy. If your dog is already overweight getting them to the right weight before castration is definitely recommended.
Some dogs become very frustrated when in the close vicinity of bitches in heat, whereas others don’t even seem to notice. In these frustrated dogs some can have extreme responses, appear lethargic, not eat and drastically drop condition. This is not good for them mentally or physically. Castration should be considered in dogs such as these unless further separation from bitches can be achieved.
Other Factors
You also need to include the risk of a general anaesthetic. Although a healthy, young dog has a very low risk with an anaesthetic, there is still a risk. You need to weigh this up with all the other pros and cons when deciding if castration is right for your dog.
Guardians should also think of the process of going in for a stay in the vets and the intense handling required for vet treatment. For some dogs this experience can be traumatic and can make future veterinary treatment difficult. Others breeze through it and it doesn’t seem to affect them. Do you think your dog would cope well with strangers handling him?
Conclusion
The decision to castrate or not is yours. For some dogs it can be extremely helpful to aid in behaviour changes. For others it can be really damaging. There are pros and cons from a health side and these also need to be considered carefully.
If you are unsure if castration is right for you and your dog, then chemical castration may be an option for you. This allows you to see the effect of castration on a temporary basis. An implant (similar to a microchip) can be put in and the effects last for 6-12 months. If your dog’s behaviour deteriorates at least the effect will wear off. You can discuss this in more detail with your vet.
Remember to think about training you can do in advance of any elective procedure. You can train your dog to happily wear a buster collar. You can teach your dog about handling in advance of the surgery. And you can ensure that your dog will cope with medication and rest post operatively.
My dog is fifteen months old with no confidence and has not been castrated. Every other male dog he has met seems to want to kill him! We had thought it was maybe because he hasn’t been castrated but after reading your article I think it’s more likely that they know he is submissive. I think it will be kinder for him to keep him intact.
Your article was very helpful
Hi Jenny, yes absolutely I would recommend keeping him entire if he has low confidence! It’s great you’re researching and making an informed decision.
Check out our online learning for some free courses about Coronavirus and increasing confidence and there’s a discount code on the free course for our Understanding Your Dog course too which will make a lot of his behaviour make a lot more sense!
I rescued a four year old, entire dog . When i took it for walks other entire dogs would attack it. Once a neutered dog also attacked it, I talked to the owner and it transpired that it was a rescue dog, from a shelter, and that it had been neutered late in life.
I believe it to be the case that entire males put out a pheromone whose function is to attract female dogs to its territory. This pheromone has an adverse effect on some entire males and it compels them to attack so that it eliminates’ competition in its imperative to procreate.
After i had had this dog for a couple of years it also started to attack entire dogs on site, or should I say “on smell”.
When this happened I thought to castrate it but I thought that its brain was hard wired by then and thought that it would not alter alter its attack response upon smelling the pheromone. Of course castration WOULD cure half of the problem, preventing my dog from putting out the pheromone. However I have heard of some disastrous behavioural outcomes to having mature dogs castrated and I didn’t want to risk this as my dog just loves all humans and I didn’t want this to be altered.
At present I have found an Isolated roadway where I can see backwards and forwards for very long distances and can see any dog walkers for some distance. In this place I can let him off the lead. If i see a dog walker in the distance I can lead and mussel him long before a potential problem.
Our 6 month old puppy barks at everything. He’s calming down with training but when he hears anything outside the house at night and he’s not in his crate it sets him off. This and marking in the house is the only unwanted behaviour. The vet has said when we go to have his retainers baby canines our to have him neutered at the same time but we are on a time limit to decide and we only got him 2 months ago so your information was very helpful but it’s a big decision to make for a young puppy. His best friend is my work dog who is a spayed female and she tries to jump him so he is innocent so far thank goodness!
Our dog is 18 month Bull Mastiff. He has been to all puppy obedience classes. However, on a walk we seem to keep his attention but the minute he picks up the scent of another dog he runs. There is no aggression, he just wants to play and it’s as if we are not there. Would casteration help with this?
In the home he is spot on.
Hi Teresa,
If he just wants to play then that is a management and training issue and castration wouldn’t help this at all. You’d be much better off getting the help of a local force-free dog training to work on his recall!
We have just rescued a 9 month old staffy X and he is due to be castrated tomorrow by the rescue centre, but I am really second guessing the decision now. He is a really happy loving boy, yes he gets excited when he sees other dogs and people and always wants to interact. He has heaps of confidence but when he sees children he sometimes gets really worried and can growl if they interact with him. We’re not sure what happened to him in his previous home. He is a really good boy and I feel the way he acts now can be helped with training rather than castration. At a loss what to do 🙁
Hi Nathan, how did everything go last week? It can be really tough with rescues as they are so desperate to prevent any more unwanted puppies being born when there are already so many dogs desperate for a home. This is usually their first concern but most rescues will discuss this with you and if they know you are really committed to the training and preventing breeding can delay castration further.
I hope everything works out for your boy, lots of dogs find kids really difficult and often need a lot of help boosting their confidence around them.
I had my boy 8 months done yesterday, he is such a loving pup no aggression at all. When I was sorting his collar out yesterday he was growling at me . I will be devastated if it has changed his loving nature. I will be fuming with the vet as this was never mentioned . Hopefully it’s just because he was confused after operation what do you think ?
Hi Clare, I hope your boy is doing better now. After any surgery dogs will be stressed and painful and then much more likely to be reactive and grumpy. If he is grouchy you should always give him space and understand he is just struggling, not even being nasty. The changes we see from the reduction in testosterone will usually take a few weeks to see so this hopefully won’t affect him and once he has recovered from the op you will get your lovely boy back!
We have a 6month old Lhasa apso boy. Recently he has been off his food and very sexually aroused. He humps toys, table legs etc but lack of appetite caused us to seek help at vets. We have been told he is too sexually aroused and needs urgent castration even though one testicle has yet to drop( meaning double the cost of operation too) the procedure is scheduled for tomorrow, is this the right thing to be doing?
Hi Lisa, if he is humping objects and people it is very unlikely to be sexually driven and more likely to be arousal driven (often due to anxiety). But testicles retained by six months are unlikely to descend and so surgery is likely to be required at some point for your boy (as retained testicles are much higher risk of becoming cancerous). Best of luck with him.
