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.
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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.