Sam was castrated 2 weeks ago.  He was fine and everything went well.

But............ we are getting plagued with dogs trying to mount him and
smelling him all the time.  The big dogs are the worst and they have him
pinned to the ground while they are doing their thing!!!  My H is going
round the bend with it and is getting quite angry.   I'm just trying
not to be, especially with the dog owners who we know very well from
our different walks.   One big (and I mean big) lab, who we have known
since it was a pup, was going frantic with him and his owner just
couldn't control him at all.  He was throwing sam to the ground, paw on top to stop him
from getting up and when sam did manage to get up, the dog, was persistantly
trying to mount him!! 

Please any advice.  It is really upsetting to see.  Why is this happening he is a
very social dog and very friendly.

It's one of the side effects of castration.  Other dogs don't recognise him as male.

The removal of the testosterone means that he smells more like a bitch now - hopefully when the hormone levels settle down again and get rebalanced the other dogs won't get so confused by him.

How old is he?

Whilst this is, as others are saying, a known side effect of castration, it seems very soon after castration for this to happen. I used to have this to a degree with a castrated golden, but it was a few months after, that it happened.

This may sound daft, but have you tried bathing him since the op? The reason I am saying this is because I have had dogs jumped on, after other types of surgery, wondering if he may smell 'odd' to other dogs. Just a thought.

Oh right, have never heard of this before.   I wish the vet had let us know!!!
He is 8 months, so hopefully it will correct itself.   We don't want a gay dog!!!

I bathed him just yesterday, so hopefully this will help a bit.

When other dogs are around, we will keep him on the lead and hopefully
it will pass.

Thanks to you all very much. 

> He is 8 months, so hopefully it will correct itself.

It's a great shame that your dogs breeder didn't give advice on this.

I prefer not to castrate, but if I have males going to pet homes, where I know it will happen, I always tell them not to make the mistake of having it done far too early.  Certainly not under a year old.  Preferably older.

They really do need to go through their testosterone period first.  Your boy hasn't had the chance to find out that he is male yet, in effect, he is still only a puppy.  Some males, done too early, remain immature for the rest of their lives.

I agree with this, I have a real issue with one of mine going after neutered dogs and almost always they are dogs that have been neutered before a year old, it seems they give off a different sent to those neutered once mature.

Oh heavens, what have we done.   We have another cocker.  She is golden and was spayed.
So when we got Sam (black and tan) we decided to get him done.  But the vet advised 6 months.
He was actually 8 months.  

I really hope he gets over it.   He is a great wee dog and plays with all dogs no matter what size.
Or does anyone know where I can get a spray with male scent on it LOL!!!!!

It's also possible that he has a urinary infection or something - dogs often find the smell of infection as attractive as the smell of a bitch. Worth a thought.

As far as entire dogs behaviour towards neutered males, from my experience, it can happen whatever age they are done. My boy was six  years old, when he was neutered.  I would agree, the OP's pup is too young, but unfortunately, that is not the opinion of many vets. I am not a fan of neutering, full stop, but there are situations where it is necessary, may have been so in this instance.

So is this just a temporay thing or will he always have this problem?

I feel so bad about it.   We thought we were making the right decision.
We didn't want to breed and the vet advised us to do this and gave is
various reasons why.   This problem was never mentioned!!!

What a shame.  I find that friendly gentle males are always treated like bitches when they're castrated.  Didn't your breeder mention that castration will make a black and tan coat difficult to strip? :(

As WestCoast says, it is a shame, but what is done is done and you took your decision on the advice of your vet. Many owners act on sometimes mis-guided advice from the veterinary profession- I know years ago-I certainly would not have questioned them in the way I do now!!

You are obviously a very caring, responsible owner and you shouldn't feel bad about it. Hopefully, matters may improve and at least you can be ready for other dog's unwanted attentions.  We all have to learn, I am sure you will very carefully consider the pro's and cons of neutering with any future dogs you may own.

Best wishes

I was in my new vets now i have moved when they were advising some GR pups owners that they can get him done soon as hes almost 6 months. People dont know any better when you have a professional telling you whats what. I insisted that my boy pups dont get done until they are 18 months if ever, only prevents procreation.

No the breeder didn't mention about the stripping.   He is a pet, so
it isn't bothering us too much.  His coat is long and shaggy at the moment
and I just trim him a bit every now and then.  We like it like that.  So we
will see what his coat turns out like.

We are both upset about this problem, but there is nothing we can do about it now.
Will it be temporary or will I always have to keep him away from other dogs?

Keep combing (not brushing) his coat right down to the skin because it will get softer, thicker and more difficult.  Make sure that the hair under his ear flaps doesn't become so profuse that it stops air getting to his ear canal.

I would be selective about which dogs you let him play with until you see whether his attraction subsides.

> We are both upset about this problem, but there is nothing we can do about it now.
> Will it be temporary or will I always have to keep him away from other dogs?

Unfortunately as your pup was done before eh really became male it is likely you will always have this issue.