We are in two minds about our 13 month old border terrier. Happy character and confidently bounces up to all other dogs – is very submissive towards them – lies down with legs akimbo! Never aggressive to anyone/anything. Quite humpy. BUT scenting in the house all the time. Big problem. He is nervous of our make neutered cat so could be that?
If he is “submissive” to the dogs this is actually what is called Appeasement and is a low confidence behaviour. Having him castrated would really risk this behaviour escalating into more fear based behaviours so I would be very cautious even with the scenting in the home.
Humping anything apart from girls dogs in season is another sign of low confidence (not a reason for castration) so there are certainly risk factors in his case.
Getting some training to help him out first would be really useful, or talk to your vet about chemical castration so that it can be reversed if needed!
Hi. My dog is gue to get castrated in 3 weeks time. He is 17 months old. He is very giddy when he sees other people, constantly jumps.up and doesn’t calm down for.the whole time he’s around other people. he wee marks every time we go out for a walk, if I take him to the vets where he can smell other dogs he will wee, and he also humps other people. Now and again he gets aggressive, this is more.towards.my partner and this is more when my partner tells him what to do( which my dog doesn’t seem to like) he has gone for me and my.parter on more than 1 occasion. But I do wonder if this has been times where he hasn’t felt well? Going off this info is there any steer on weather castration would help or not? Thank you
Hi Ashleigh,
his giddiness and inability to calm down around people and his humping, and especially any aggressive behaviours all indicate he is anxious. If you castrate him there is a large risk that these behaviours will be made worse. Even his urine making on a walk and at the scent of other dogs is normal to a degree but can be exaggerated with anxiety. I would strongly recommend you seek help from a qualified behaviourist and avoid castration for your dog at this time.
I’m undecided to neuter my year old cockerpoo boy , he’s a little timid but has a lovely nature , will this change his personality, I’m getting another pup in four weeks time another boy , I really don’t know what to do
If he is a little timid then there is a good chance that his behaviour would deteriorate through castration as his confidence dips more. Getting another pup soon will be hard work (as well as lots of fun!) and so rushing a castration in before then will be tough for all of you! Two entire boys living together works well all the time, but as with any two dogs their relationship will need managing such as time apart, separate training and walking times, being fed separately and given chews apart.
Our new online Puppy Problems training course runs through all the general puppy stuff as well as managing two young dogs together!
We have a 10 month old Sheltie and we’re going to have him castrated in a few weeks time but our breeder was horrified and said we would end up ruining his coat and he would end up looking like a sheep! She would only recommend castration for medical reasons. Now we don’t know what to do as he is a loving dog no problems with him at all. Any advice?
If you’re not having any problems then the risk of castration might be more limited. But if there are no issues then there isn’t really any reason to rush into anything either!
The health benefits don’t come into play until he is an older man, so I would certainly recommend waiting for now!
Is there a good age to castrate a dog. Mine is 2 years old, the age my vet advised me to wait until being a larger breed. Is there any harm in waiting until he is 4? I’m thinking of holding off a bit just to train him up a bit further. Thanks.
There is certainly no rush, and definitely leaving until completely mature keeps bones and joints as safe as possible. The health benefits only come in when much older so I would not recommend before the age of five for most dogs (and lots of reasons to avoid altogether for some)!
Hi Jenny ..my dog is 15 months old. He is very friendly and confident. He does, however, try to mount female and male dogs sometimes! It’s not that he is always chasing a female but every now and again it can be an issue. I can manage it as he hangs around them quite awhile before making a move so he can be removed from situation in plenty of time. He doesn’t always try to hump male dogs either but sometimes he will! He tends to have favourites and in those instances will be persistent. We take a neighbours dog out whom he plays with alot and has never tried to hump before. The other day they were wrestling for awhile and then it turned into him trying to mount the other dog. He wouldn’t give up so had to be put on the lead. I don’t know yet whether that was a one off or whether he will try that again. Will this behaviour wear off in due course possibly? If so how long a time frame? As I would say humping is more prominent wirh male dogs than seeking out females, from what you say about testosterone, castration would not necessarily change this at all?
Hi Alison, if the mounting/humping behaviour isn’t directly solely at girls in season then it is much more likely to be driven by emotional arousal, rather than sexual arousal. When dogs get wound up through excitement or anxiety there is a good chance they can start humping. This makes much more sense in your dog’s case as he can play for a while before starting (when it is too much for him). Managing him by having very short play sessions and then separating him to calm down will be much more successful than castration as it is extremely unlikely this is due to testosterone. Our online course Understanding Your Dog goes through effective emotional management and how to help your dog!
Hello, I have a 5 month old French Bulldog male who is very well socialised and has been since we got him and is currently attending weekly training with other dogs but at a covid safe distance, however he has some unpredictable behaviour on occasions, wary of strangers and sometimes barks etc and the same with other dogs, 9 times out of 10 he is fine. And this barking/lunging sometimes snarling at other dogs is usually when he is on the lead. However it is quite upsetting behaviour to see. He is a very confident little boy, I am quite keen to get him castrated if of course it will help with this behaviour?
Afternoon Georgina, the barking and lunging would definitely be a sign of lower confidence levels with anxiety +/- frustration concerns and castration would in no way help with those behaviours but could certainly make things much worse! At five months he is such a little baby still, I would strongly recommend helping him cope better around other dogs and leaving his bits alone!
Hello Dr. Am in the process of getting a male puppy home in October. One of the dilemma I had was on neutering the dog. After reading multiple articles, interacting with few pet owners, and reading your article now, I’ve decided not to go for neutering. One concern that is bothering me is when the puppy matures, how frequently should I allow him to mate, some advise, it should be monthly. Even though its too early, time would fly, hence posing this question on the mating frequency for a male dog. Is there any healthy schedule that could be maintained once he matures?
Hi, congratulations on getting your new pup! and it’s great you’re not planning on castrating him after considering the risks. Entire males do not need to mate at all throughout their lives and live very happily this way. If he is used for breeding he is more likely to get frustrated when he can’t have access to mate and so unless he is the very, very best specimen (health and temperament) we wouldn’t recommend using him for any breeding at all!
Thank you Dr. Sincerely appreciate your inputs.
Hi
Should I castrate my 3 year old dobermann? He clicks & drools on his walks if he picks up the scent of a bitch. I’m getting a spaniel puppy in 2 weeks (bitch) & wonder if I should get him done before or at all? Will he try to mate her when she comes into season?
