# Horny 8 month old mini dachshund, when to neuter?



## Mwingli (Mar 27, 2016)

Hello All,

I have a 8 month old mini dachshund, Arnie. He has been great so far. Due to work commitments, I won't be at home a for a few days here there over the next few months (I normally work from home) so we have found him a brilliant place that does doggy day care nearby.

However, since he has been at doggy day care, he has been extremely horny. He is humping all the other puppies and older dogs, of both sexes and all sizes. He is humping them so much that he has to be separated at times because he is annoying the other dogs so much.

At home, Arnie used to hump his toys a lot, but he hasn't done this for the last 2 months. He doesn't hump humans either and is pretty well behaved and respects boundaries we have at home. The owner of the doggy day care discussed Arnie's humping with me and suggested that he be neutered. However my breeder advised that all mini dachshund should not be neutered until 18month/2years. This is let their hormones settle and due to the link recently found between IVDD and early neutering.

Does anyone have any experience on having a mini dachshund neutered? Does early neutering cause problems mentally and physically? All research I have done so far specifically states that mini dachshunds should not be neutered and neutered at 18month/2years. My breeder also said that if they are neutered at young age, they will keep their mental state at the time of neutering forever so will never mature. My vet said that he is fine to be neutered from 6 months onwards but my breeder completely disagreed with this and claims that all vets don't understand mini dachshund needs. I'm unsure what to do, we don't want to breed from him and money is not a problem in terms of paying for the procedure. I don't want Arnie to be a forever sex pest as well. any thoughts and guidance would be much appreciated.


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## SingingWhippet (Feb 25, 2015)

Humping is not always a sexual behaviour and won't necessarily be helped by having him neutered anyway so I wouldn't be in a rush to get him done in the hope it'll be a quick fix.

If he's only doing it with the dogs at daycare then I'd hazard a guess that in his case it's either over excitement or stress. How much time is he spending at daycare and how is it run? Are all the dogs just together in a big group all the time?


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## Mwingli (Mar 27, 2016)

SingingWhippet said:


> Humping is not always a sexual behaviour and won't necessarily be helped by having him neutered anyway so I wouldn't be in a rush to get him done in the hope it'll be a quick fix.
> 
> If he's only doing it with the dogs at daycare then I'd hazard a guess that in his case it's either over excitement or stress. How much time is he spending at daycare and how is it run? Are all the dogs just together in a big group all the time?


Hi SingingWhippet,

This is Arnie's 3rd day. The set-up is pretty good, there a lot of different areas to separate dogs if needed. There is an area for puppies, smaller dogs, big dogs, agility, feeding area, puppy soft toy play zone and adult dog and puppy nap areas. Arnie is put with the puppies and the adult small dogs most of the time. Small dogs sometimes mix with the bigger dogs but that depends on the dog.

The owner of the doggy day care seem to think he is having a brilliant time as he has a lot of playmates.


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## Laney_Lemons (Mar 23, 2016)

My dog is 1.5yrs old and neutered.. apparently he likes to hump other dog be it male or female  (typical male *cough* lol)

it not a sexual thing apparently, i think he just gets over excited with so many other dogs to play with and in an environment he only goes to sometimes. so i don't think neutering will solve the problem especially if its excitement based which is most likely.


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## Mwingli (Mar 27, 2016)

Elaine2016 said:


> My dog is 1.5yrs old and neutered.. apparently he likes to hump other dog be it male or female  (typical male *cough* lol)
> 
> it not a sexual thing apparently, i think he just gets over excited with so many other dogs to play with and in an environment he only goes to sometimes. so i don't think neutering will solve the problem especially if its excitement based which is most likely.


Thanks Elaine2016. I am just concerned as I will still need to use doggy day care from time to time. Is there a way to deal with this over excitement? Am I more overly concerned than need be? I just want Arnie to grow up into a reasonably well behaved dog.


