Thank goodness Jackie. I am so pleased that you have come on here to say that.

I would never neuter a dog that had behaviour issues, often it will make them worse.
You could try to put the humping down to out of control hormones as a 'teenager pup' but the barking at people as a behaviour that is also developing makes me wonder how much of this is over excitement, frustration or even nervousness. A decent behaviourist could help you identify the cause and rectify the problem with some kind training methods.

I too have had a dog that humped, and he used to hump my parents intact male lab. Their lab never bothered back until about 3 months after they had him neutered and then as soon as he saw my dog he would jump on him and hump constantly. It became an obsession.

Whether you decide to neuter or not is your decision. He is still very young and I would personally prefer to indulge in a little (or a lot) of intensive training. Feel sure with perseverance and the aforementioned training, there should be no need to castrate. It's not as if he weighs 40kgs or so. I firmly believe that both dogs and bitches should be allowed to mature intact. After that the decision as I said at the start of this post is entirely yours.
Whichever way you decide to go - the training is to mind the most important bit.

Each to his own and I am sure all your points are valid, I just know that poor Chloe who I did not have spayed ended up having numerous phantom pregnancies and still ended up with cancerous lumps. So I think that is why I decided to have Amber done early.

Neutering and spaying isn't the same thing. I highly recommend spaying, but don't recommend neutering at all. Oh HOW I wish they hadn't neutered my Nigredo. It's done nothing but ruin his metabolism leading to weight gain and contribute to his hip dysplasia. But I should have spayed Jade. She's had countless mammary tumors (none cancerous yet) and at this point in her life (shes around 12 years old) there's no point in continuing to put her under for removals.

Spaying I feel is important in bitches that aren't for breeding, it needs to be done almost every time. As for males, there just aren't nearly as many health benefits and I just don't recommend doing it unless there's a medical reason for it. In SOME breeds, such as the pit bull terrier... I'm quicker to recommend it, but I still don't generally say do it, especially at ages as young as 6 months, though that is probably okay for a Yorkie.

If it becomes a habit neutering wont stop him from doing it .

I agree with Sarahjade that if he is barking at strangers its could be more than than teenage hormones.

I used to walk a Bichon Frise and at that age he started humping everything including little kids and they had him neutered and he stopped doing it .

My boys were neutered by the rescues. Libby wasn't spayed as she was underweight but I had her done as soon as I could.
I've seen too many womb infections and phantom pregancies and unwanted pregancies ( not my dogs !) and I wouldn't hesitate to get a bitch spayed if not too young or too old.

Thanks again for the replies. I had both my bitches spayed but always thought it wasn't necessary for a male dog but since I've had him I've had nothing but people asking if he's neutered or when I'm going to get him neutered. The vets seem to take it for granted that you'll automatically get them done which is why I thought I would ask you good people on here.

I wasn't wanting to get him done as he's a bit nervous especially with men. He's so cute everyone wants to pet him so I put a stop to that and don't often let anyone, only if Sammy seems to want them to. I used to say please ignore him but then would think what part of ignore him do you not understand as people would try anyway so now I am not quite so polite

I'm definitely going down the training route as I think that should work out. If not I have the option to change my mind later although I doubt it. He's only a tiny little thing so it's not as though he's hard to handle.

Thanks again.

That`s not true, its exactly the same thing, neutering and spaying is the removal of the reproduction system in both sexes .

You have a valid point regarding bitches, "some" can be susceptible to Pyometra but it does not "have to be done every time" its also important to remember a bitch can get mammary tumors whether she is spayed or not, so a spay is not guarantee she will not suffer this in later life, the same goes for dogs, they can still get prostate cancer, the only thing that is eliminated in dogs is testicular cancer.

Regarding HD and early neutering, did you vet actually diagnose the connection,

When we talk about early spay, neuter effecting joints, its more to do with "growth plates and density of bone" hip joints are different, dogs are born with " good " or "bad" hip joints, it does not change throughout its development, (that`s why hip scoring is essential) that does not mean other environmental facts injury or weight wont play a part in your dogs health, but on the whole if you dog suffers HD is generally down to breeding.

As I said earlier, I am not against spay or neuter , but let your dog mature first, in larger dogs 3-4 or even later, in toy and small dogs , it can be earlier, but growth is only one aspect, mental maturity is also a fact to consider.

I agree though most people seem to be horrified when you tell them your dog is entire , you always get the "is he done" " when is he being done " or a look of shock when you tell them he is entire.

It's funny when you think back in the 80's etc all my males were kept entire throughout their lives, usually living in two's. Fashions change and that's how I look at it tbh, in the 00's it became popular to neuter, we had a massive problem with strays and abandoned dogs, people mating their dog for pocket money etc. Rescue's struggled to cope so every vet would mention neutering as soon as your pup was 8 weeks old. I get it people need to be aware and take steps to prevent unnecessary suffering of dogs but we need to educate ourselves too. I learnt the hard way about bone cancer and neutering no doubt like Jackie, by the time the theory of a link was floated it was too late our dogs were already neutered. My dog wasn't neutered early he was about a year but I do now think with the benefit of hindsight it was a completely unnecessary op. With his temperament and the amount of training I put into him I just can't imagine him causing me any grief. Also he was a breed prone to cancer, so we'll never know. The dogs I've taken on since all remain entire, both males and females and I have no plans to change that unless I have to. Even my vet has given up mentioning it, he knows my views and knows if needed I'd see him immediately. Is it risky? no more so than opting for neutering in my opinion. Only time will tell.

Neutering is the general term used for the surgical removal of the reproductive organs in both male and female dogs. Spaying is for females dogs and castration is for male dogs. At least it is here in the UK.