Yes he will definitely try to mate her when she comes into season. It can be very difficult to keep a male and female entire dogs separate during a season and you need to keep them entirely separated (different rooms) for at least three weeks at each season. So your options are to castrate your boy (with the potential negative behavioural side effects) or to the spay your girl prior to her first season. Check out our blog on spaying here. As she is a spaniel she is at much lower risk of an early spay compared to larger breeds.
My 3 year old Dachshund gets jealous of my older Dachshund. He growls if the older dog comes near me whilst he (3 year old) is with me.
This sometimes leads to them fighting.
Will having him castrated help with this jealousy or am I wasting my time?
Thank you
Afternoon Sharon, castration would be extremely unlikely to help with that behaviour but could easily make things worse. Dogs do not feel jealousy as humans understand it and the behaviour you’re describing is related to anxiety and frustration (not testosterone) and so by making him more anxious you are more likely to make it worse.
You’d be much better spending the money you might spend on the surgery having sessions with a local force-free trainer to help build up his confidence!
Hello! My fiancé and I have been considering getting a second dog(who will be a spayed/neutered adopt). The dog we currently have is an almost 3 yr old Chihuahua mix and he barks a lot at guests and our neighbors dogs, humps every now and then and has some “playful aggression” against my fiancé’s father. He is a nice dog who is playful and fairly well behaved but my partner and his family never really get him to socialize with other dogs. I’m afraid that after doing research it appears that it should be best both dogs are fixed in order for better chance of them to get along. The thing is, my partner really really doesn’t like the idea of neutering his dog. I haven’t told him anything yet because I’d love nothing more than to add a new member to our family(with proper research and preparation) and it would hurt to have him reject the idea immediately. I honestly don’t think he’ll change his mind about the idea and I’d hate to have him resent me or regret neutering his dog. I’m not sure what It is I’m asking for, but any advice would be so so helpful, please. Are we just meant to have a single dog household?
Hi Stephanie, You can absolutely get another dog whilst your first dog is entire. Many households have multiple male dogs who haven’t been castrated, and as they are generally going to be more confident the relationships can be much better than having castrated males living together. The behaviour your dog is currently displaying shows he finds some things a little difficult from his barking and humping (the humping isn’t sexually driven because he is entire). So castrating him is likely to make those behaviours worse and make him less likely to get on with the new family member, whereas leaving him entire doesn’t increase his risk at getting along at all!
Our dog is about a year old hes a mixed breed of we are guessing German shepherd and maybe Rottweiler or Doberman cross not sure. We have only had him for six months now he was found on the side of the road. So he was a rescue. He has pretty bad separation anxiety but it has gotten better since we first got him. When he’s out in the yard he barks at everything! People walking by, biking, kids, cats, deer, vehicles. But hes so sweet and would never hurt anyone. He does play a bit aggressive sometimes but we working on it. He has sooo much energy. He hasn’t yet been around female dogs in heat so we aren’t sure how he would act around that. The thought of getting him fixed makes me sad.
Hi Dr. I have a male Rottweiler who’s 1 year and 3 months old. He has an issue in his hip which is suspected to be starting stages of hip displacia and he’s improving well with Physiotherapy and swimming. I wasn’t sure of neutering and checked with the vet. She advised me that neutering is good considering his condition and she also said that it could be done even now.
Should we wait till he’s 2 ? Will neutering him now affect his growth?
I would discuss more specifically about his case with your vet. There are studies showing early (at least before two as he is not fully grown yet) will increase the risk of bone cancer in larger breeds and particularly in those already at higher risks, which rotties are. I would be cautious castrating him early but please discuss with your vet with more knowledge on his specific medical history.
Best of luck with him!
My dog gets aroused almost every mornings and he seems to have that paraphimosis problem since we need to help him put it back in afterwards.
When I mentioned this to the vet, her first suggestion was castration but I have done a lot of research and seen that castration will not necessarily stop him getting aroused. And if that doesn’t stop he will continue to have the problem of not being able to retract it.
What do you think could help him truly?
My fiancé and I have learned how to help him but we are not always around.
It has not been easy having to wake up before 6 am to help him out or just worrying that is happening again at every sound he makes in the early mornings…
Hi Natasha, thanks for getting in touch. These cases can be tricky, sometimes they do continue even with castration, but castration can help in some cases. It could be worth discussing your vet chemical castration (which is temporary and reversible) to see if it helps. If it does then surgical castration probably is the best option for your boy. But if there is no improvement then he hasn’t undergone unnecessary surgery!
It’s great you’re able to help him out, it can distressing for everyone if they get stuck and can become really sore!
Hi Dr Katie
I have a just about 7 month old blue English Stanfordshire bull terrier. I’ve done a little bit of research and am unsure about desexing and am unsure what to do
I think he’s well socialized as we have been going to a dog park since he was 16 weeks old after he had his last injection
He plays well with other dogs and people doesn’t really bark at anyone or anything like that
He’s humped his bed occasionally for a couple of month which I don’t think is sexual we usually take the bed off him and he stops
He’s recently started trying to hump our arm but we stop him from doing that too and he usually calms down
Recently at the dog park he has started following a dog (changes on the day) and tries to hump them it lasts for a little bit then he goes back to playing
He’s also started getting a bit of fluid, like a pre cum on his penis at various stages of the day
His training is alright as it’s mainly just been us due to covid haven’t had any professional training except for 4 weeks at puppy school
I’m unsure what to do as I’ve seen the pros and cons of desexing on what I’ve read so far
The thought of desexing him makes me sad and I just don’t think I can do it to him he’s beautiful and I don’t want anything to change him but I want to do what’s best for him
Thank you for your time and hopefully I hear back from you
Kind regards
Sam
Hi Sam, thanks for all the information. If he is humping quite indiscriminately then it is unlikely to be sexual, especially at such a young age. And more likely to be emotionally drive. If it is emotionally driven and his is castrated his behaviour is likely to deteriorate. He is so young and has such a lot of physical maturing to do and finish growing his bones the risk of castrating this early would be higher for him.
Discharge from the penis throughout the day is normal for both castrated and entire males so that is nothing to worry about as long as his penis/prepuce isn’t inflamed or painful.
You’d be best working with a force free trainer to build up his confidence and focus when out and about to manage the humping behaviour and at home too. Our online course “Understand Your Dog” goes through emotional arousal management and how to make it easier at home too!