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## Magyarmum (Apr 27, 2015)

Humping isn't exclusive to males. My last three females humped when they were younger, but my male never has!


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## Laney_Lemons (Mar 23, 2016)

Im not overly concerned with my dog, although the owner of the day care didn't seem to bothered and said he gets a time out of sorts if hes too much to calm him down a bit. I

Aslong as he doesn't practice this at home / walks etc all the time I wouldn't be too overly concerned, I say hes just gets so excited with so many dogs / playing / smells etc this is how he is expressing his excitement.


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## Keith 66 (May 25, 2017)

Friends of mine had their GSP neutered because he humped the cat. He is now 11 & still humps the cat as often as he can.


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## MiffyMoo (Sep 15, 2015)

Magyarmum said:


> Humping isn't exclusive to males. My last three females humped when they were younger, but my male never has!


Lola still humps when she gets overexcited, and she'll be three in a few months


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## Lurcherlad (Jan 5, 2013)

What about employing a Dog Walker instead?


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## Guest (Jun 7, 2017)

My 6 year old bitch humps her bed most evenings. My one year old entire boy with hormones a-plenty has only ever humped once in his life (when he was playing with his brother at about 6 months old). 

Definitely sounds like over excitement.


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## Blitz (Feb 12, 2009)

There are a lot of people on here that do not believe any dog should be neutered until at least 18 months, nothing breed specific. In fact with a smaller breed they mature more quickly so can be neutered a bit younger.

Most vets like to see every dog neutered at 6 months.

So it is your choice, if you do it now you are not going to be going against the grain. Were you planning on doing it at some time or did you want to keep him entire. Why not wait a bit and see if the humping gets under control and if it is too much of a nuisance and you planned to neuter him anyway then go ahead a little earlier than your breeder likes but with the proviso in your mind that it might or might not stop the humping.


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## FeelTheBern (Jan 13, 2016)

Hunping is not necessarily a sexual behaviour-it can just be a sign of excitement. Perhaps you should wait a few months to see if this behaviour calms down, before considering neutering.


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## Mwingli (Mar 27, 2016)

Blitz said:


> There are a lot of people on here that do not believe any dog should be neutered until at least 18 months, nothing breed specific. In fact with a smaller breed they mature more quickly so can be neutered a bit younger.
> 
> Most vets like to see every dog neutered at 6 months.
> 
> So it is your choice, if you do it now you are not going to be going against the grain. Were you planning on doing it at some time or did you want to keep him entire. Why not wait a bit and see if the humping gets under control and if it is too much of a nuisance and you planned to neuter him anyway then go ahead a little earlier than your breeder likes but with the proviso in your mind that it might or might not stop the humping.


Hi Blitz,

There was some new evidence on the link between when dogs are neutered and the onset of IVDD, there was some other links to mental maturity as well discovered.

We were planning on having Arnie neutered after he reached 1 years old, or breeder said that all of pups eventually calm down at 1years old, at the moment he very much full of beans all the time. I think we got a little worried because the owner of the doggy day care mentioned it quite a few times to us as well as the other worker that picks him up and drops him off, insisting that he is "highly sexed" and should be neutered ASAP.

Arnie hasn't been a problem when he is around dogs during his walks and at his obedience class. He humped another dog during obedience class a month ago but stopped straight away when asked to stop and hasn't done it since.


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## MiffyMoo (Sep 15, 2015)

Mwingli said:


> Hi Blitz,
> 
> There was some new evidence on the link between when dogs are neutered and the onset of IVDD, there was some other links to mental maturity as well discovered.
> 
> ...


