Has anyone experienced changes to a flatcoated retriever's coat following neutering?

I'm sure Jo or Polly will answer this. But the answer is yes. I can think of a few very woolly Flatcoats!

John

yes john right their coat go's woolly and put on weight,how old is your f/c.if you want to ring me on 01252310267 i try to help you out.we have 4 of them.

Sorry missing you off my post Brie. This is as much your territory as Jo and Polly's. Put it down to the absent mindedness of old age! :)

Best wishes, John

thats ok i forgive you,

Thank you. Our boy is 2, and we don't want to alter him in particular (he has a lovely temperament etc); however, we are considering getting another, and he has been a bit loud and dominant around other puppies in the neighborhood. (Just the puppies, though. Older dogs he leaves alone unless they have a go first.) Also we think we would like another male (avoids season issues). Any thoughts?

You may find that he could actually accentuate this behaviour if you have a young puppy in the house, if you have identified a possible problem already.

As far as he is concerned himself, yes, he probably would go woolly himself after any castration, as John says. It may not eliminate any learnt behaviour - depends how long he's been dominant for. I think the behaviourists on the board suggest neutering the less dominant dog anyhow, to increase the gap in dominance between them - comments?

This dominance is not really acceptable flatcoat behaviour - are you the pack leader or him?

I wonder if you have considered approaching rescue for a possible rehomed adult dog that you might see how he got on with your boy - this would be less vulnerable than a puppy. However, having said that, you may have to wait a while to get a rescue.

Jo and the Casb;laidd Flatcoats

Thanks Jo. Interesting that a new puppy could trigger a worse reaction. He does recognize me as pack leader (but more probably my husband, with his much deeper voice) and, as my daughter handled him during most of his 15 months of obedience classes, I believe he has a healthy sense of being at the bottom of our family pack. And in general, when we come upon other dogs, he is extremely friendly, as you would expect, especially with his licky nature - but there are several new puppies in the neighborhood, and he barks and strains to get them whenever we pass each other out on walks.

Incidentally, he has always been a very good watchdog, an area in which I thought flatcoats did not score highly. Is there a relation do you think?

i have two male together one a stud dog,and they both live with 3 bitch indoors and they around when the girls are in season and i have no problem,harley the bigger boy like;s puppy;s but he is a were of them beacuse they are too small,he like them when they are about 6 months old,if you bought in a pup at 7week in there should not be a problem the old dog may have his norse put out of joint for a couple for weeks about then he may be ok,but always let the older dog be top dog by putting his playing and walking first, his,bowel food down,his lead on,a biscuste all first before the puppy
rush my stud dog love's puppys he will get in the whepling box with the puppies and help the mum out,will lick them clean when they get older,

but this is all my dealing with my male dogs,there may be others that may not turn out rigth but on the whole fcr need other company of other dog and are have a good temperament in the breed on the whole.once again you can ring me on 01252310267

Thank you brie - I would ring but I am in an entirely different time zone! You give me hope, though.

Hi,
Firstly yes neutering and spaying does change a flacoated retrievers coat and yes it does go woolly.
As to introducing another young male into your household, if your dog is already dominant to younger dogs, you must sort this problem out first, before introducing an older dog from rescue which might have it's own problems to be dealt with or introducing a young puppy, as he might decide to attack the puppy. I say this because while both Trefor and Darnel were excellent with dogs coming into the house including puppies, I did have experience of one, Callum, who I bought in, was not safe around other dogs or puppies. In fact even though I bred Trefor, Callum, still had a go at Trefor, (Trefor was only 9 weeks old at the time), and nearly killed him, this happened one day when I was out and the dogs were left with a friend. Knowing Callum the way I did I never let him out with my other dogs but the friend thought he knew better!
As I say you must sort out your dog's behaviour first.

How did you sort Callum out? Or did you just keep watch when he was around the puppy?

HI there

Just to agree with Jo, it is generally recommended to neuter the lowest ranking dog to widen the gap between them - the practice of doing the "dominant" one just leads to worse chaos and more problems!!! :) as the dogs are then brought closer together again.

HTH a bit
Lindsay

I don't think you can just 'keep watch' if you have the two together - an accident can happen in the twinkling of an eye, and as Polly warned - if you get a dog (any dog, not specifically flatcoat) with this reaction it may kill the puppy.

Flatcoats will usually give a warning bark, but that's normally the extent of their guard dog capabilities. I wonder if your boy does more than that?

You say he barks and lunges at pups - can you tell if this is a violent reaction or just extended play, after all , he's still quite young?

Jo and the Casblaidd Flatcoats

I agree with Jo, and would ask is your youngster just being friendly? Young flatcoat males, can be very boisterous, especially when trying to play. This is where expert advice would definately be a good idea. As I said earlier you must sort out your own dog first.
My Callum had petite mal a form of epilepsy, so he attacked without warning. One minute he was sweet kind and gentle the next a complete Jekyll and Hyde change, as he became a monster. His eyes would appear glazed after an episode, he never knew what he had done. After the incident with Trefor, I had to have him pts as I would have been horrified if he had attacked anything else after that.
There is a whole world of difference between the two, a boisterous young male, and a dog like Callum. The reason I made the point about Callum, was to draw your attention to the fact that first you must get advice before getting a young pup, or indeed taking on a rescue, which may have problems of it's own, plus nobody can ever be at home 24 hours a day 365 days a year, and to keep watch all the time is impossible.

Funny timing, but we had a "puppy encounter" on a walk today with a lovely goldie, about 10 months old. I think what might be happening is that the puppy usually stares (out of curiosity) and my boy's hackles rise. Anyway, he lunged and growled (not just a play bark), we pulled them apart, then talked for a while. During most of this time, so long as I watched to make sure mine didn't try any of his domination tricks (putting his head on the back of the puppy's neck, for example), both tails wagged gaily and they were fine. But about 20 minutes later, when I let my guard down, he had a go at the puppy again. On the same walk he met two other (older) dogs, one male, one female, with no problem.

The puppy's owner says that he finds it happens to him now and then with other dogs in the area.

And Jo, in answer to your question, when he "guards", he will bark a few times and run outside if we let him (I think a few foxes, maybe a cat or two have been chased off this way). Having said that, he slept soundly through a small burglary we had about a year ago!!!

But I agree I think I need to get someone to have a firsthand look perhaps.

Hi,
Just to say please let us know how you get on with your dog. Where do you live? I might be able to suggest someone to help.