Hi, my 10 month Spanish Water Dog has his left testicle retained. I went to the vet yesterday who found it in his groin area. As it’s too late to drop we will get it removed. However she also said we should remove the other one. Our breeder recommends avoiding castration at all and certainly not under 2 as it’s important for their growth and development. My vet doesn’t agree and says they would still produce testosterone. Would keeping one healthy testicle be of any health risk. Or would it produce enough testosterone to be if use? Your advice would be gratefully appreciated.
Hi Mags,
Removing the retained testicle is definitely the right thing to do due to the high risk of cancer. But this risk isn’t incredibly high at such a young age, so leaving him to mature further (whilst actively monitoring it as it can be palpated) would be one option.
The second option of removing the retained one but leaving the normal is something that quite a few vets are happy to do. The remaining testicle will give enough testosterone to maintain growth and confidence levels. The main reason vets are cautious about this is because if something happened to a dog (rehomed for any reason) and they saw there was only one testicle, they would want to get the second retained one out, but they wouldn’t know it was already gone! To avoid any potential mix ups you can record one testicle removed on his microchip and this usually helps the vet to worry less about issues down the line!
Hi, I got my buddy (Rio) completed 6months ( labordor) and he is completely fine and healthy. I have only one concern that he want to socialise with everyone he sees and for that he goes out of control and jumps on everyone…today I took him to vet for a general checkup and they suggested me to neuter him…..kindly suggest do I need to neuter him?
Hi Sai, the behaviour you’re describing is not driven by testosterone and so castrating him won’t help. It could be driven through appeasement behaviour which is a low confidence behaviour, especially if he is only 6 months. If so castrating him is likely to worsen his behaviour. Getting help from a force free trainer will help but castration won’t!
If he is only young castration in a Labrador at that age will also increase his risk of bone cancer.
Good morning! I have learned a lot reading your page but I still wanted to contact you to reaffirm what I have concluded. I have a nine month old Great Pyrenees. He is very sweet and we really have no issues with him. We live in the country so there is no contact with other dogs. We have a spayed 2 year old female Lab. He mounts her but she really wants no part. She actually mounts his face which I believe is a dominance issue. They get along quite well. I see no medical or behavioral reason to have him neutered. What is your opinion? Thank you in advance.
Hi Amy, I’m glad you found it a useful resource! It sounds like you’ve understood it great too. There is certainly no behavioural benefit in castrating him. Mounting, unless you a bitch in heat, is not sexually driven. As you can see from your girl doing it too, dominance is not a cause for behaviour in pet dogs, that theory has been disproved by the scientific community, instead it is a high emotional arousal behaviour (something displayed when dogs are wound up from being too excited or nervous or frustrated). You might find our online course Understanding Your Dog interesting!
As for health with his size there is certainly much more risk to castration than there would be benefit!
Hi, thanks for the read it’s really helpful. Our dog is 19 months old. He’s not aggressive, doesn’t mark at home and has very good recall. We are looking in to neutering him for when we go away so we can put him in dog boarding which most require a castrated dog. The only worry I have is that he is submissive around dogs at first, put almost straight away after meeting will play and run around with them. Should I be worried about this? Thanks a lot!
Yes it can be limiting if some places ask for neutered males only. What people describe as “submissive behaviour” is actually anxiety driven behaviour using appeasement techniques (dominance and submission doesn’t exist like that in dogs, it has been disproven by the scientific community!). Which does mean if you castrate him and his confidence drops there is a risk his anxiety towards other dogs could increase resulting in more exaggerated responses including avoidance or repulsion (growling, barking, snarling) behaviours. We run through this in detail in our Understanding Your Dog course if you’d like to know more!
Hi, I have a 15 year old lhasa apso who hasn’t been neutered but he has recently been diagnosed with pernial hernia , constipation and prostactic hyperlapsia. The vet has suggested to neuter him to prevent further damage. He recently had a light dose of anaesthetic to clear his passage and it should have taken him only 15-20 minutes to come out of it but it took him over an hour and was groggy and slept most of the day for the next 2 days. His blood results came back normal but I am not sure if we should go ahead or not . Our vet facilities in Nepal isnt great so I am not sure whether to take the risk or leave it as it is. We have heavily cut down his meat intake and added more fibre to his diet (pumpkin, spinach) along with increased dose of lactulose to help him with constipation but he is still having a hard time pooping. Please could you kindly advice on what else I can do for his health. Thanks a ton!
There’s lots going on in this case so I can’t give clear cut advice without having access to full medical records. Talk to your vet about chemical castration which can have the same medical improvement for a medical case such as this but without the risk of an anaesthetic to see if it helps. If so chemical castration can be maintained for life or you could opt for surgical castration, best of luck with him.
Hi Dr Katie,
I have an 18 month golden retriever. He has such a lovely nature, is super friendly but he does have episodes of becoming obsessive with other dogs and tries to hump them (females and males) and can get a bit unnecessary. He does roam but not for just females, just a “nice” smelling dog. He humps his bed at home a lot and we end up hiding it away but then this diverts onto my dad.
We are considering getting another dog (18 months and neutered) and really don’t want him to start obsessively humping the poor dog and causing stress.
I am really struggling about what to do as castration doesn’t seem to be the answer.
Thank you!!
Hi Rachel, Thanks for your message. It certainly doesn’t sound like castration will help! That humping behaviour is due to high emotional (not sexual) arousal. You need to help him manage himself with short manageable exposures and nice calming breaks. We go through all of this in our Puppy Problems online course in more detail too. But castration will likely escalate this behaviour to more serious responses including use of repulsion techniques when he is struggling (growling/snapping/biting)!
Hello
Im really not sure if my puppy has low confidence or not! He has just turned 6 Months. When meeting other dogs he lays on the floor or on his back and allows them to lick etc. I thought that this was very submissive behaviour. However I have noticed that with a couple of dogs he known since 8 weeks old he can play very aggressively leading to unequal play (one dog also a puppy albeit a few months older and another dog 18 months)
At day care and with dog walker ive been told he’s very active and enjoys chasing other dogs and being chased. On the flip side however
He currently now is reluctant to walk past our drive so we are driving him to open spaces for walks etc.
He only seems to hump pillows or toys (arousal behaviour as I understand) and has become to guard resting places i.e sofa/growling when being picked up after a period of rest.
Im really not sure what may be best for him.