He may be quite stressed over the sheer number of other dogs there. Would it be feasible to hire a dog walker instead? I know that some dogs do really well at doggy day care, but other dogs absolutely hate it, as it really is a bit hectic.

https://positively.com/contributors/why-does-my-dog-hump-everything/


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## Mwingli (Mar 27, 2016)

MiffyMoo said:


> He may be quite stressed over the sheer number of other dogs there. Would it be feasible to hire a dog walker instead? I know that some dogs do really well at doggy day care, but other dogs absolutely hate it, as it really is a bit hectic.
> 
> https://positively.com/contributors/why-does-my-dog-hump-everything/


Hi - I've been away from 7.45am until 6pm and my partner has to leave home at 9am and is back 6.30pm, so a dog walker won't be enough. We normally have our in-laws look after him but they also have a few trips booked this summer. Unless you have any other suggestions we could look at? He can be left at home for 4hrs at a time but I wouldn't want him alone for a such a long time with a dog walker only coming to visit him once or twice a day.

He seems over the moon when he is picked up to go to doggy day care so we thought he was having a great time. We have had updates from the doggy day care owner and he didn't mention stress, he just said Arnie seemed really happy to have lots of playmates.


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## Jamesgoeswalkies (May 8, 2014)

Mwingli said:


> he just said Arnie seemed really happy to have lots of playmates.


Hmmm a dog seeming 'really happy' he has 'lots of playmates' is rather an anthropomorphic assessment of a dogs behaviour. I suspect 'over stimulated and can't stop playing' is a better assessment. And the humping would suggest that this makes Arnie a little stressed/ott.

Can he have quiet time at the doggy day care? On his own for a while? I would suggest this. I also would be a little concerned that someone running such a centre is unable to recognise the difference between being 'highly sexed' and 'over stimulated/stressed'.

As for neutering. This wouldn't stop stress humping (which is what he is doing). It will stop him being able to impregnate a female dog however .....I hope the doggy day care owner is being careful running bitches and entire males together.

J


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

I don't necessarily think that he has to wait until 18 months/2 years to be neutered. Small dogs are mature physically much earlier than larger breeds so therefore their hormones are going to settle quicker too. I think around 15 months is the right time for a male to be neutered if they're a small breed dog and you know you aren't going to use them as stud dogs.


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## Guest (Jun 8, 2017)

As others have said it could purely be down to him being too excited or simply overwhelmed. If he's not doing it at home then it's highly unlikely to be down to a sexual need which means getting him neutered won't have much effect. However you're pretty stuck if doggy day care is your only option as his behaviour may continue regardless of what you do.

I took Star to doggy day care for a day on Tuesday so we could pack up the house as we're moving. The lady who worked there was quick to tell me how well Star had done and how much fun she had despite it being her first day. However when we got her out of the car she was drinking out of puddles and absolutely quenched for water which leads me to believe she hadn't had a drink all day. She also came into the house and weed three times in half an hour so she mustn't have had any outdoor access or it just taught her that she can wee wherever. She's fine now and back to telling us when she needs to go out. I was supposed to be taking her again when we move but now I don't know what to do.


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## Wiz201 (Jun 13, 2012)

Having a dog walker visit might actually encourage him to settle in between? He can always be entertained with a suitable stuffed kong.


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## Mwingli (Mar 27, 2016)

Hi Everyone,

And update to this situation....I agree that the doggy day care set up has stressed Arnie which has lead to him humping. The owner of the doggy day sent me a number of texts me on Friday afternoon to tell me that Arnie is constantly "at it". He doesn't want to nap because he's too excited and constantly wants to play, and when they separate him to let him calm down he constantly barks and upsets all the other dogs. They also sent me a lovely video of Arnie humping a much bigger dog and I can hear voices of people giggling in the background of said video and he finishes off his last text by informing me that Arnie banned from their establishment because he upset all the other dogs with his barking.

So I'm annoyed, they couldn't even man up to call me that Arnie couldn't come but decided to dump me via text. On top of that Arnie has been very timid and withdrawn over the weekend, but he seems to be on his way back to his old self, he also seems a bit scared of eating his food.

The lesson learned here is to be much more cautious of who can look after Arnie. Thanks for everyone's comments on this thread, we are still sticking to our guns on having him neutered at 18 months.


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