You need to manage this carefully s with time he may well become aggressive with other dogs if he lacks the assertiveness (WHICH TESTOSTERONE GIVES) to discourage the interest of other males.

Studies have actually shown that there are more negatives than positives re castrating a male, and on balance more positives in the long run spaying bitches,b but definite negatives in having either done before the system is mature. 

As you already had your bitch spayed there really as no need to have him done at all, as of course you would not be letting him roam around unattended seeking bitches to mate, which should be safely tucked away at home, or walked only on lead where no off lead dogs are around. 

Unfortunately the drive to neuter everything that moves is driven my the mistaken belief that every owner is potentially irresponsible or an idiot incapable of managing an entire animal so get them neutered quick, in the mistaken belief this will help reduce the number of puppies bred and ending in rescue.  Of course those who are irresponsible are the ones least likely to pay for neutering.

Here is an article for you to read http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf, and you may like to search for feminisation syndrome (the effect you may be experiencing).

Oh well!!! What to say?? 
I retired 2 years ago and we had Holly booked.   I always wanted a cocker but waited until I retired.
After 2 years we decided to get Sam.   We have tried to do things right.
They go out for 4 walks a day.   Two over fields chasing the foxes, birds and even Roe Deer.  They
are washed and brushed everytime they go over the fields (cause they end up muddy and dirty).

I will just keep him on the lead when other dogs are about and hopefully in time the problem will
cease.

Many thanks to you all for your replies.

Heather x

I didn't know any of this either, well I knew about the smell being funny for a while. We have just adopted a 1 year old rottie and had him castrated only a few days ago.

I hope it doesn't cause any problems.

You are clearly doing the best in the interest of your dog, and have listened to your vet's advice.  Brainless, I think your reply was a bit harsh.  Points made had already been made, perhaps a bit more gently.  OP just wanted some advice, not a telling off.  Vets have a lot to answer for when all they are concerned about is the cash tills, and their advice can be biased towards income.

I hope the problem lessens over time as it must be a nightmare.

My reply wasn't harsh to the poster but to the attitude/idea of neutering everything.

Don't see where I was telling the poster off at all, their situation is unfortunate and could have been avoided with unbiased advice from the vet.

> I find that friendly gentle males are always treated like bitches when they're castrated.

WestCoast. I only wish I had found this site before we had our BH castrated. He was always a gentle, friendly chap if not a little insecure. All advice we were given was to castrate him if we had no intention to breed, so at two the unfortunate deed was done. Ever since he has been even more insecure, it is rare to have a walk without a dog charging him with over interest, many attempting to mount - even bitches. In the future it is something I would think very differently about, but too late for the unfortunate chap.

> a little insecure

These are exactly the males that should not be castrated, as it takes away what the testosterone gives them, masculine confidence.

The reason I posted strongly is that I have seen this situation so many times at pet training classes my friend runs, with very insecure and nervous males, whose owners had been advised to routinely castrate them, and all the ones that attract unwanted attention from both sexes are the ones castrated at an immature age, or who were very submissive anyway.

> These are exactly the males that should not be castrated

> masculine confidence

I agree, unfortunately I learn at the cost of my dogs confidence. I shall not be doing it again unless medical reason.

I wonder if most vets don't know about it's effect, as certainly dog trainers do.

> I wonder if most vets don't know about it's effect

I believe there is common desire that dogs should be neutered, without thinking of the consequences. Too many dogs - simple answer - neuter. The problem being, that those of us who go get it done would be those that wouldn't allow it anyway.

> The problem being, that those of us who go get it done would be those that wouldn't allow it anyway.

That has always been my argument that the responsible owners wouldn't allow their dogs to breed Willy nilly entire or not, and that only the responsible are likely to pay out the not inconsiderable sum to neuter.

The Scandinavian statistics show this well where very few dogs are neutered yet indiscriminate breeding is at low levels.

This discussion on castrating is interesting.Round here the vets advise castration at around 5 months,most of the puppies which come in for their first groom at 6 months or so have already been castrated.We had a 6 month old castrated malamute come in for bathing not long ago and his owner said he was told by his vet he had to be castrated by 6 months or else he wouldn't be able to be done till he was at least 2 (because of the hormones apparently).His owner said she didn't really want him castrated but felt she had been talked into it.
My assistant recently took her sprocker pup for his first jabs and was advised to get him castrated by 5-6 months because of the risk of testicular and prostate cancer.She says she is going to keep him entire for the time being and let him grow up a bit.It does seem rather young and I think its a shame when neutered puppies come in which are already overweight.Have just seen that Royal Canin have brought out a low calorie food for neutered puppies.

Both our rescue dogs had to be neutered by the age of 6 months. I put it off until the very last date stated in the agreement terms but had no choice other than to neuter. The rescue did check as well as they hadn't received the notification from the vet by that date that the neutering had taken place.

I fully understand why rescues insist on neutering but the age limit for having it done is far too young IMHO.