Hi, at six months he is still a complete baby and depending on his breed there could be large health risks to castration so young. It certainly sounds like he has low confidence around other dogs and that his behaviour is already progressing to some avoidance and repulsion type behaviours and so castration would be a large behavioural risk and could make this much worse. You would be best seeking the advice of a local force-free trainer to help him out so that he doesn’t progress but castration won’t help any of those issues!
Dear Dr. Your advice would be much appreciated. I have two eight month old Yorkshire Terriers, brother and sister. Obviously I would not wamt them to breed and neutering was always the obvious option. They are both happy, heathy, outgoing dogs who love other dogs and people. I worry about neutering changing their personality, but at the same time I’m worried they are starting to sniff around each other so I need to make a descision quick. Can I neuter the male and not the female or is it best to do both. So confused. Thank you in advance.
Hi Diane,
Getting your girl done would definitely be the better choice. If you haven’t already also read our blog on spaying which is generally always recommended, whereas castration has risks getting girls done is really beneficial behaviourally and for health reasons.
Also if you get your boy done they could still mate successfully for up to six weeks after his op. If you get your girl done they cannot mate from the moment she gets home, that makes the whole house a lot more relaxed for you straight away!
Hi Dr. Katie
I have a 2 year old boxer dog. He is lovely in the home and fabulous with our two children. Outside, it is a different story and I’m at my wits end. He pulls like a train on the lead and can show aggression to other dogs whilst off the lead. I am quite small in terms of build and I find it difficult and demoralising to walk him. He’s better once he has had a run off the lead, but there doesn’t seem to be any calming him down. It’s as if he can’t control himself. I have tried to be as consistent as possible with training and he is very ball driven. So much so that he will knock you off your feet to get to it, which isn’t fun as he’s over 30kgs. I have run with my previous dogs but I can’t run with him as he’s far too strong and has to be at the front when running with a group.
He is our second boxer but third dog and we have never thought about castration before because we don’t agree with it. Would castration be the answer here? Or is it rigorous training?
Thank you in advance for any guidance you’re able to provide 🙂
Hi Jessica, none of those behaviours will be improved through castration, training with a force-free trainer to help him have more self-control and frustration tolerance. Castration could certainly make this worse by increasing anxiety. Our life Skills online course has lots of self-control games which are great for managing this kind of behaviour too!
Hello,
I have a 9 year old Gordon Setter male who has had a castration today at my local vet. The main reason I decided to have him castrated is because we now have a 10 week old Gordon Setter female puppy and do not wish to breed from them.In the future. Also, our male dog is quite aggressive to other dogs in our locality, especially when on the lead, which I believe is due to a territorial and owner protection issue. Will these behavioural issues change?
As he is already castrated there isn’t much you can do at this point so hopefully it doesn’t make his behaviour worse. Castration will never make dogs less aggressive towards other dogs (this is not a territorial issue but driven through fear and/or frustration, both of which can unfortunately be made worse by castration).
Obviously it is good by the time your pup is in season they cannot mate. If you’re in this situation in the future spaying the girl before her first season is the better option to avoid unwanted pregnancies!
Hi Dr Katie, thank you for your article it was really interesting to read! I’m still having issues deciding what to do – I have a 8 month old Cocker Spaniel (male) who has a brilliant personality – very friendly to both dogs & people he does sometimes surrender especially when they are much bigger than him. But my previous cocker spaniel was very nervous & we never got him snipped & he got to 14 years old. But we’ve worked really hard to get my current puppy more confident by introducing him to as much as possible since we got him at 8 weeks & I worry that it would affect it in a negative way all the hard work to get him where he is now – as he is a big softy & sensitive at times. He was also the runt on the litter & I would say he’s below the average weight as a result… But he’s confident with people & when we go for walks he is usually very happy to say hello to other dogs unless they come sprinting up to him, he usually runs back to me. But I spoke to my vet yesterday that was strongly advising it but I really don’t know what’s best for him? I want him to be slightly older if we were to even consider it but the vets says when he’s 10 months would be the perfect time which to me he’s still young & growing… & I’m not having any issues apart from him slightly humping his toys every now & again. I don’t need his behaviour to change as it’s not an issue at the moment but then as the vets say if he does develop behaviour issues after that age it might be to late to sort them when he’s a bit older as he’s ‘missed his window’ apparently so I feel a bit pressured & just want to do what’s right for him! But I find it hard to believe that my dogs personality will completely change once he’s gotten through puberty but that’s what I’m led to believe…
Hi Zoe, thanks for your message. It is great you are considering the right step for him so carefully! There is no evidence at all that there is a time frame for getting dog’s castrated to prevent behaviours occurring. If he did suddenly become hyper-sexualised (which is extremely rare and usually already evident at 8 months!) then you could get him booked in the same week and he wouldn’t have learnt any unwanted behaviours in that time.
But that testosterone is so important for him in his physical and mental development. He is a long way off being physically or mentally mature and castrating him too young can increase his risk of bone cancer, and as he isn’t the most confident dog in the world it could cause him a step backwards in his behaviour.
The health benefit of castration, preventing testicular cancer, has no rush! It isn’t something he is at risk of until he is much older.
Also be cautious of doing too much work to socialise him. Lots and lots of interactions isn’t usually best. A few great interactions a week really increases confidence and how they feel about dogs and people, but loads of interactions usually means some of them are sub-par which actually worsens his perception and makes him less confidence. It’s all about quality and not quantity. Our online course Puppy Package goes through all of it in loads of detail if you need any more help!
Hi – I have a 6 month old staffy pup and have an appointment for castration on 11th November – so he will be 7 month then.
He has a lovely nature and wants to be friends with dogs and people alike.
In the last 3 weeks, he has just started to hump – dogs when playing and me and my son when at home.
I am just concerned that the bigger and stronger he gets, the humping becomes a major problem
So will castration help calm this behaviour and will it affect his mental and physical growth?
So confused as to whether I am doing the right thing!!
Castration will affect mental and physical growth especially at such a young age. Humping especially during play is extremely unlikely to be sexually driven (instead it is emotionally driven) and therefore castration won’t help. Learning how to manage his emotional arousal and switch him off instead will be much more successful! Check out our online course Understanding Your Dog for more info!
