Castration - will he calm down ?

[brucemalta]

Hi all,

I have a 1yr 8month rottie called Bruce.

He's extremely loving with my partner and myself and our 2 yr old cat. He is also very friendly with some of our friends and family. However his behaviour is unpredictable and sometimes when we have visitors he tears their clothes and occasionally threatens with growls and jumping at them.

Also, when we walk him and neighbours walk or talk towards us he lunges at them barking and growling.

When men visit our house he sometimes wees on my partner.

At times he is also loud at home, barking at every sound.

People are scared of him and on the contrary we want him to be ok around our visitors...

We have decided, together with our Vet that we're gonna try reduce his testosterone levels by removing his testicles.

Has anyone been through this ? What should we expect ? will his character change ?

[TexasCLorenz]

Neutering will help a little, but your basic problem is need of training! How much have you worked with this dog? He sounds in serious need of obedience training. Why are you allowing him to jump on people and tear their clothes? Why are you allowing him to lunge at strangers? Neutering will not solve your problems. You need to get this dog under control. There are many links on this forum on training and help for all the problems you are having.

[vale]

Well I would be scared as well if a 100-lb powerful breed dog came tearing my clothes or growling at me. It sounds like your boy is lacking manners and training. You cannot let him freely walk around your place when you have people over, otherwise something could happen. Either you put him in his crate or you leash him to you and control him. Your friends do not have to put up with the behaviors your dog is displaying. Are you attending any kind of classes right now? Did you ever go to obedience classes? It'd teach you how to teach your dog to behave properly.

Neutering would help with humping. It doesn't turn a dog's bad manners into good ones. It doesn't teach him how to greet or meet people. It doesn't teach him not to lunge or growl. You have to do this. Neutering will not change the behaviors you are describing.

[AngelBunny]

Regardless of where we live in the world, an untrained dog is an untrained dog. Puppies and young dogs don't outgrow their poor or bad manners that have their roots in lack of training--they simply grow into dogs with poor or bad manners. And in our breed, a poorly trained, badly mannered dog is a menace.

Poorly trained young dogs with bad manners do not get training or good manners through surgery. Thus, to hope or expect that neutering your out-of-control young dog will calm him down or give him manners or prevent him from engaging in most of the unpleasant behavior you describe is a pipe dream.

You are going to have to find someone or some way to get training so that you can get control of your young dog. Training is the only solution to your issues.

[brucemalta]

Ok thanks for the opinions posted above.

Will it change the way he guards his territory ?

Will he respond to the training and allow our friends into our house without growling or annoying them ?

We've enrolled him into private lessons for the first two weeks and then into a group class the weeks after.

The dog has been socialized well with other dogs (he's extremely friendly with other dogs) but i beleive he needs more people training.

[vale]

As far as territoriality goes, it did nothing to my 2 year old male. You should know that Rottweilers are instinctively protective of their territory. So neutering will probably do nothing for this.

It will not change the way he responds to training - except maybe the first couple of days after surgery - but that's because of the anesthesia. It won't change the way he acts around your friends in your house either... training would.

I'm not trying to discourage you of getting him neutered, I'm just trying to make you understand that what he needs is training much more than neutering. Though neutering is important and should be done at some point... especially if there are other dogs around (male of female). If a neighbor owns a female dog and she goes into heat, you're going to have a very hard time keeping your dog inside and under control - they go totally crazy. Also, if your dog pulls on the leash because he wants to sniff every scent left by other dogs on walks, neutering should help (at least it did to my dog).

Maybe you should go back into obedience classes for a little while. I recently decided to re-do a round of classes I had already done before because my dog was shy when meeting new people (with his hair going up on his back and everything). At the end of the first class, he was giving kisses to strangers that passed by us. It's not all cured, but it's getting much, much better, thanks to these classes.

[brucemalta]

I am joining classes next week. The first two should be private lessons and the ones thereafter will be group lessons.

Yesterday i wanted to introduce him to the neighbours but it was impossible. He barked, growled and it wasnt friendly... BUT ... thoughout all this his tail was wagging.... i cant understand his behaviour.... later on in the evening a friend came over (he's met him about 10 times) and he was fine with him... he watched a football game with me on the sofa and Bruce also wanted to play with him. Rather confusing....

I've got another friend who he is totally in love with....

