hi, iv never posted on here before and hope i can get some advice. my dalmatian is due to be castrated tomorrow(19th) he is 38 wks old. after reading other things about this being done so early iv seen alot about not having it done untill he is 1 yr old for health reasons and wonderd if anyone has actually had their dog done so early and if it has made even the slightest of differnce. charlie is a demanding dog which i did expect abit of, but the main reason for the castration is he is going after every dog we walk past when he has not really done this before also i have a 6 yr old child who cannot move anywhere as charlie is always jumping up her and trying to hump her. he hasnt always been like this, mainly in the last month or so. any advice would be grateful, thanks
vicky

There is evidence from the Dalmatian Club of America that castrating dalmatians before the age of a year makes them more prone to urinary obstruction (a life-threatening condition) in later life, because the effects of the surgery restrict the development of the urinary canal. You will need to be very careful with his diet to prevent him forming crystals which develop into bladder stones.

Ideally his current undesirable behaviour would be controlled with firm-but-kind training and management for a few more weeks until he's fully grown before surgery.

Please delay it until at least 18 months. I personally find you can castrate toy breeds younger, but not larger breeds that take so much longer to mature. What you're seeing is puppy/teenage behaviour that needs training away -castration won't solve behaviour problems. I had a male dog castrated at 4 ½ months of age. He's remained insecure for life, very much disliked by other male dogs that can't quite work out what sex he is. In the end it changed nothing as regards behaviour anyway -it just took longer to develop. He started cocking his leg when he was 3 years old and then he started to mate (proper full mating including tie) with in season bitches as well. I've often said here I've never seen any difference in the male dogs I've had neutered, at different ages -not as far as male behaviour goes -with the exception that Arnie is the one dog that became insecure and disliked by others. (The exact same goes for his sister who was spayed at the same time. Bitches absolutely hate her. Both these dogs have been attacked so many times I now have to keep them apart from others at all times. Nobody knows what they are as they are not puppies but are not mature adults either, so they go for the easy option and attack what they don't understand.) Neutering early also makes the dog grow bigger than it otherwise would, and there are all sorts of other problems that can occur.

humping isn't always about sex either. have had bitches that'll try and hump when over excited- spayed ones and entire so don't bank on castrating him stopping it.

Personally I think you will finish up with far more problems than you have now, a dog, like a child has to grow up and that includes experimenting and pushing the boundaries, training is the way to go, castration is unlikely to cure your problems and could make them worse. You may be lucky and he will calm down after the op but he may start to develop different problems as he grows older and they will be problems you can't train out.

Hi Vicky

Please can I suggest you cancel the op tomorrow.  If you choose to go ahead with it later, that's your decision, but if you are even the slightest bit unsure then delay it for a while whilst you do some more research.

I have a pup the same age as yours, different breed, so I know exactly the sort of behaviour you describe.  Mine is gently discouraged from humping, or distracted to another activity but I agree with others that it is a phase.  I went though exactly this with one of my older dogs (now nearly 4 and entire).  Their hormones have kicked in before their ability to cope has!  My youngster gets excited, or overtired, and humping is an outlet; a reflex, if you like, and he has no idea what he's doing or why :)

Training is key, and it will see you through in a way that castration simply won't.  If you castrate at this age you are effectively halting his development and he may get stuck at this exact stage.  Imagine living with an 8 yr old (human) boy til he is 50!!  Early castration affects a dog physically too and your lovely balanced looking boy will not change for the better.

I'd suggest you book your pup onto a training course - how about the KC Good Citizens training? - and I can promise you that if you put the effort in you will help him get through this annoying boy phase.  Do a bit of 'training' with your daughter too, there are things you can help her with to ensure that he doesn't direct his attentions toward her, including being very calm around him.

I hope this info is useful and really hope you do change your mind about the op as I'm pretty confident you'll be disappointed with the results.  9 months is just much, much too early.    :)

I too hope that the op is cancelled as this dog is far too young to lose it's male hormones which influence so much more than reproduction.

My girls do more humping between seasons than my males,one of my girls jumps on Rhuari and hangs on like a rodeo rider as he runs around trying to shake her off.

You need to teach your dog to "leave" when he shows signs of humping your child and give him something more interesting to do like chew a bone or stuffed kong.

During puberty the testosterone levels are around 5 times that of a mature adults so this teenage hormone driven part of the behaviour will settle with maturity and training will help with the behaviour.

Just to back up others vicky, please don't have him done so early, please cancel it, if you do neuter I'd personally wait until he was nearer 2 years, not just for maturity reasons but to see how his personality is, as if he is to grow up to be anxious or fearful it will make things 100 times worse without testosterone.

thanks for the advice, i have phoned the vet and cancelled the op, i dont understand how there is so much on the web saying not to have him "done" but the vet is saying its fine from 6 months its so confusing. i dont want to have to put him through something he doesnt really need at the moment, its just me losing my patience with him. he has been to  puppy training classes but for whatever reason it just didnt seem to work, maybe the big classes put me off as there was always alot of dogs there and some quite aggressive. so i have spent the morning looking around and phoning different places.

Just when you think training isn't working is the time to go back - I'm currently in the same state - you have a good handle on their behaviour and then they go and get all confident and want a good reason for doing even the smallest thing!!  Don't worry it's all completely normal - little toads - just up the treats to something even more wonderful (roast chicken, hot dog sausages, liver cake etc) and just persevere.

I found day time training courses were better as they were a bit quieter.  I've just gone back to classes in the evening and I really dislike them, too many owners letting their dogs drift around at the end of the lead.  Although on the plus side if you get your dogs attention in those circumstances then nothing else will phase you, or your dog!

Training and time is the answer though - he will grow out of this more difficult phase.  Well done for cancelling the op and remember to keep coming back here if you have any questions or just want some moral support.  We might not always have the answers but at least you'll always get a sympathetic ear and a few "me too"s.  I've taken my older entire dog right through to Gold Good Citizens and he's a model dog much of the time.  I aim to do it again with the youngster but I had forgotten how difficult it can get sometimes :)

Well done you for having the courage to take a second look at the problem and trying to address it through training. There have been a few people on this site before you who have not wanted to listen to the pros and cons and are admittedly concerned with their own needs rather than the dog's.

I don't have your breed, but I would imagine your dog (and you!) will really benefit from some training and carefully controlled socialisation. We see a dog on our walks sometimes whose owner now hates to take him out because virtually every dog, male or female, gets aggressive with him. All this has come about since the dog was castrated at a very young at the vet's recommendation.

I have only ever had one of my dogs castrated. That was very much a last resort and it did help him tremendously as part of a more extensive 'rehabilitation.' He was however a small high drive terrier breed with separation and aggression issues who was well over three by the time he had his surgery.

I am so glad you have held off having him castrated.

Vets see spay/neuter as regular income so therefore push it from the off from what I have seen and heard, it must be something drummed into them at training school, they are not going to tell you the cons of getting it done if it is going to stop you.

Hopefully he is just being a puppy and he calms down to a more sedate life as he matures with all his bits intact.

Well done for cancelling the op, best thing you could have done for your boy. There has been another post regarding neutering in the last few days, do have a look and read through.

Vicky.
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