Implant instead of castration

The time has come for us to consider castration for Ruf - the trainer we go to has always advised against it for his boisterousness etc but feels now that we should be looking at doing something as he still seems to be controlled far too much by his hormones! This has never shown itself in any aggressive/nasty way but the view is it will just chill him out a bit. As its being recommended from a behaviour persepctive our vet recommended going with an implant which basically mimics the effects of castration to see if it has an impact on his behaviour. Has anyone done this with their dog or does anyone have any views on whether we should go down this route or just opt for castration?

I know of a couple of friends that did try the jab and it didnt make any difference,the thing that worked was them been firmer and correcting the dogs ways with training.Wasnt aggressive issues either,was more recall and getting them to be calm when meeting folks.
Castration isnt a cure for issues as the behavouir is in the brain not the goolies.How old is Ruff?

Ruf is 18 months old now...we have been going to training virtually weekly since we got him and whilst vast improvements have been made in lots of areas he is still just quite boisterous and thuggish - he doesn't seem able to exercise much self-control around other dogs and the trainer's view is that (a) this could get him into trouble one day and (b) that this is likely to be hormone related. Her view was always to hold off on castration on the basis that you say - castration is no substitute for training - but as we have made good progress on training and the tools are there to carry it on she feels castration/implant may help just calm him down.

Hi,i know exactly what you mean,having a 2 yr old male sbt that was just how you describe Ruff is.
My lad Archie was very giddy and daft as a brush(still is) where other dogs were concerned from the age of 5months-2yrs.He was never aggressive towards them,just overly playful,the same when meeting new people.
We stuck with the training and as he matured we upped and really got into a good constant exercise regime with both our dogs.Now aged 2,he has calmed down,but thats also due to us not taking chances and not mixing with dogs we dont know well.All the best.x

I take it you meanSuprelorin implant and not Tardak injection,ive used Suprelorin on my dog as Ione of my bitches wasnt spayed and he was a very randy dog. It was brilliant as far as switching him off to my bitches and had a good lasting effect as for it having an effect on behaviour problems I really dont know.At one time people would have used the Tardak jab as that only lasts about 6wks and is a lot cheaper.
sorry cant be of any more help.

jeanette

hi,
imo go for the implant first,if you like the results consider castration,dont bother with the injection though(tardak)
although ,castration/implant will not calm him down,it is not a magic cure for being a 'teenager'

My Rjj has had three implants so far & it was definitely changed his behaviour, I'm not considering castrating him as I only want him to not pester my entire bitch who is going to be spayed next year after her next season(if she ever has another one)she has had only one season & is 3 years old & her season wasn't normal either, so she will be spayed for this reason only. After she has been spayed I will let Rjjs implant run out.

Thanks for the replies - think the implant is the way to go - am definitely not expecting much I have to say as I think alot of it is still probably to do with his age - hence my unwillingness to go for full castration in the first instance. Anyway will get it done and see what happens...will let you know!

How has it changed him Dyane? Its something Im considering for Orey in a few months, my concern is coat changes in Borders, "neuters" tend to go soft.

From the first day I got Jessie he wouldn't leave her alone & as she hadn't had a season & at that time I was hoping to breed from her(won't because her hips are c*** & she has had one very odd season), within a week or so of him having the implant the first week it was available, he lost all interest in her & when she did eventually have a season despite her throwing herself at him, he either ignored her or offered her one of his tuggies to play with.

Apart from the side effect of testicle size reduction, nothing physically has changed with him-he is a BC smooth coat BTW