Hi Dr Katie,
I have a three & half year old entire male Cavapoo who has the most lovely temperament and adores other dogs, people and children. However he has been attacked in the park on several occasions by other male dogs. The dogs have been sniffing each other in the park, not exhibiting any tense behaviours or body language, and then go in and attack him, often pretty viscously and have had to be pulled off by their owners. I was told by a dog walker that this was my fault because I hadn’t castrated him and that this was always going to happen as long as he was entire. I’ve been very happy not to have had him castrated as he has very bad food & environmental allergies and a grade 1 heart murmur, which has meant I haven’t wanted to put him under the risk of anaesthetic. On reading your article it’s pretty clear to me that if I were to castrate him, the mild behaviours of barking at noises, humping out of emotional excitement and separation anxiety (which we have been working on successfully through training) would actually get worse due to lowered confidence from the lower testosterone; but I’m now so worried that if I don’t castrate him, he will continue to get attacked by other male dogs. He has never exhibited any of the signs you’ve mentioned about trying to mount dogs on heat (although he wants to follow them around to have a prolonged sniff and sometimes lick), and so there would be no other reason to have the surgery and the risk of anaesthesia other than this one considerable problem, but I desperately don’t want him to be hurt, or even killed in a dog attack. What would you advise?
It can be so difficult trying to manage other people’s dogs and is unfortunately the big risk factor when we take our pooches out. Some dogs find entire males more difficult, but usually they dogs will also find most dogs difficult and therefore still risk going for him even after he was castrated. If he is giving any anxious signs at all (which would be very normal after having had a few horrible experiences) then this is more likely to be the cause than his testosterone levels. As he is a higher risk for an anaesthetic it is a very serious consideration. If you really wanted to go down that route then trialling chemical castration (with the implant) would let you see if it helps him out with other dogs without the associated risk. If it so then you could consider surgical castration or continue chipping him to maintain the chemical castration. If not then you don’t have to risk his surgery!
Thanks so much Dr Katie, it’s really interesting to understand the dynamics of all this, from both my dog’s and the attacking dogs’ perspective. It’s really helpful to know that there is the chemical castration option to trial to see if this makes any difference. Fortunately at the moment these attacks haven’t seemed to have outwardly affected his confidence and happy temperament, but I will continue with the training to keep his confidence up, and in the meantime speak with our vet to look into the implant further. Many thanks again for your help.
Hi Dr Katie
I have a 11 month old Cavapoo. Despite lots of socialising he is very scared if other dogs whether they are bigger or smaller than he is. He has had some horrible experiences of being nipped by other dogs and being barked at rather aggressively/ lunged at. There have also been some rare occasions where he has barked at other dogs and pulled the lead trying to lunge toward them. I wonder if this is to do with not being neutered? He loves humans and is a real lap dog, and prefers cuddles and being indoors. We aren’t really having too many issues with humping etc yet. He has an extremely sensitive tummy and we have had quite a hard time getting him to eat etc so he is on the skinny side. I am really worried about the whole neutering thing because I want the health benefits and don’t want to put him at risk of getting cancer later in life, but I don’t want to make his quality of life worse now and make him even more nervous and lacking in confidence. I’ve also read research that suggests neutering can decrease the risk of some cancers but increase the risk of osteosarcoma. The other worry we had was that he has a lovely temperament and we don’t want that to change. Could you advise?
Many thanks
Ella
Hi Ella, thanks for getting in touch and it’s great you’re working so hard to find out what is best for him. It sounds like he’s had some tough experiences with other dogs which has meant he has learnt to be nervous of them. Castration will make him more nervous and make this behaviour worse. Socialisation is not about volume, it is about the quality of the interactions. A few fantastic experiences around dogs is great but many bad interactions is not socialisation it is in fact sensitisation.
The cancer risk you would remove by castrating him will not come in to effect for years, this is a disease of older dogs. So he would see no health benefits being castrated now, or in quite a few years time. I would never recommend castrating a nervous dog, nor a dog under 18 months. The osteosarcoma risk is also very low for him due to his breed, this is something we are much more concerned about in large breed dogs.
I would recommend getting help from a force-free trainer to help him grow in confidence. Once he is coping well with other dogs then if you wanted to castrate him when he is older (e.g. five years plus) then you would get the health benefits at that point! Our Puppy Problems online course goes through lots of the exercises you’d need to help him too!
Hi Dr Russell. I have a miniature dachshund who is 16 months old. He is so loving and sweet natured most of the time and has not marked our house at all. He also very rarely humps and if he does it is generally a toy and over excitement. However, He did become very distressed when a local bitch was in heat (crying and scratching at the door to go out). This is not normal behaviour for him.
He is great with dogs and bitches he knows But has become growly/snappy to dogs he doesn’t know – mainly males (and mainly in tact). But there are some dogs he just doesn’t like and doesn’t forget. He is also not a fan of Labrador puppies and we seemed to have an influx at the time his behaviour changed (when he was about 11 months).
I have been working with a trainer but unfortunately I have had an operation and am recovering at home so he is going out with dog walkers now.
I have been told that his ‘behaviour’ would improve with neutering but I am not sure. I am trying to research but would really value your opinion? Also for miniature dachshunds it is recommended not to neuter until at least 18 months.
I would really appreciate any advice you have.
Thank you in advance. Claire
Hi Claire, I’m sorry to hear you’ve been unwell and that your pup is struggling more around other dogs. His behaviour changing at adolescence is much more likely due to an increase in frustration, rather than testosterone. If he really does struggle around bitches in heat then trialling chemical castration may be the best thing for him. But with his breed and interactions with other dogs it can mean they often result in pain due to his size and long back which will worsen his perception of them. If this is the case then castrating him will knock his confidence further and worsen his behaviour. If going out with a dog walker it is important that they give him space from other dogs and never tell him off for his behaviour, telling him off for reacting will only make him more scared and worsen his behaviour, unfortunately this could be what is happening when you aren’t around.
Hi Dr, we have a two and a half year old male vizsla. He is a big dominate intact male. He is the most loving friendly dog with our family and lets the children do anything to him. Unfortunately when we take him out for walks he can get aggressive towards dogs on leads and other make dogs. He doesn’t do it all the time and sometimes he plays and has fun. Thing is his aggressive behaviour is getting worse and it’s becoming really difficult and upsetting. He is well socialised and a few times a week he is with a dog Walker and mixes well with all the other dogs. On the occasions where he becomes aggressive it’s worrying because he loses all his recall skills. Our vet has suggested castration and she thinks it will calm him down and make him less aggressive. After reading your article I’m now confused as to what to do. He is booked in for castration next week and I really want to make sure we are making the right decision.
