What is your opinion? If I do not plan on breeding my male dog, should I get him neutered? He is a 7 months old Australian Shepherd. I also have a 1 year old daughter in the house and I fear my dog is trying to show her that he is more dominant. Will neutering him help?
Great post, and compliments on 3 well behaved dogs!
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In my personal experience, it helps some to neuter a male dog when experiencing domination issues. There is no substitute for a firm hand, though. The dog needs to know his place; makes him happier and the family, too. You can figure out what to expect with a temporary chemical castration: It's a hormone chip that lasts 6 months to a year. That way, if it doesn't do anything, neither will neutering. Good luck.
Thank you, I was told that a firm hand is not the right approach because the dog then is scared of the owner, and the better way to train a dog is with treats, yet I do not see a positive outcome with treats to the domination issue. I do not plan on breeding him, and he has also started to mark his territory in the house. Therefor I believe the right action will be neutering him, even though I feel sorry for him. I think it will be better for him in the long run. Thank you for all your advice!
You misunderstood me completely. A "firm hand" does not mean cowing the dog by yelling, beating, and abuse. It means showing the dog in dog language what the boundaries are and who is master of the pack. There are books on this; read one.
Treats have their place, but you can't bribe the dog into being good. Often, it's this newfangled lovy-dovy snowflake bullshit that causes the problems in the first place.
A dog needs to be treated like a dog and not humanized. This is what the animal understands and thus it's what makes BOTH of you happier. Since the dog can't learn how to think like a human, you need to learn how to think like a dog. Do you see what I mean?
I agree, that is what all my vets said. Ciccio had no specific negative characteristics so the vets didn't want to neuter him. The issues came up when my second male dog came into the family. But I will tell the full story in another post.
I have 2 male dogs that are not neutered. I asked several vets opinion, in Germany, Switzerland and Italy. I wanted to neuter at least Ringo, but none of the vets said that it makes sense neutering a male adult or old dog. They usually do neuter females also for health reasons.
My personal opinion if I could turn back time? I should have insisted in neutering my little Ciccio, but back then I also felt pity for him 😬. He is now with Ringo territorial in the house and there is no way to change it.
With kids in the house it’s not easy. I always had an eye on them and would not leave them alone playing.
Thank you for the great answer. I also feel pity for my dog, yet I do worry for my daughter since she is not strong enough yet to stand up for herself against his dominating attitude (He is always licking her face, taking her toys out of her hands, bumping into her, etc..). What hurts me is also when I get loud and command him to stop! my daughter looks at me a little worried, not understanding why I am raising my voice to the dog. So it is a difficult choice I have to make in the next few weeks, but if it calms the dog down, I will probably go forward with the operation.