Need Advice with Prince - Page 11

Please keep this going!!!

It's a shame that such a dog should lose his nuts over such issues.
It won't make a difference in this situation I don't think, it might very well make things worst in my opinion.

Just saying,
it doesn't address the real issue here.

LMBO!! Moons's big concern is for Prince's "nuts",,Sorry for the use of the expression, but that is really funny!.. Prince would be touched!..  Worse how?...

Blitzen ,,It has been a valuable thread indeed!//

Thank you to everyone who posted,,:)
 

Laugh all you want, Deanna but Moons is right. Read up on inappropriate aggression in neutered dogs. The only people I know who neutered their dog because they couldn't handle it regret it to this day and say the dog just got nastier...and fat. 

Here's a bit of an article I copied/pasted. Here is the link to the full article complete with footnotes. http://www.angryvet.com/neutering-and-behavior/

A retrospective study of only 42 dogs studied just that and the results were mixed.  The behavior that is best controlled through neutering is roaming.  Castration eliminates this behavior in 80 to 90% of dogs.   Locking your gate would also accomplish the same thing.    Urine marking in the house was controlled in only 50% of dogs and urine marking around or outside of the house where other dogs had marked was not affected at all.  Mounting of people or other animals was reduced in 67% of the dogs.  Lastly, aggressive behavior was only altered in cases involving inter-dog aggression and declined in 62% of dogs.  Territorial, fear-induced aggression, and food aggression were not altered in any dogs 1.  In another report dealing with aggressive behavior in dogs, prepubertally castrated male dogs were just as aggressive as noncastrated dogs 2. There is at least the potential for some behaviors to worsen after castration.  Testosterone is known to affect anxiety behaviors; for example, hypogonadal men with lower levels of testosterone are more likely to suffer from anxiety and depression disorders.  Treatment with testosterone alleviates these symptoms.   Preliminary studies in mice were performed where mice were presented with stressful situations and their ability to process this fear with both contextual (same environment) and cued fear (an audible stimulus preceded a shock) were tested before and after castration.   The results were mixed and showed that castration did inhibit contextual fear memory processing, supporting the fact that the processing of contextual fear memory within the hippocampus area of the brain is testosterone dependent.  It is established that men tend to develop post-traumatic stress disrorder less frequently and of a less severe nature than women due to this inhibition of contextual fear memory inhibition3. Would it not be reasonable to conclude that it is at least possible that neutering dogs could increase fear behaviors through inhibition of the dog’s ability to explore its environment and to process and/or extinguish fear memories correctly?  Renowned behaviorist Parvene Farhoody looked at this possibility in her Masters thesis at Hunter College in 2010.  The study was based upon a 101 question survey called the Canine Behavior and Research Questionnaire (C-BARQ) to collect information on 7 different behavioral characteristics for over 10,000 dogs.  Their data showed that neutered dogs were more aggressive, fearful, excitable and less trainable than intact dogs 4.   These data were not peer-reviewed or published, but it is my understanding that they are continuing work in this field and that a larger study’s data is currently being compiled and will be submitted for review and publication.  A similar C-BARQ questionnaire’s data involving a sample of over 6000 dogs was compiled and presented to the Third International Symposium on Non-Surgical Contraceptive Methods for Pet Population Control and showed neutering to worsen behaviors including:   dog-directed fear aggression (breed dependent), begging for food, fear behavior and sensitivity to handling, aggression towards people and other dogs, decreased energy, excessive barking, and rolling in and eating feces5. - 



 

Oh, I know. I was just saying it's funny but true. The last thing you want is to chance making it worse. For all the people who will tell you to neuter him, how many have ever really dealt with a dog like Prince? 

Personally, Keith and Kelly are the ones I'd concentrate on speaking with. 

I would never own a altered male.

Blitzen..... What breed would you suggest? (I assume you are trying to be kind) but I will say this I have owned GSD since the mid 70's and have owned 2 just the way I like them and will own another. Let me explain some of the difficultly I have encountered. Many of the dogs I have traveled to look at were not as described. In that many just do not understand and others thought more of their dog then they should. One lady that told me she had the dog I wanted. (I described what I required and she said he had it all).  I tested the dog, and he was a real nice dog. But he was way to social and had very little hardness. In our talking about the dog she states she did not think the dog was hard at all.  My thought were "what the hell is this" EVERYONE knows including her that I want a bite for real, hard hard , aggressive dog. Then she told a man that I have bought many dogs from and train with, that she thought that I am looking for a dog to train Pit Bulls how to fight. WOW I do not even own a pit bull and I sure would not spend $2500.00 for a pit bull to beat up or kill, that is stupid thinking.

I looked at a Mali and I scared her with pine needles and she ran, I will say I and her owner were shocked.
Another GSD would not even bark at me.

I do own a Bomber v Wolfsheim X Roxy puppy that I like very much and show signs of great quality but I would rather have a male in my truck. She needs to be titled not just a PPD.

I have been told about several in Germany but I would rather wait and find one here. Only two people could sell me a sight unseen dog.

If I were neutered I would get real mean. 










 

Jenny,I respect and like Keith a great deal and also about a half a dozen others (including you ) who have been a major support and encouragement in all that me and Prince have been through ,,, but Kelly and Jim saved Prince!!,,What they say is gold..:) 

Here he is today in a sit stay ...He must know he is headed north to IL because he has been a very good boy !!..






 

Deanna:  he really is a beautiful boy but then I am very fond of the west german showlines.  I loved my boy which I HAD to neuter as he was a monorchid so at the time (2003) so 10 years ago that is what was felt to be the best decision for dogs with one missing testicle or both missing.  However, everything Jenni78 says is true, did not change his temperament in the least, he did get nastier by the year, and also had a really hard time keeping the weight down.  He was 125 lbs at almost 8 years old so the weight thing is real.  Also hypothyroidism (can't spell it but low thyroid) but can also become high (hyperparathyroidism) which I am sure you are aware of in your line of work.  Also came down with other autoimmune related issues like pannus which is nothing to sneeze at and is a lifetime of aftercare of eye drops, etc. etc. with no cure in site.  Dog eventually goes blind.  Guess german shepherd  breeders don't care about eyes as very few do their eye certifications at all, so that seems to be out the window at this time. 

I just wanted to wish you the best of luck with Prince and his training.  I have read ALL of the above posts but I am really still not clear as to the "fix it" program which apparently is being designed for you at this time.   My boy had some similar issues as well as health issues from neutering I believe,  just be sure he is in the best health and fitness possible while enduring his training program.  And I do feel training and following through with the training commitment is truly for the life of the dog.   Some need work and mental stimulation once a week but for most daily is better.  I think Prince will probably be the latter as if my boy was left to make his own decisions on matters, well let's just say that would not have worked form him either plus he disliked kids to boot.  Was a walking liability.  The older they get the harder to retrain for me anyway.  So all that said, best of luck with Prince.  Nan