Hi Benjamin, It is extremely unlikely that castration will help in this behaviour. Dogs are not dominant in the “pack leader” way, this has been disproved many times scientifically. Instead this behaviour will be driven through frustration or fear, both of which can be made worse with castration. I would recommend instead seeking the help of a force-free professional to help him, or at most opting for chemical castration which is reversible if it does make things worse, best of luck with him!
We have a 2 year old Labrador – he is confident in that he likes to say hello to other dogs but he is also very submissive. He humps his bed every day which we don’t have a problem with, he might sniff at female dogs but never attempted to mount another dog, he marks a lot when he is on walks if he smells another dog. We have not neutered him based on his submissive behaviour however on a couple of occasions recently our dog has been very aggressive towards other dogs passing on leads. We’re now really torn and can’t decide whether to neuter him or not?
Hi Laura, it certainly doesn’t sound like any of his behaviour is driven through testosterone. His increased reactivity on a lead is much more likely due to his anxiety you have already been seeing with other dogs. “submissive” behaviour is actually low confidence, anxiety driven behaviour (dominance/submission doesn’t exist in dogs like that). As dogs grow, if they don’t get the right help and management, this anxiety will worsen and they will change the way that they display it, usually resulting in the use of repulsion (often referred to as “aggression”) behaviours.
If you castrate a dog at this point you are likely to make the behaviour worse. There is no evidence or reason why castration would help in your case. Our online course “Understanding Your Dog” goes through all this in more detail and then getting the help of a force-free trainer will be the best route to go!
Hi, our 3 year old st Bernard has over the last couple of days become obsessed with our 15year old castrated cross breed. He is constantly trying to smell his private parts drink his urine and mount him, to the extreme , he wines If he can’t be near him and won’t settle. They have been together for a couple of years and both our st Bernards have always chased after him to look and smell when he wees but nothing more than that. The other entire male st Bernard isn’t acting any differently . The vet has suggested castrating the younger dog. We didn’t have him from a pup and he is very loving And confident generally, But he humps and shreds his bed if I go out even though he has the other 2 dogs and he can be aggressive with the other male st Bernard over high value food, he also takes an aggressive stance if he were to be pushed away from anything, while being told off. He loves to take other peoples things to get attention and doesn’t like to release them
Hi Tina, If things have suddenly changed a full health check of all of the dogs (and especially a urine check if there are changes to urine sniffing and prostates) is the best first step. It is extremely unlikely that testosterone will have caused this sudden change. If he has behaviour likely to be driven by anxiety such as his behaviour when left alone then castration could certainly make this behaviour much worse.
A dog reacting to being pushed or around high value food are normal behaviours which we should protect dogs from experiencing by teaching dogs a moving cue, and by ensuring that dogs are separated around all sources of food. We don’t recommend ever “telling a dog off” this only “work” via scaring them and over all worsens behaviour. Instead we can teach appropriate behaviour and heavily reinforce this and manage inappropriate behaviour but pushing a dog is very likely to escalate their behaviour and can easily progress into bite behaviour.
Best of luck with them and I hope you get a full resolution.
Hi im thinking of having my dog neutered he is 8 yrs would this be OK and how much does it cost hes a shih tub.
Hi Diane, it depends on his heath and his behaviour and the price will depend on your vets – your first point of call should be your vets!
Very informative article. We have 5 year old black lab entire male. Absolutely shown no aggression, confident. A delightful pet BUT he had always been over interested in dogs especially if in season bitches around- he sniffs and licks excessively and after sniffing bits of the ground, his mouth is a quiver and drooling. This only happens in the main field we exercise him as we live in a fairly populated area with ever growing number of dogs. When we take him to the country- none of these issues. He’s extremely energetic, can run all day long and had in past struggled to keep his weight. Reason for this post is that last week he was attacked by a staffie on a lead( ours wasn’t on lead) and to my wife’s horror he most certainly attacked back and went back for more- no damage done and owner of staffie admitted his dog had attacked others- he usually skirts by any sense of aggression. We have had a lab before who also showed signs of sexual aggression and behaviour and although the vet wasn’t at all sure castration would work, his bad habits disappeared straight away. My wife, of course now wants to get our current lab castrated after this one-off incident and I must admit it is tiring having to constantly remove him from his bottom licking tendencies. Sorry for long post but again any views welcome. My feelings are that in his case as he is so calm and confident, hopefully castration may be an option for us
Hi Simon,
I’m sorry you and your dog went through the attack episode, that must’ve been really tough on you all. Following a traumatic event such as that is quite a risky time to go for castration as it will have really knocked his confidence around other dogs. If he was attacked first and then responded to defend himself, that is actually a very normal protective response that many dogs would do and wouldn’t be “improved” by castration. Once he is settled and interacting well (even if licking) dogs again then castration might not affect him negatively, but there is also a good chance it won’t change his licking habits!
Dear Dr Katie My daughter rescued a seven year old, entire male Doberman dog who had been kept in an enclosure, outside of its UK families home for six years. It had been kept in this miserable situation by the family for about six years because when the family had little children the dog would brush past the children and inadvertently knock them over.
My daughter, who also had toddlers, introduced this dog into her home as part of her family, as an equal, to the extent that it would lie on the sofa with the family.
The dog was perfect with the children, it would allow them to take the liberties which toddlers sometimes do prior to parental correction. It was my opinion that the dog, despite the lack of any socialisation, had instinctive, parental hard wiring intact. It was behaving as if these were the packs children.
UNFORTUNATELY this lack of socialisation did cause a big problem when it came to meeting other dogs in parks etc. It would run up to other dogs aggressively barking at them, in their faces, and was generally causing dog to dog problems without actually attacking them by biting.
To cut a long story short my daughter , was advised to have the dog castrated in the hope that this would alleviate its dog to dog behaviour.
This castration had disastrous effects . Almost immediately it became intolerant of the children. It started to not like them and would nip them. My daughter found several alternative homes for the dog with people who did not have kids, with no success. Each time the adoptees couldn’t cope with the dogs behaviour and returned the dog to my daughter who eventually had to place the dog in an animal shelter. This broke my daughters heart of course. She loved the dog and bitterly regretted having the dog castrated.
