Neutering Question.

makeandcreate

I have rehomed a gorgeous male bull terrier - he is just coming up to 18 months old.
After only 4 days he is settling in well but his testosterone levels are just making him ballistic. We also have an older male collie cross that is neutered and they are just constantly at each other - all day. He tries to hump everything in sight - legs, my kids, pillows, the sofa - and he every time he has been left out of sight (for less than 5 mins each time - so no time to get bored or stressed at being abandoned) he has torn something apart - a pillow, dd's Lelli Kelli boots,a school bag, the back cushion off the chair. It has literally taken him less than 30 seconds to do the damage.
He's also marking every chance he gets.
He's walked to the point that he doesn't want to walk anymore and sleeps on a pillow in my bedroom as I wont trust him on his own.
Is neutering my best option as I would rather have him as an indoor family pet or do I put him outdoors and keep him intact - then he becomes "my dog" as it were and I suppose I'd have to keep him away from the kids (Will being intact make him more aggressive?)
He shows great potential to be a fab dog and I'm his 3rd owner already, so I guess he's got issues.
How much of his behaviour is due to his hormones rather than just his stubborn bull nature .... do I neuter or not?

ihatewinter

If he is showing signs like that, I would neuter. He'll be no good for breeding anyway and as he is getting sexual frustrated it might be the best thing to do.

Putting him outside and restricting access to children won't solve his problems

tk123

If humping is a habit neutering mightn't make any difference. Would you consider getting a behaviourist to the house to see what's happing and give you some advise?

strandroad

Neutering should help, but at 18 months he's a firework anyway and needs to grow out of it.
If you keep him out unneutered he'll go nuts!

ihatewinter

In some cases it will. Same with the marking. It did with a neighbours dog as well as my sister's. Different for every dog

makeandcreate

tk123 wrote: »

If humping is a habit neutering mightn't make any difference. Would you consider getting a behaviourist to the house to see what's happing and give you some advise?

But can you have an un neutered dog in the house and him not try marking - the size of him - even when I catch him in the act there's a lot of pee!

ihatewinter

Of course you can. As you say you're his third owner, his previous training is not known so both owners may have gotten rid of him for the same problem.


You've two options Neutering and Behaviorist. Neutering may or not help, it's a lucky dip with it, but the dog won't be straying for females. The behaviorist needs to be accredited and reputable as they may cause long term damage with the wrong correction methods.

makeandcreate

ihatewinter wrote: »

Of course you can. As you say you're his third owner, his previous training is not known so both owners may have gotten rid of him for the same problem.


You've two options Neutering and Behaviorist. Neutering may or not help, it's a lucky dip with it, but the dog won't be straying for females. The behaviorist needs to be accredited and reputable as they may cause long term damage with the wrong correction methods.

I'd read some old threads on neutering and I know there was one or two people advocating allowing big dog breeds to mature with all their hormones and don't know the reasons behind the view - I know the reduced cancer risk re neutering but then there's the fact he is a big lump of a dog and anesthetic carries a risk.
I don't really plan to put him to stud so am I just making his life "difficult" if I don't neuter? Straying isn't really a problem - we have a totally enclosed yard and he will be on a lead most of the time. Although, thinking about it - having him going hell for leather looking like something out of Hannibal Lecter with his muzzle on after an on heat Jack Russell out in Oughaval Woods isn't something I'd want to deal with often!
Would a behaviourist recommend neutering if they felt it was appropriate or just keep me hanging doing therapy? How do I find a good behaviourist - my local pet stores both had cards for guys doing training/behaviour/dog therapy.
Thanks for all the help everyone - just want to make the best/most appropriate decision.

tk123

makeandcreate wrote: »

Would a behaviourist recommend neutering if they felt it was appropriate or just keep me hanging doing therapy? How do I find a good behaviourist - my local pet stores both had cards for guys doing training/behaviour/dog therapy.
Thanks for all the help everyone - just want to make the best/most appropriate decision.

if you tell us where you're based people can recommend somebody in your area? The behaviourist will come and asses the situation and give you a plan on what needs to be done based on what's best for you and the dog. Also do you feed him - diet can often make a difference with hyper dogs.

makeandcreate

tk123 wrote: »

if you tell us where you're based people can recommend somebody in your area? The behaviourist will come and asses the situation and give you a plan on what needs to be done based on what's best for you and the dog. Also do you feed him - diet can often make a difference with hyper dogs.

