Right. I still think it's a dominance thing. He can be a right little thug around dogs who are abit more, timid and less bolshy if that makes sense. But I might be humanising him thinking of it this way. He even got nipped for it the other day and right after went for another dog. He can be a right little punk in that respect. I agree this is a behaviour thing (personally wouldn't have used the word "issue" though ;o) and nothing to do with neutering, I just mentioned it along with the bed thing because I know others have puppy's that do it (Esme for example - the bed thing).

How do you teach it as unacceptable though. I just pull him off and say "no".

Can I ask the reason why those that go with leaving in tact chose to do this. Alot have mentioned that they wouldn't do it unless they had to but not mentioned the reasons why. Would really help us to know (as we sit here discussing Woody's balls over a nice bottle of red ;o)

We had our Bailey done 7 weeks ago, at the ripe old age of 8years, he sailed through it, and up to date it does not seem to have caused any problems within the pack, he still seems to maintain his postition, time will tell though, at work, we castrate dogs of all ages and use the surgery approach rather than lazer, up to date as far as I can make out we have had NO complications from the op or GA and we castrate on average 4 males a day, and 3 bitche spays.

Mo

[QUOTE=Pidge;1622601]

How do you teach it as unacceptable though. I just pull him off and say "no".

Thats all I have ever done and its worked

Can I ask the reason why those that go with leaving in tact chose to do this. Alot have mentioned that they wouldn't do it unless they had to but not mentioned the reasons why. Would really help us to know (as we sit here discussing Woody's balls over a nice bottle of red ;o)[/QUOTE]

I had all mine intact because I showed my dogs, as mentioned previously, bailey is no longer shown, and so is now neutered.

Mo

It isn't dominance. He is being a pushy puppy, that is all. If a young dog can turn a situation into his advantage (eg: getting a sneaky hump in ), it will!

If you correct him and then remove him immediately, and of course apologize to the owner, you are handling the situation the right way.

Has he been well socialised with other dogs? Not just in the park but on sort of playdates...has he spent lots of time in the company of an older dog?
Yes, with the other dogs he is probably pushing his luck, but I do think it's dangerous to assume it's 'dominance' that word tend to blind people sometimes to other things that are going on.
It may be that Woody, for whatever reason, thinks that it is appropriate behaviour...you then have to look at why he would think that.I don't know...only you can look at when he is doing it...who he is doing it to, what he is doing it to and how frequently. (Is it EVERY male dog...or just some,what breeds, in what context...what does he do when they tell him off...does he accept it from that dog or does he keep trying it on?) It isn't necessarily 'dominance'...

Out of interest is he cocking his leg yet?

Okay...so why is Cosmo keeping his bits.
Partly because he is the opposite of macho,therfore I don't think it would do him any good. As has already been mentioned, neutered dogs can attract attention from entire males and he doesn't need that (and would get it I think).
He has never shown interest in bitches in heat...
I have seen young dogs castrated and I don't want to put him through it. It is great that others have seen young dogs bounce back from the op, that hasn't been my experience at all.
As far as I am concerned...testicles are an important part of a dog's anatomy and testosterone is an important hormone. Whilst it may be a small 'op' it still takes away quite an important thing (or things).
I do not want him being put through a GA at such a young age.
I do not want his coat to be spoilt by neutering, I love his coat and it will be spoilt if he loses his bits.

Jasper was done at 7 months, just as he started to get pushy with other dogs....not aggressive, but walking up a bit stiff legged and 'Here I am...' sort of attitude. He went through the op with no troubles....

Contrary to what others have said, we have had more problems with older dogs, the ones I have known to have it done later in life (5 years +) have developed behaviour issues (generally nervousness) or had medical issues - swelling around the area and infections.

10 different people will have 10 different opinions and experience - go with your gut feeling, I'm sure you won;t go far wrong - after all - he is your dog and you know him best!

ETA - I also have a 6 year old GSDX who will stay entire.

When Monty is humping Rich or his bed, or the sofa, or anything else (non dog) that takes his fancy we distract him with something else or give him a stern "no" and he stops. Mostly he does it when he's over excited so usually when we're playing.

He's never humped another dog so couldn't comment on what we do in that circumstance.

He also has humping dreams which we obviously don't stop him doing as i don't think its fair to wake him!

I quite agree. Loki went through a stage - as a puppy - of humping his fluffy toys, us ... but he grew out of it. The only training we did was to walk away and not give him attention ... but he grew out of it. It was a puppy thing with him.

Typical man!!!!

It is all part and parcel of puppy play and learning...that includes learning what is appropriate and acceptable behaviour. Puppies need to learn manners. It isn't necessarily about 'dominance' it's just manners. What they can and can't do. They are learning that, that's all.

Just my opinion......

Ultimatley the behaviours can become problems, but neutering won't solve that on its own. The dog still needs to learn manners.

Totally agree LS. They are just learing about the world, that's all...and practising. As I said before, they just need to learn manners.

Cosmo humps Biff at points. I know for sure some people would walk in and say he was being 'dominant'. It isn't though...it is frustration as it normally follows him spending half and hour trying to get Biff to play instead of sleep. It is his last ditch attempt at play. He then gives up and cuddles him instead. Aw.