It is only my opinion but I think that it was the testosterone or another testicular chemical hormone that activated this parental hard wiring in the brain and that castration took away the trigger that activated it. I Wonder what are your thoughts on this and what other effects castrating a mature dog can have? Thank you . Terry Smith.
Hi Terence, I’m sorry that your daughter’s dog had such a difficult start to life, and that your daughter received the wrong advice. Yes castration often has such negative effects in all aspects of behaviour. This is unfortunately much more likely the reason why he deteriorated around the children (previously was confident and happy around them, once castrated was anxious and reactive towards them). My hope is that more and more people can understand how disastrous castration can be and what a big decision it is. I’m very sorry your family had to go through all of that.
Hi
We have 2 bulldogs, a male at 2 years and a female who is 8 months. We decided to leave the male in tact as he isn’t territorial or ever aggressive to other dogs. He’s a very placid beast. He can get over excited during rough play but it’s manageable (the worst he gets is grabbing my clothing when I try to leave and stop the game). A quick firm no and distraction solves this no problem.
With the female, she is his full sister from another litter so we do not want pups and we’re currently waiting for her first season so we can then have her spayed. We plan to move the male out while she has the season (go to a relative). So this isn’t a bearing castor.
Since we got the female and they’re on walks off lead he has started to stray and not return when called. He had good recall before she came along but now we’re not sure if he’s showing off or is more heightened now he lives with a female. Would castration help with this behaviour? He’s confident, too friendly with other dogs (loves to sniff their genitals for far too long – they tolerate it for so long but then make it clear to stop to which he doesn’t listen to. We say he’s that wierdo at a party you avoid haha). For a well socialised dog he chooses not to read other dog aggression warning signs, he still ploughs on determined to make friends. He has no social cues bless him. We’ve tried different ways but I don’t think he has this in him, it’s like it’s missing from his brain. A Frenchie even snapped in his face and caught his jowl and he just looked at me all hurt, like “why don’t they like me?”. This behaviour is the same with other dogs even now he has his sister. Who’s crotch he licks alot (mortifying), she tolerates it for so long and then warns him off or sits so he can’t get her. Sorry I’ve rambled!
Do you think castration would help with this?
Thank you
Hi Sarah,
That’s great you are putting things in place to avoid inbreeding at home, you can also talk to your vets about temporary hormonal suppression for your male if needed. But there are lots of benefits of getting your girl spayed and then you don’t need to worry about breeding in the future, this is always the way I would recommend in male/female dog households.
It is much more likely he is more wound up and excited since having a puppy in the home, and also it’s normal that your training might not have been as focussed on him as you’ve had a puppy to manage! He’s also just gone through adolescence during this time and it is very common for recall to deteriorate. Unless the only time he runs off is when he smells a bitch in heat then castration won’t help I’m afraid and instead going back to basics and focussing on managing him to prevent mistakes and adding value to your recall cue! Our online training course Life Skills goes through recall in great detail!
Sniffing and licking other dogs genitals is a normal behaviour but is exaggerated in lower confidence dogs and so castration may actually make this behaviour worse. With your girl, once she’s done and her hormones are steady then he will hopefully do this less at home.
Hi Katie, this is a very informative article, thank you! I have a 9 month old bull pug cross that was just attacked by another intact male dog (he did nothing to provoke the other dog). He’s a really lovely dog who’s not aggressive at all but also quite confident, yet other males keep growling at him or trying to attack him, especially in the last month or so. I have been told that it is likely that this is because he has not been castrated as other dogs see him as ‘competition’. I was already on the fence about castration but now I’m leaning more towards the snip, I’d love to read your opinion on this particular case.
Hi Rita, I’m really sorry you and your dog went through that, it is awful when it happens. He is still very young to consider castration and with him having had some horrible experiences around other dogs it is also quite high risk at this point. Unfortunately other dogs are the main thing we can’t control for with dog training and we can never guarantee that they won’t go for your dog. But anxious dogs are much more likely to have other dogs have a go at them, and following an attack it would be unusual for your dog not to be giving off worried signals around other dogs at the moment.
Very rarely we can see some entire males find other entire males more difficult (although your boy is still very young for them to class him as a mature male). If you really wanted to see if it could help I would recommend chemical castration which is temporary, you could assess changes in your dog and how others react to him too.
Hi, I am in a dilemma about whether to castrate or not too. I have a 2 year old GS x collie. He is a confident boy, happy to sniff and say hi but generally happy to do his own thing. He very rarely starts trouble but if someone has a go at him he will not back down and fight back. I find he is more aggressive to other dogs if my children are with me. He also has obsessive traits like chasing trains (safely alongside a fence), chewing the same tree and getting stones from the river. He had a best friend who is played with constantly but he now gets a bit irritated with her and tells her to leave him alone which makes me sad as I like watching him play with other dogs and I don’t like it when he is grumpy which seems to be more frequent The vets of course recommend castration but looking at your original post I am not sure what the benefits will be. Please can you advise? Thanks alot
Hi Jackie, I would be very wary going down the route of castration with your boy. It sounds like he does have some anxiety and therefore castration would risk making all of these behaviours worse. I would certainly recommend a consult with a qualified behaviourist (during lockdown we can offer these over video consult) to get him assessed instead of risking making him worse with surgery.
After much, much research and deliberation I’m leaning towards getting my German shepherd done. He is very confident, not excessively protective (if someone approaches me whilst I’m eating or in bed he may whimper or grumble but not growl or deep bark) and he is well trained with a good recall. His issue is if he comes across a girl on heat or even a dog that he thinks is on heat then I will lose him almost completely. Often it can be a submissive male who has been done already. He also feels the need to sniff every dog he meets, 98% of the time that’s all it is but being such a big dog it isn’t always received well. My only concern is I don’t want his overall character to change too much as he is an amazing dog. Cuddly, confident, playful and very fit and healthy. (He’s on a raw diet) Should I be worried that he may have negative behavioural changes if I get him done? He is 2 next month.
Hi Josh,
If his behaviour only changes around bitches in heat then castration could absolutely help this behaviour, and can be a relief for him as well as it can be very frustrating for entire dogs if they regularly smell girls in heat. If dogs are confident and happy then castration is unlikely negatively effect their character and they can still have a great work drive too. Sometimes it can affect their coat quality though.
If you are unsure it is quite easy to first trial chemical castration from your vets to see how it affects your boy, if you’re happy with the results then you could go ahead with permeant surgery!