Fidu has been sterilized - Page 2

I never said that neutering would change the behavior of the dog (although it can). My comment to you Brittney was directed at  "The cemestry between the both of you are probably not there, and that replacing him with a more suitable dog was a better solution?

Poster if your worried about your dogs hips then xray them. Imo if he has hd, then most likely it wasnt caused from neutering him at 16 months.

Barb

I agree with Bhaugh. Neutering can change some aggressive behavior for the better.  They do neuter some overly aggressive Army service dogs to change their attitude a bit.

Just adjust his food to keep him from getting fat and keep him active. eating and sleeping puts on weight.. Exercise/activity burns calories, so adjust food according to his activity.   If Dog already has signs of dysplasia, being overweight can worsen it faster, otherwise he should be alright.

Poster, If Fidu's attitude has already changed for the better, then I feel you have done the right thing for him and yourself.
Weezy. 

He's a beautiful dog M as is his brother!  Don't beat yourself up over this, he'll be just fine.

This is all IMHO and based only on my experience with my oldest male.

First and foremost, please, for your sake and Fidu's do not assume that just because you neutered him that everything will be perfect regarding his aggression and that you no longer have to work to stay in control.

I neutered my oldest at 2 years.  From the day we got him (8 weeks), he would tried to move up higher in the pack.  We did extensive training (both him and me) on making sure I knew how to stay at the top of the pack with him.  The training helped a lot and I figured we were good to go.  After Baron turned about 18 months, the constant push and aggression was back, especially with my then 10 year old son.  We went back through the training and brought my son in on it.  Baron's aggression only stopped some and he would still occasionally challenge me and my son.  At 2 years, I decided to neuter him.  I knew this would not solve all of our problems, but it would at least take out some of the testosterone. 

Baron did calm down and the constant challenge for authority and pack position change dropped a lot.  We still go through our "we need to talk" phases; usually about once a year, Baron needs to be very firmly reminded who is in control.  I still cannot trust him around children, even my now 16 year old son.  I thought we were doing fine, but about 1 1/2 ago, he did not like what a child did/said/ whatever and responded with a growl.  Needless to say, Baron and I immediately had our "talk" and he went back to his kennel.  At that point, I decided that he just could not be trusted around children and he will not be allowed around them.

I told you this to hopefully remind you that everything is not all perfect just because he has been neutered.  You still need to work with him on maintaining that you are always the alpha.  If you do not know how to do this safely, find a good trainer.  There will always be a balance between you and Fidu; that is the nature of a dog that is naturally a very strong leader/alpha.  Any thing can upset the balance and you need to know how to handle it to get the balance back.  Neutering is only part of it.
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As for any physical effects of neutering, there are studies that go both directions; from "everything is great" to "now they can get cancer".  Personally, I do not buy into the doom dayers .  I keep my dogs at a healthy weight, exercise as appropriate for their age, and go from there. 

Look through the different threads for some good articles on neutering a dog and the effects.  Read through them, take a deep breathe, take care of your dog health wise, take another deep breathe, and have fun (a tired dog is a good dog, especially a strong willed one).  The articles will give you some things to watch for that you might not otherwise notice.  If you notice something off, talk to your vet.

Good luck.  Also, post pictures.  We all love GSD pictures.  I think it should be a requirement for this site, but I don't make the rules. 

Yes Mentayflor  if you have got a gentler Fidu at the end of this, you have been one of
the lucky ones for whom it HAS worked on behaviour.  I'm glad.  (Barb & Britany:)  I haven't
said it could not / would not work, I've found it does sometimes;   I just said 'its  a crap shoot',  
i.e.  it's a gamble,  it doesn't always achieve what you want it to, so noone should ever
absolutely rely on castration, or spaying,  as a behavioral solution.  [If anything, it made the bitch
I mentioned above MORE inclined to be aggressive, not less !]

I'm glad what I said was some help, Mentayflor.  And don't worry about the English !
I am going to disagree with you, though, about vets not wanting to neuter;  maybe not
in your part of the world, I don't know;  but in the UK some are only TOO keen, to get
dogs (and cats) neutered, VERY young - which I'm no more happy about than Brittany
is, I think they should be allowed to grow up properly physically first too.  [I understand
this is often the case in America also.]  Could have something to do with the money
they can charge for doing it ?  But I do think 16 months is old enough for that, especially
in a male.   We used to get boys done at around 9 months without growth, or temperament,
problems.  I would prefer with bitches to leave it longer.

The HD problem never goes away:  IF Fidu was bred from a line of forbears who all had
certified reasonably good hips,  your chances of him developing a dysplasia problem or
related arthritis are LESS, but they are not non-existant.  If he does get it (which obviously
for both your sakes we hope he does not), you could just be unlucky.  Or some aspect of
his diet and management could  lead to it, but so long as you do your best to make sure
he gets decent food and good exercise - and is not allowed to put on too much weight ! -
then he ought to be okay.  We can only be as careful as we possibly can be, and keep our
fingers crossed !

Thank to all of you for your advices. I'm calmer now. i hope Fidu could be trained one day. When he was a pup a trainer came home but Fidu ignored her and did not want to play with the toys to train dogs, nor didnt accept the cookies, nothing worked. it was a failure, but I educated him and as you say I will continue to educate him. And  I will not let him get overwheigh. Yesterday I sat beside him and he did not stand over me  growling as he used to do lately!

Neutering can never CAUSE hip displaysia. Other elements might, but the surgery itself cannot. 

And I don't think anyone is referring to the neutering as being a "behaviour modification"  but saying a dog with potential temperment issues should be neutered. That's why I said so. A dog with a questionable temperment should not be bred, so why not neuter??

What is done is done, and if the behavior has changed for the better, then the neutering (however ill-advised) seems to have worked.....at least temporarily !  I personally am not a fan of spaying/neutering, since IMO, it upsets mother nature's hormonal balance.....unless you are not a responsible owner and cannot control your dog from mating indiscriminately. 

If I were you, I would continue to work on your dog and establish a solid bond with him, and work with a good trainer to help guide you to establish a leadership position with the dog.  Seems like the primary problem was that he did not respect you as a leader, and the aggression was a symptom of that, and that primary situation is still not resolved.

A leadership issue is not resolved by neutering. Unfortunately the procedure is still promoted for this by many vets.
Here is a new reputable study you will find interesting:
http://www.dogsnaturallymagazine.com/new-study-neuter-risk-hip-dysplasia-dogs/