Will my 5 year old WGSD be ok after neuter?

[mmahal408]

Hi guys, I'm new to this forum so hello to all! My 5 year old WGSD (Kobe) is awesome around the house, he's obedient for the most part around the family (attention will wander from time to time). I was strongly against neutering Kobe at an early age before learning of all the benefits, I just did not want to see Kobe go through that pain. However as the years have passed I noticed he marks his territory A LOT when in the yard and is also HIGHLY aggressive when strangers come around the house. I know this is a natural instinct for GSD's but was also advised it would cut down after neutering? After doing some research I came to the conclusion it would still be wise to neuter Kobe not only as a health benefit but also so I can begin to socialize him more in public. He's at the vet right now undergoing surgery and I must say I'm having second thoughts! The vet told me he would be under pain med's for a couple days after the process, my question or cause for concern is that will Kobe not be the same after surgery? Of course the pain will go away but I don't want the dog to be traumatized by this experience, I'm sure someone else has had the same worries! Any advice is greatly appreciated it, thanks.

[gsdraven]

He'll be the same. They are out of it for a bit the day of the surgery but are usually back to normal the next day... especially the boys... which actually makes it kind of challenge to keep them calm so they can heal properly.

Neutering him likely won't have any affect on his aggression with strangers though.

[fuzzybunny]

I neutered my guy when he was 15 months old and he was fine. He seemed groggy immediately after the surgery but the following day he was back to his old self. I didn't notice any behavioural differences with him at all.

[mmahal408]

I just figured it might be a little more complicated with him being 5 years old, but thats great to hear! Although Kobe's house trained for the most part I'm having him go through a training program soon after to help with the aggression issues. Hopefully an atmosphere with more dogs and people will help relax him. Thanks for the quick response guys!

[Cassidy's Mom]

Unless there's some medical reason otherwise, he should be perfectly fine after his surgery. It may not affect his marking (which has become a well established behavior by now), or his aggressiveness towards strangers, which could be a training and socialization issue that's completely unrelated to his hormones.

There wasn't any big difference in Keefer after his neuter at 15 months old.

[selzer]

Neutering will ONLY help if you get your dog to classes and start working him around other dogs and other people. You will probably need a behaviorist to give you tips about how to correct the behavior around your home. You have allowed, maybe even encouraged or approved of the protective behavior and your adult male is not likely to change that without intervention of some sort.

I am glad you are neutering because being HIGHLY aggressive when non-threatening strangers come around the house is NOT an indication of correct GSD temperament. It is more likely an indication of unsocialized, fearful behavior. However, we do not know exactly what you mean by HIGHLY aggressive, or what your strangers are like. But it sounds like the situation does not warrant a dog that acts like he wants to EAT the person.

Your dog will be fine. In a few days he should be back to normal. But sign him up for classes right away, and look up NILIF. It will help you to be more the leader and the dog to look at you when he is not certain. Both the NILIF -- which is kind of a leadership lifestyle AND obedience training with lots of praise and treats, under the eye of a good trainer and in the presence of other dogs and their people will help your dog build a bond with you, a better bond. One where he trusts that you will protect him, not the other way around.

In ordinary situations, that works great: dog sees man riding a skateboard, wow never saw that before, Dad, do you see that??? Dog sees that you are not overly fussed about it, and the dog is like, kool, it must be ok, dad's ok with it. In bad situations, it works ok, Dog sees two men walking your way looking up to no good, Dog says, look Dad, people, Dad? Are they ok? Dad? Dog realizes that you are uptight, dog gets a little nervous, hair goes up, stiff legs, barks or low growl -- that may all be fear-behavior, but those guys don't know that.

Having a dog that barks when people come in your yard, or driveway is ok, no problem. But if the dog goes ballistic when your neighbor comes over to return a tool, or your cousin comes for a visit, well, that can go really wrong really fast, dog on death row and you trying to find home owner's insurance.

[Draugr]

You're probably not going to notice any difference in marking or his aggression toward strangers. To be crass, that's in his brains, not his balls. The only type of aggression that castration has a proven correlation with being able to -sometimes- solve is same-sex aggression toward other dogs - since that is something that is often primarily hormonally induced. Human-directed aggression isn't. Not that hormones don't play into behaviors - they play into *all* behaviors to some extent. Some, however, are "hormonally induced" not "hormonally aided," if you know what I mean.

I don't know his specific case but in general a neuter puts a dog at more, and more severe health risks, than leaving him intact, not less. However maybe his specific case is different, dogs are individuals. At his age though you're not looking at significant risks or anything, either way. I wouldn't worry about this.

Good on you for going to a trainer for the aggression. They should be able to help with his socialization, and being able to get him around in public better. I'm afraid the neuter isn't likely to help *or* hurt that, however. If it's fear based it might actually be a setback. I will have to dig out the studies but I've read a few which say that fear-based aggression is not helped by neutering and it can, in some cases, make it worse. If that's the case you can probably still work through it though, especially since you're going to a professional now to work on this.

Jake (my dog's best friend) was castrated at 15 months. It definitely took the edge off his drive, and he's noticeably less energy now. That was the only noticeable difference. He's still just as goofy and friendly as ever. At 5 years though, your dog won't have to worry about the "eternal puppy syndrome."

[mmahal408]

That really helps, thanks everyone!

[mmahal408]

I just picked up Kobe from the vet after being neutered. He is extremely groggy, I can tell he is in pain. The vet gave me some pain medication for him (2 tablets a day for 3 days), I gave him one upon returning home. It saddens me to see him like this, I hope he recovers fast!

[ChancetheGSD]

He'll be fine, think about how you'd feel after a surgery! It's totally normal, just try to keep him calm and make sure he doesn't lick his stitches.

If it makes you feel any better, I've had two very sick dogs come out of their spay/neuter perfectly fine. Zoey got spayed at 10 years old because she got pyometra. (Infection in the uterus) At 13 she's completely healthy (Besides a low thyroid diagnosed last August and managed well by meds), the vet when we moved to SC even thought her records were a typo and said he couldn't believe she was more than 2-3 years old! (And we know her age for sure since we've had her since 5 weeks old lol) Chance was neutered at roughly 6 months old when he was VERY sick with parvo. I adopted him from animal control in GA and they neutered him before he came home. When we took him to the vet after picking him up he was diagnosed with the parvo and the vet didn't think he'd make it. He recovered from the parvo and his neuter just fine and went on to live 3.5 more years completely free of any medical problems until he got hit by a car the other week.

Thousands of animals are spayed/neutered each year and recover just fine. No worries!! Just give him some extra love and he'll be ok!