Should Sammy be neutered because of this behaviour?

Sorry for this repetitive thread. I've read all the threads here about neutering but I'm still undecided. Sammy is my first male dog and I didn't intend getting him neutered. Friday he met another small dog (also male) same size as him and would not stop trying to hump him. The owner said let him be and my dog will give him a row and it will stop. He got a couple of rows but continued so I took him away. He yelped and screamed almost all the way home then started howling.

Today at the park was telling a couple of women about that day and Sammy then tried to hump the leg of the greyhound who was there.

In the last couple of days he's also started barking at some people, mostly if they are dressed in black just wondering if this is related.

Does this mean I should get him neutered or is it something he will grow out of or can be trained out of. He is a brilliant little dog very friendly and sociable and I am scared of having him done in case this changes him.

He tried humping my arm a lot when I first got him but I put that down to him not having enough walks or stimulation with his last owner as it seemed to be a boredom thing he got used to doing. He only very seldom wants to hump my arm now and stops when I tell him. He also tries it when I have visitors gets excited and tries to hump their arm but this is stopped.

Sammy is now 9 months old and is a Yorkie cross.

In the end it comes down to what is going to make you and your dog happiest.

I think it is possible to have an injection, a chemical castration they call it, which basically neuters your dog for 6 months or a year. It would give you a chance to see if his behaviour changes, and maybe a better idea if castration would work for him. I'm sure there are people on here who will know more.
Sarah

My worst humper is a neutered male, it's an excitement thing so no neutering is not a cure.
The injection referred to is in fact an implant, Suprelorin, it's not cheap though. I believe it comes as a twinpack and your expected to pay for the two. I did enquire a while back an it was about the same price as castration. I've had neither done and settled for training instead.

At 9mths old, he is a young boisterous teenager full of hormones, adolescent dogs will have up to 3-4 times more testosterone surging through their system than an adult male will have, it will settle in time, sadly most people give up and have their dog castrated hoping it will change the behaviour, sometimes it will stop some behaviors , sometimes not, in some cases it can make things worse if you have a nervous dog.

Its up to you what you decide, but my advice is "training" dome let him hump anything, and as trouble has said, castration wont guarantee the behaviour to stop.

The barking, humping and any other unwanted behaviour can be trained out of them,

p.s....... I have (or had) the worse humper living, he can still do it at times if he gets to excited, but on the whole he is coming they other side now.

My last dog was not neutered and was not a humper. He was taught in NO uncertain terms that it was NOT acceptable from an early age. He didn't even mount female dogs. Humping is something that you can't play with for the dog to stop. He needs to be made to stop as soon as he starts, every time he starts. If you're really consistent with this, he will learn that it is an unacceptable behavior and he will stop.

Humping is not confined to male dogs only. All my girls have gone through a phase where they'd hump each other. My intact male dog however, has never humped.

Thank you Seacrow, Trouble and Jackie for your replies. I've read up on the superlorin implant and the Tardak injection and the superlorin implant sounds good although I did read about adverse effects but really only on one dog so it's something I will keep in mind.

It's good to know that they have 3-4 more testosterone at this age and it will settle in time.

I've always been off the thought if it ain't broke don't fix it

I think I will go with the training as he's really a biddable dog and quite easy to train (except when he's being stubborn lol). I think I was shocked last Friday as I'd never seen a male dog so intent on getting his way

I'll see how he goes and certainly won't rush into getting him neutered. Thanks again so much you've put my mind at rest as of course everyone I meet thinks he should be neutered as all their dogs are. The day after I got him took him to the vets to get checked over and the first thing she said was he had extra teeth and they would take them out when he got neutered. No asking if I was getting him neutered just taking it for granted. I've since changed vets.

Thanks mjfromga and chlosmum you sneaked in while I was typing my reply I've never had a humping dog before and thought it was a male thing. Will make sure I don't allow him to hump at all and when I see the signs will stop him before he starts.

oh I feel so much better now with all your replies. Thanks again everyone.

My female has humped before too BTW. However, it is only when she was in heat, and it only happened a few times, and only on my neutered male dogs head! She's never humped people. She just gets so confused, poor thing. Fortunately he's a gentle soul and calmly backs out of it. Kind of a funny sight, though.

I'm afraid I am in favour of castration around 6 months and also spaying for a female around the same age. It gives them a chance to develop their identity without raging hormones affecting them. Over the years I have had many male and female dogs and with one exception when the bitch was too young in my mind to conceive I fell foul of the system. Because the male dogs, lurchers were also, I considered, too young to be neutered. Live and learn but we had no problems afterwards.

Hormones are so much more than just effecting adolescent behaviour, there are many studies to show that a dog needs hormones for development in health , temperament and growth, by removing them as such an early age you are escalating the chance of problems later in life, bone cancer being one of them,

At 6 months old a dogs temperament is far from set, and by castrating so young you are not giving your dog a chance to develop in mind or body.

I am not against people having their dogs done, but give them a chance to mature first, there are articles/studies floating around the web now from professionals /vets that were once very much advocates of early spay and castration , who have since changed their minds due to research .