What i've noticed is ... if anyone shows an ounce of fear of the dog.... he barks and growls as if he wants to scare them more than they already are....

i think he just needs to be around more people but i dont feel safe introducing him to strangers....

im really stuck.... i dont mind it being a long process as long as i know its going to get better...

[poohbearsmom]

Castration will prevent him from impregnating your neighbor's bitch when he jumps the fence.

Training will prevent unwanted behavior. This boy needs boot camp, and how!

Please research training clubs in your area and find a qualified trainer who is well versed in working dogs. What you put into your dog will come back ten fold - that goes both ways.

[brucemalta]

yesterday two friends (who the dog hadnt seen in at least 6 months) showed up at our door and were shown around our new house. the dog didnt bat an eyelid, didnt jump on them and was just wagging his tail, no barking at all.....

i cant understand him !!

he's going under the knife tomorrow and training starts next week....

in the mean time when we're on walks in the morning and evening i take doggy treats with me and he's alot calmer when he gets rewarded.

[LeanneandRueger]

He will calm down.. Take away the organ that produces all that testosterone and he will calm done, become less dominant, less active, and more loving..

[brucemalta]

Hi all,

This is what happened in this last week.

Thursday 17th June we castrated bruce, we muzzled him to take him to the vet but he was absolutely friendly with all vet staff and those present. He only growled at one nurse after she injected him.

The following days Friday to Tuesday he was rather quite, he hardly ate and drank and was rather sad/ in pain. He greeted everyone that came to visit him but was really quiet.

On tuesday evening we decided to take him to the vet because his neck cone (preventing him from licking the wound) caused an infection in his neck. He looked really unwell and uneasy.

Yesterday his morale seemed to be much better once we removed his cone and his anti-b's took effect.

He's greeting people at the door alot better at the moment and he should start traning next week.

He seems somewhat more approachable but still needs to be told off as whilst we're walking the morning and evening walks he doesnt like people approaching us.

training to start soon, just thought i'd keep you posted.

[JemarsSerena]

Thanks for keeping us posted and good luck with the training. We love success stories!

One thing you will want to take note of. Tail wagging does not always mean the dog is happy. Tail wagging means the dog is excited. This could be happy excited or it could mean agitated excited. So just becareful.

[Moosemom]

Sounds like you're on the right path...it takes time and lots of patience and repetition. He's still young so all your training efforts will be worthwhile. Testosterone doesn't just disappear the minute the testicles are gone so miracles won't happen overnight. Do the classes, have fun, be relaxed and you'll have a great dog. Keep us posted.

[vale]

Oh, for some reason I never realized you wrote a few more posts to this thread! The elizabethan collar isn't necessary if the dog doesn't lick the scar & stitches. My dog didn't need one as it never bothered him. I believe you have taken it off?

I'm glad he's greeting people better right now, but it might just be because of the surgery and it might not last for very long. I'm also glad to hear you've enrolled him in some kind of classes! With the 2 private lessons you'll be able to ask all your questions regarding the behaviors you don't understand well. The trainer will help you with proper introduction to strangers as well, so you can meet the neighbors safely.

What I'd do is give the neighbors lots of yummy treats and have them give a few to your dog, and then make them give commands that your dog understands and does very well, such as sit or give the paw, and give more treats. I'd have them give the treats from their palms, not at the tip of their fingers since some people will quickly move their hands away or react fearfully if their fingers are slightly bitten (or touched with the teeth) because your dog was too eager to eat the treat.

Just another thing... Make sure he doesn't jump up or run like a mad man for another week or so...! I thought after a week my dog would be able to enjoy some off leash time... Oh how wrong was I. His (empty) sack got so swollen that you couldn't tell he had his testicles removed a week before. I was told that by letting him run, it broke some blood vessels and that the swollen testicles were probably filled with blood. I had to take him to the vet every day for a week to make sure his condition wasn't worsening. It still didn't bother my dog but it took a while to be back to what it should be and didn't help heal quickly. So just make sure he's still restricted and doesn't jump or run too much.

Thanks for the update! I'd love to hear about the private sessions with your trainer!

[Moosemom]

I love private sessions with trainers. They can be quite costly but I learn so darn much and have someone to show me how to do stuff. I also love the classes because in addition to teaching, they are fun-watching other dogs and their people train is informative. Whichever classes you choose, you and your dog will benefit!