Neutering A Nervous Male Chihuahua

[amclifft]

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Hi all

Just want some advice really as different people have said different things about neutering nervous/aggressive male.

we have a 8 month old chihuahua which is extremely nervous due to a dog trainer scaring the crap out of him when he was 10 weeks old. he is now scared of new people and growls/snaps at them.

With other dogs he is amazing its just people that he now has trust issues with.

We really want to get him neutered as he is getting to the hump everything stage and we have got his lil sister coming to live with us in a couple of weeks as we think it would benefit him to have a lil friend around and we obviously dont want him humping her every five minutes. Please note we will be getting her spayed at 6 months.

Any advice as to what we should do as search engines havent been very helpful and nor have the people at the pdsa.

Many Thanks

 

[banana]

I would neuter him as otherwise he will be a slave to his hormones!

Poor little chap - what did the trainer do to him to scare him so much?

 

[chelynnah]

Neutering may or may not change the humping behaviour. With dogs humping is often about dominance (or insecurity - trying to look dominant). Yes he is at the age where he's getting a bit of a testosterone surge, but it won't all be down to that. The best reason for neutering him would be to ensure there are no accidents if his sister is intact.

I don't know what it's like with the other breeds, but with whippets I advise not to neuter until at least a year and closer to 18 months so the dogs have developed physically. They need those hormones to develop structurally as well. We've found that early neutering can result in taller/weedier dogs - bone plates don't close as early because they don't get the instruction from the hormones. I would be concerned that in a toy breed the equivalent would be that they could end up more fragile. But this is just my guess.

At the end of the day you have to do what's best for your home and dog situation. I just want to give you a heads up that neutering may not actually change any of these behaviours, and may actually make them worse. Would you consider the neutering injection? It will take a couple of months (as it would even with neutering because it takes that long for the testosterone to completely exit the system) to see if there would be any changes, but it might be worth trying. If the behaviour changes in a positive direction then go for it. If it's negative, then you know not to, and if it doesn't change at all, then you decide what's best. As I said bringing in a female does mean that accidents can happen.

 

[amclifft]

It's my nans dog and she was having a few issues with him just basic obedience issues and as it was her first dog she wanted to do things properly and get a trainer. Big mistake!! He chased the poor lil soul round the kitchen and finally managed to corner him and put what can only be described as a noose on a pole around his neck to allow him to pick him up. He was so scared that he pooped and peed himself and now the fear has been put into him that all strangers will do that to him. He now won't let my nan or grandad near him and will only come to them on his own terms. Thankfully the "trainer" didn't charge them but I have since found out that he no longer trains and only walks dogs now. After this incident they got another trainer in to help them out and slowly but surely he is getting there.

In regards to his sister she is only 8 weeks old so there's no problems there atm when she is of age I will get her spayed. He just tends to get a bit excited when she's around and tries to mount her but she has been putting him in his place

 

[chelynnah]

In regards to his sister she is only 8 weeks old so there's no problems there atm when she is of age I will get her spayed. He just tends to get a bit excited when she's around and tries to mount her but she has been putting him in his place

In which case that isn't about hormones, that's about 'dominance'. Not necessarily in a bad way, he's just reminding her that he's top dog as she's a pup.

You can actually help the situation by reaffirming that he is the top dog in the house (YOU should always be 'top dog' total). The more secure he feels in his role, the less he'll feel the need to show her that he's boss.

 

[ClaireandDaisy]

Dominance is an outdated concept based on faulty research.

http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/05/090521112711.htm

http://www.woofology.com/alpha%20myth.html

It is generally not recommended to neuter a timid male as the reduction in testosterone causes them to become even more nervous.

I suggest you read The Culture Clash and also Fight! by Jean Donaldson as this gives good clear advice on management of such behaviour.

 

[kathy2007]

Hi all

Just want some advice really as different people have said different things about neutering nervous/aggressive male.

we have a 8 month old chihuahua which is extremely nervous due to a dog trainer scaring the crap out of him when he was 10 weeks old. he is now scared of new people and growls/snaps at them.

With other dogs he is amazing its just people that he now has trust issues with.

We really want to get him neutered as he is getting to the hump everything stage and we have got his lil sister coming to live with us in a couple of weeks as we think it would benefit him to have a lil friend around and we obviously dont want him humping her every five minutes. Please note we will be getting her spayed at 6 months.

Any advice as to what we should do as search engines havent been very helpful and nor have the people at the pdsa.

Many Thanks

Neutering may not be suitable to start with I would suggest chemically first talk with your vet, also look up thunder jackets they are good for nervous dogs, as they apply preassure to areas on the body in way that makes them feel good, I deal with chihuhuas for chihuhua rescue and found this jacket to be really helpful to me also tellington touch body wraps/ bandages really can help. Also anyone he is scared of should walk into the house paying no attention to him and standing still dropping a treat and saying his name then moving away so the dog can see strangers as good things again and no pressure on him. Do this over time and he will look forward to people coming as they bring food rewards. Do not expect him to allow people to fuss him, as long as he takes a treat and settles thats fine e for now. I had a dog her like that a few moths ago and when people left him alone he then came up to have a look and a sniff and took a treat from the floor and thats was it and then in time he took treats from them and settled in his bed then after that he allowed them to fuss his chest but I do not expect that from dog until the dog makes the choice, hope that helps you. kathy

 

[eingana]

Hi all

Just want some advice really as different people have said different things about neutering nervous/aggressive male.

we have a 8 month old chihuahua which is extremely nervous due to a dog trainer scaring the crap out of him when he was 10 weeks old. he is now scared of new people and growls/snaps at them.

With other dogs he is amazing its just people that he now has trust issues with.

We really want to get him neutered as he is getting to the hump everything stage and we have got his lil sister coming to live with us in a couple of weeks as we think it would benefit him to have a lil friend around and we obviously dont want him humping her every five minutes. Please note we will be getting her spayed at 6 months.

Any advice as to what we should do as search engines havent been very helpful and nor have the people at the pdsa.

Many Thanks

Neutering may not be suitable to start with I would suggest chemically first talk with your vet, also look up thunder jackets they are good for nervous dogs, as they apply preassure to areas on the body in way that makes them feel good, I deal with chihuhuas for chihuhua rescue and found this jacket to be really helpful to me also tellington touch body wraps/ bandages really can help. Also anyone he is scared of should walk into the house paying no attention to him and standing still dropping a treat and saying his name then moving away so the dog can see strangers as good things again and no pressure on him. Do this over time and he will look forward to people coming as they bring food rewards. Do not expect him to allow people to fuss him, as long as he takes a treat and settles thats fine e for now. I had a dog her like that a few moths ago and when people left him alone he then came up to have a look and a sniff and took a treat from the floor and thats was it and then in time he took treats from them and settled in his bed then after that he allowed them to fuss his chest but I do not expect that from dog until the dog makes the choice, hope that helps you. kathy

Absolutely! There's no way to change his opinion about people apart from taking really small steps to bring him round.

If you think of how humans must appear to a dog so small then you can understand why he sees humans as a bit big, loud, unpredictable and dangerous. If you looked at the world from 8 inches above the floor constantly then you may feel the same, and be very nervous around the humans that you can't say for sure are going to be gentle around you.

As for dominance humping with the puppy then if I was a very nervous little dog who feared lots of things around them then I may feel the need to show the one thing that's smaller than me that I'm above them too. Part of addressing that is going to be changing the humping itself, but an awful lot of it is going to be changing how much he fears people and the world in general, as he will feel that he has a lot less to prove when he's not so scared all of the time.