A friend has a 3 year-old entire male Boxer.  He was well-socialised and trained as a puppy, and has always got on well with other dogs.  The perfect pet!  Most of the dogs he meets out on his walks are either castrated males, or bitches, and he is always happy to play with them.  However on two separate occasions just recently,  his 'space' was invaded by a dog running over to challenge him (as it happens,  on both occasions they were entire male Boxers - one aged 4 and the other aged 2). This prompted a low growl from my friend's dog, but when this didn't succeed in getting rid of the 'challenger', my friend's dog put the other one down.  No harm has come to any of the dogs - it appears to have been more noise than anything else as my friend's dog demonstrates that he will not be messed with. 

The problem is that my friend's wife now finds it stressful taking their boy out for a walk off-lead, because although their boy is perfectly behaved, rarely straying far away from his owner and coming immediately on recall, she is fearful of another male coming over to challenge him and it ending in a 'fight'. 

They have asked for my opinion whether having him castrated will stop him 'standing up for himself'.  The Boxer males I have owned have been entire because they have been show dogs, so I have no personal experience of castrated dogs.  I have however read a great deal on the subject over the years in the dog press, and have come to the personal conclusion that castration should only be carried out to save a dog's life, and in the majority of cases, it doesn't change the dog's basic personality.  I therefore feel that castrating this dog, which never initiates the trouble, is very wrong.  Even if the operation made him more submissive, would the challenging dog not then jump on him and put him down in a fight?

Any advice or comment would be much appreciated.

Lewie

Firstly, your friends dog was doing nothing wrong, he was telling the other dog to "but out"  and mind his manneres ,and I dont think castration will change his behaviour, after all he was only sticking up for himself.

The trouble with mature male Boxers, is they can,  become a little to big for their own boots,  whether they are castrated or not.  My boy is now 8 , up till he was 6 he was easy pickings for anything on 4 legs, Then one day he had enough, and started to fight back....so now I just watch him, puppies/females/ small dogs, and subservient dogs he loves, if he was to meet a pushy male, he will get a little upperty.  (thankfully it is mostly handbags at dawn)   so know I  just put him back on the lead, till we know all dogs are ok.

I can understand your friends worries,  it is differecult to control other peoples dogs when out walking, and the last thing this boy needs is to have to many of these encounters..(their is a saying, it only takes one fight to turn a Boxer into a prize fighter)  he needs good experiences  , and it sounds like  on the whole is is well trained.  

She needs to gain confidence with him again, otherwise he is going to start to feel it from her, and they will both be nervous wrecks.

She could carry a water spray with her, and if any dog comes running up to her , a quick spray in the face,  should send it off.  or she could shout to the owner, "can you please get your dog", " Mine has a contagious disease , and I would`nt like yours to catch it"   that should sort that out.

Hi
Firstly, castration won't stop other dogs running up!  :-)

You say that the dog meets mainly neutered males and bitches on his walks; has he been socialised at all with entire males?  I would suggest that they get a GOOD behaviourist or someone who is adept at reading doggie body language and gets them to assess the situation - preferably by introducing the boxer to an entire male that is a known reliable quantity.  It could just be that the boxer is inexperienced in reading other male language;  it could be that the interlopers are pushing too far and taking things from level one to level five without going through levels two to four and the boxer is acting quite legitimately.  However, without seeing, it is hard to judge.

Either way the wife needs to be 200% plus confident as otherwise the dog will pick up on her anxiety and could well see a need to protect/guard!  The last thing you need in a dog/dog situation.
I think a good behaviourist could make the owners aware of the signs to look out for that indicate things are likely to escalate in a doggie encounter and they could be shown a number of techniques to deploy in such situations.  All of this could add to their confidence in going out and about.  However, I must admit that I always have my 'radar' switched on when out and am always alert to the presence of strange dogs and try to pre-empt putting my boy in situations that may become difficult.  A good recall away from other dogs is imperative too - and this is slightly different and needs to be trained when male dogs are in a 'stand-off' so that the dog coming away doesn't feel he is losing face.