I'm in Portlaoise. And I do feed him - but I have only had him 4 days. Although he isn't eating that much, as I bought some dog nuts recommended at the pet shop (not the shiny colourful ones) and the lady I got him from told me he loved bread and milk (which I have given him half a slice a day - mainly to distract him when he is being particularly dominant/humping/showing), I think he ate a lot of bread as he spends the day trying to get at the bread bin!He's also had some cooked chicken breast - and cocktail sausages (which were left over from a party - not a regular thing).

strandroad

He might settle better soon if it's only four days. Our rescue dog spent his first couple of days doing nothing but running up & down the stairs and annoying our older dog... He peed once or twice too out of sheer excitement, and had a short humping phase - it was all gone soon enough. We did neuter him a few months later and he's a gent now.

DBB

I think tk123 meant *what* do you feed him, as opposed to *do you feed him*
Bread and milk are a major no-no for a dog op, both are really bad for them for a lot of reasons. So I'd suggest you stop feeding them now.
The pet shop food may be little better tbh, if you've time to list the ingredients here we should be able to give you some idea of its quality.
Now, the humping. As has been noted above, humping is not necessarily a sexual behaviour, it is very often an indicator of anxiety and insecurity, which would be no surprise in a newly placed dog, especially one that has clearly had a lot of upheaval in his short life.
Leg-cocking is also an indicator of insecurity, dogs do it to try to make a new place smell more familiar and, well, homely! It may also be an indicator of lack of housetraining.
But.
The two happening together, whilst quite possibly caused by anxiety, would also indicate that his testosterone is driving it as hypersexual behaviour, and the easiest way to deal with this is neutering. It *may* be possible to test the theory by trying chemical castration first, but I would not opt for this without first having a full and frank discussion with your vet.
And here's another but.
I also would not jump to any conclusions about his behaviour without discussing the possibility with your vet of underlying health issues, which can cause hypersexual behaviours too. Just as an example, I recently came across a dog who was marking all over the house, and humping things. It turns out he had a retained testicle. In another similar case, the dog turned out to have early-stage testicular cancer. In both cases, neutering brought about an immediate cure. I'm not suggesting for a moment that your dog has a retained testicle, or cancer, I'm just using these as working examples to illustrate how unnoticed health problems can lead to odd behaviours. In both cases, the owners were at their wit's end, but had not considered that there may be something else going on.
After at least talking to your vet, and quite possibly spending a few quid to rule out possible medical issues, I'd call a behaviourist.
There are very few properly qualified and experienced behaviourists in this country, but your area is covered both by Alison Bush of Happier Hounds Dog Training, and Emmaline Duffy-Fallon of Citizen Canine Ireland. A quick Google will find you their contact details.
I really admire you wanting to do what you have to do to keep your new dog inside, and I would do everything you possibly can to help him before contemplating leaving him outside. Whilst some dogs have a strong preference for living outside, the vast majority love being inside with plenty of social contact with their owners. I'd encourage you to really try hard to do what you have to do to achieve this
Good luck!

makeandcreate

Thanks DBB. I wont quote it your post but it is much appreciated. My last dog was a rehomed male boxer & I lost him nearly 3 years ago - it has taken me until now to feel ready to take another dog. (I always regret there weren't any Nico pups).
The dog food is in the shed and I'll have a look in the morning - I think it was a Hill's big dog formula. I am not adverse to adapting, cooking or buying special food for him or even giving him a BARF or similar diet if that is best. My old dog had severe hair loss, ear trouble and constant vet care - had him on numerous regimes to find the one that suited him.
Looking at the dog now - he is so contented, sleeping like the proverbial angel and sounding like a pig.
I am still undecided.

makeandcreate

How common is chemical castration for dogs? It sounds like a good interim solution while we also try a behaviour trainer.

DBB

Sorry to hear of your troubles with Nico... Boxers are such characters but by jeepers... The health problems
I think your indecision is entirely understandable, but should be seriously helped by arming yourself with as much info as possible. I'm guessing that you and your vet are well acquainted after poor Nico's woes, and I would think that even just a phone call or visit with him/her would go a long way.
For the record, whilst I'm in the camp of leaving large breed dogs a while before neutering them, the evidence is pretty convincing that once the dog has passed 1 year of age and/or finished growing, you're largely out of the woods in terms of the risks associated with early neutering. At 18 months, your EBT is in the safe territory.
I'm also very firmly in the camp that no matter what age the dog, if his hormones are causing difficult behavioural problems, then lob 'em off Life's too damn short!
But you need to talk one-to-one with your vet first, and a good behaviourist second, before landing firmly on one side or t'other