Spaying and neutering has never changed my furbutts personalities.

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I do what I like and like what I do. Yorkies- Cozy (4/1/06), Roxy & Zoey (2/11/08), Lucy (4/6/09); Golden- Buddy (4/13/09- Rescued 12/11) Maine Coon cats- Mika (1998) and Tallulah (2000)

Neutering stopped my 2 year old from marking and humping. Although he never had a mean bone in his body, the only goldens I have seen with an attitude towards intact males were not neutered.

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Tell your Hubby there are health benefits in getting your dog neutered.

http://www.aspca.org/Pet-care/virtua...-change-my-dog

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Tonka & Tucker

SNOBEAR at the Bridge
Dec. 23, 1999-March 27, 2010


SMOOCH at the Bridge.
Feb. 14, 1999-Dec. 7, 2010

We never neutered any of our dogs. We had two male dogs pretty much at the same time in the house and there was no marking, no fighting etc. Also DH took them shooting around other dogs and none of them ever exhibited aggression towards either bigger or smaller dogs.

From this experience I would assume that neutering would not do much for your problem. I wonder if maybe you have a friend or neighbor with a bigger mellow dog and try to introduce them properly. There are couple dogs in my neighborhood that I am personally scared of. I am first working on my own courage to be around them. Once that I feel confident with myself I would be working in introducing Rose to them.

Right now she knows that I fear them so she barks every time she feels they are close to our home. Many times I have no clue why she is barking and when I look outside I see them passing by.

There are also negative drawbacks/problems neutering can cause

The Negative Aspects of Neutering Your Pet

"Altered males:

- Increased occurrence of urinary calculi.
- Increased difficulty passing urinary calculi.
- Increased chance of urinary obstruction.
- Increased likelihood of urinary incontinence.
- Increased likelihood of adverse reaction to vaccinations (27-38%).
- Notable decrease in activity/drive. (same as above in female list)
- Increased chance of "perpetual puppy syndrome" undesirable urination.
- Inhibited social adjustment if castrated prior to sexual maturity.
- Substantial likelihood of appreciable demeanor change after castration (same concept as above in female list... reproductive hormones affect more than just reproduction).
- Increased likelihood of cognitive disorders if castrated before complete cognitive development (usually a good time AFTER sexual maturity).
- Notable decrease in muscle mass (yep, same as above)
- Generally live 2 (or greater) years shorter than unaltered littermates in controlled studies"

Most of the issues that you have noted are rather rare in dogs and many of them only are an issue if the dog is neutered before sexual maturity. I believe(I may be wrong) that the OP said her dog is 2 years old, so he reached sexual maturity quite some time ago.

There are also many studies that show that neutering does decrease many undesirable affects such as fighting when it is male dominance aggression.

There are also legal ramifications that no one has brought up. If her dog attacks another dog and it is injured, she is responsible for the vet bills incurred from that attack. It can also put the dog in the "system". For example, here in PA, we have a three strikes law and then the dog has serious consequences facing it, including euthanasia.

The OP has also stated that she does not have training classes in the area and so she is at a big disadvantage in trying to get help. These issues can also become a habit and increase in frequency and the severity of the attack. There is also the issue of a human being injured when trying to stop the fight.

All of these things need to be considered before the OP reaches the proper decision for her and her dog.

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Well, neutering I doubt would help these issues as they have already started meaning its now a learned behavoir. If my male dog suddenly started to go after other males I think before I cut his balls off which seems to be the answer for every thing now a days I would see if there is perhaps a medical condition that could explain the sudden aggression such as low thyroid....also the fact the dog is not neutered does not classify as a health condition.

Sorry, I do not advocate neutering a dog before all other options are explored. The dog should not have to undergo a possibly un needed operation because there are no trainers in the area. If the dog is that unpredictable it needs to be kept away from other dogs its not familiar with, not go to parks etc. Prevention is key they all say...but when it involves a neutered dog its a "neuter then allow them to play with other males"...thats silly. The owner knows the dog can be aggressive with other males, neutered or not the dog having a chance to attack another dog needs to be prevented. When the OP neuters the dog and sees the behavour is still present or possibly worse...you cannot sew the dogs balls back on and start from scratch. Its not a light decision to be made, your taking a vital part of a dogs body and function away....

About legalities, the OP is responsible if her dog bites another dog...whether its neutered or not.

Its a little bit of a moot point from both sides. Neutering a dog or not neutering has benefits and detractions from all sides. The truth of the matter is that it is not a magic bullet that is going to turn Cujo into Lassie. I see countless posts on here about how dogs are not faring well with particular dogs at a dog park like its not normal. A normal day at my dog park is a scuffle or fight every ten to fifteen minutes which is why I do not go and encourage people to avoid them. I don't like everybody I meet... why is it expected of our animals?

The golden standard is clear that goldens who are grouchy or nervous in normal situations may not be bred- they cannot quarrel with other dogs in normal situations. I just saw three intact male goldens get put in one big expen at a show so the owners could shop the venders. These are well known show males from well known breeders, and get along beautifully with other dogs. Plenty of golden intact males do not show aggression to outside intact males. I think it is too easy to make excuses for iffy temperament in the dog who shows well and has health clearances and other things, bc it is more gray area. Some people actively manage/ hide poor temperaments. A golden male who escalates to the point of fighting other golden males without extraordinary circumstances is clearly prohibited from being bred. Then, the question is, if you are not going to breed the dog bc of temperament, will neutering improve it. Well, in my experience, yes. It takes the boys down several notches drive and energy wise- even changes their coat texture and muscle tone sometimes. A neutered male, like a gelding instead of a stallion, is often (not always) less dog for the pet owner to deal with.

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If the bad behaviors of the dog are driven by the dog being a stud-brain, I think this is absolutely true.

My problem is that I think it's unfair telling people to neuter or spay their pets as the sole answer as to how to manage dog aggression. Because I suspect what happens is they spend that money on the surgery, and then find out they have the same dog with the same problems.

I think some dogs just don't like other dogs getting in their faces or touching their stuff. Some of that is caused or exasperated by stress or even excitement. Whether they are intact or not.

A reasonable non-aggressive behavior would be what I've experienced when Jacks has had quite enough playtime with Bertie. One low growl and the pup immediately backs off.

How that could escalate or turn into something terrible is if you put a dog in a situation where he feels harassed and a low growl or even a variety of other subtle warnings do not make another dog back off and leave him alone.

With other dogs or something I've observed too is that their way of communicating is what is 'allowed' by the owners. That's whether the dogs are intact or not.

With the one dog we had neutered (when he was pushing 10), fwiw, the one behavior change we saw was he no longer had any use for the usual "exchange of information". So while in the past he and his brother would do the usual personal area sniffing/licking as a matter of course - after his surgery, he would growl or snap at his brother if he so much as got a sniff in the rear. Because neither dog had an aggressive bone in their bodies, the growl or snap worked. <- But again, I imagine it would be vastly different if Sammy snapped at his brother and Danny continued to harass him.

Beyond that - we did not notice any other behavior changes. Sammy still went out and marked. He still had the senioritis issue where he gradually forgot his borders and would wander if we took our eyes off him.

For the surgery they had to shave off his trousers and even a portion of his tail - and I remember how astounded we were by how quickly and thickly it all grew back. His coat always was too silky and prone to matting, so we didn't notice a texture change. But I've talked to a lot of breeders and obedience people (goldens and other breeds) who delay or avoid neutering/spaying their dogs primarily because it ruins the coats and makes them difficult to maintain.

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