Neutering

Google Gold

Having thoughts of using this neutering to curb my dog's wayward behavior.
But is it too late? See he's five & has a number of well developed and unfortunate habit's noting to serious but i always have to be wary of them.

If i do this how does the dog turn out. Better behaved, but less happy ?

TooManyDogs

It depends on what bad habits they are. Changes in behaviour due to neutering are based on the drop in testosterone so things like fighting with other dogs, humping, wandering after a bitch in heat and things like that should still be reduced after neutering but other problems may not be.

Your dog won't be 'less happy' after neutering by any stretch.

Can you give more info on what habits he has?

belongtojazz

My springer was 6 when I got him and he was a nightmare due to his previous owners. Within 2 weeks of getting him I had him "done"
It sorted out quite a few of his behaviour issues, such as humping and too much interest in female dogs, but I am still working with him on his other issues.
I would highly recommend getting the op as it hugely decreases the chances if some serious illnesses and certainly for my guy made his life a lot less stressful as the hormones he had without any release were making him miserable.
Most habits, with time and effort can be broken, what habits and wayward behaviour does he have that you're concerned about ?

Devi

I’ve heard that neutering can fix some issues, usually sexual issues like humping, wandering etc, but can also create others like fearful aggression due to the decrease in testosterone. There was a study done on male dogs, (can’t seem to find it at the moment) that showed a high percentage of dog bites occurred six months after neutering. In saying that both my females are spayed and it didn’t change their personality one bit. I would say get a behaviourist in to analyze the situation properly. They will come to your house and cost about €40-60 per session and should tell you after one session how bad it really is.

lorebringer

NEVER too late to neuter, and it does have an effect on them no matter what age they are (a good one!). We have a rescue who came to us intact at about 9/10 years old, constant marking and aggression towards other males was very prevalent but after the snip and with some training this has totally disappeared. Humping in most dogs disappears or reduced very quickly after neutering, and a little training on top of this to stop it is not difficult compared to trying to get an intact dog to stop.

Because your dog has developed habits over the years due to the hormone drive, getting him neutered may not stop all unwanted behaviours but it will really help when it comes to it. The amount of training that needs to be put into an intact male to stop unwanted "male" behaviours is huge, and often times many of these will not be gotten rid of completely, but get rid of the drive to do them (ie. the testosterone) and the training will be much easier (if even needed).

Google Gold

A lot to think about, thanks. Although i wasn't of the opinion this was a good idea for my lil fella i am just about siding on the get it done approach. Wish you guy's all the best.
P.s Devi i'd like to read that study i'll try google it who know's i might strike gold.:)

Devi

Yea google "neutering fearfulness", It was a behaviourist that put me on to it. I always though neutering had only good affect on behaviour but there are two sides to every debate I guess. In saying that I do believe if you own a dog and your not going to breed or show then you should neuter/spay it to stop un-wanted pregnancies. I don’t really think its a cure-all for bad behaviour though.

Edit: Just found a facebook page (i know sorry) based on the survey. http://www.facebook.com/note.php?note_id=188263001217317&comments

and a spanshot of the study here. http://www.facebook.com/l.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.caninesports.com%2FSNBehaviorBoneDataSnapShot.pdf&h=79172

hope them links work