# Shar-pei turning nasty



## chestersmum (Sep 18, 2009)

Hi All

My sister has a 2 1/2 year old shar-pei , hasnt been neutured and recently has started showing signs of agression towards her & her family.

I suggested she take him to the vet but she said she had spoken to the vet who said that neuturing wouldn't make any difference to his behaviour. 
Do you think he is too old for neuturing? I have also given her the number of an excellent trainer but I dont think she will call him.

Any advice anyone?

thanks
Nikki


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## Dundee (Oct 20, 2008)

No it's not too late to neuter him, and no, neutering alone will not help this problem, and really only helps behavioural problems associated with male dog on dog aggression. That said, I think it would probably be wise to neuter him anyway - it won't do him any harm and there won't be any opportunity for accidents and passing in of poor temperament.

I would find a qualified behaviourist asap - your sisters vet should be able to refer her.


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## welshdoglover (Aug 31, 2009)

Just a suggestion.. has she taken him to the vet to see if the dog has an underlying medical problem that could be causing the aggression? He could be in pain and this would make anyone tetchier than usual.


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## Colliepoodle (Oct 20, 2008)

The vet is right.

She needs to seek the advice of a good trainer/behaviourist - nobody can really help over the net.


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## chestersmum (Sep 18, 2009)

thanks all for your replies

will try to get her to take him to the vet


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## moboyd (Sep 29, 2009)

I would definately take him to the vet to see if they are any medical reasons why he is behaving this way, and no he is not to old to neuter, we have just had our oldest done at 8 years and I am amazed at the change in him. although I would say he never showed any aggression whatsoever to people.

Mo


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## chestersmum (Sep 18, 2009)

Thanks Mo, I have told my sister that, after all changes in behavour can happen at any age. Hopefully she will get him sorted out soon, he is such a sweetheart with me but i think that is because I make such a fuss of him and thats all he wants..some attention :-(


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

Hi. As the others have said, neutering will not cure this problem, but by removing the testorone, it can calm him down.

That said, she still needs to see a behaviourist.

Unless there is something medicial, and in nearly all cases it is not. then the problem is the dog see's itself as "alpha" and is treating the rest of the family as subordinates.

This is usually caused, by lack of discipline, structured walks, training, rules and consistancy in the house, too much attention and fuss when the dog demands it.

The good news is, it is easily fixed, but requires 100% dedication and committment to re-aligning the pack status.

You need a behaviourist who understands about pack mentatality, not a trainer. A trainer "trains", this dog does not need training, but needs to be shown his place in the pack. Training is good for working alongside behavioural problems, but it is not a substitute.

Best of luck 
x


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

chestersmum said:


> Thanks Mo, I have told my sister that, after all changes in behavour can happen at any age. Hopefully she will get him sorted out soon, he is such a sweetheart with me but i think that is because I make such a fuss of him and thats all he wants..some attention :-(


This is not correct. I don't know why the dog is ok with you, if all you do is fuss him. It is usually too much fuss that allows the dog to believe he is "top dog". If you look at a pack of dogs, they do not fuss each other like we do. Sure they give each other attention, but fussing is human psychology, not dog.


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## goodvic2 (Nov 23, 2008)

chestersmum said:


> Hi All
> 
> My sister has a 2 1/2 year old shar-pei , hasnt been neutured and recently has started showing signs of agression towards her & her family.
> 
> ...


Just thought of something else. Remind your sister that if she doesn't "bother" sorting out this problem, she may end up putting him down. These dogs were bred for fighting and you do not want one of these turning aggressive.

x


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## moboyd (Sep 29, 2009)

toally agree with this, it is not something that will be cured through neutering, neutering will help take the edge off him, but his behaviour needs sorting out as soon as possible. as mentioned these were bred to fight and can do a lot of damage.

Mo


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## icanneverthinkofagoodname (Aug 16, 2009)

Shar Peis are notoriously difficult dogs. 

I agree with the advice here- she needs to seek help from a behaviourist and sooner rather than later.

Hopefully this will be one dog that is kept out of the rescue system. 

Thank you so much for coming on here and asking for advice.


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## lemmsy (May 12, 2008)

Colliepoodle said:


> The vet is right.
> 
> She needs to seek the advice of a good trainer/behaviourist - nobody can really help over the net.


I would agree. 
Neutering could have adverse effects depending on what is causing the aggression. 
If it is fear, it could worsen the problem for instance.

Best of luck


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## Midge1 (Sep 23, 2009)

Hi 

I totally agree with all the posts on here, seek the advice of a good behaviourits, this does not necessarily have to be one who is experienced in aggression as I feel this is not just an aggression issue.

It appears to be more about a dog trying its luck within its pack structure, Unless it is guided in the correct way it will continue to try its luck,which may lead to further problems. If you have ever shared a house with a teenager you will see an uncanny likeness in the behaviour of the two. Its about asserting authority, pushing and testing, mixed with a little aggression! All perfectly normal, but unacceptable behaviour. 

I would urge never to ignore these early signs and to seek advice as early as possible, it is in my experience as a beahaviour consultant that due to the nature of the dog things rarely get better on their own and can in some cases very quickly become out of control sadly with a very sad outcome for both dog and owner.


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2009)

Castration is not guaranteed to curb dogs behaviour problems, your vet will discuss this with you in depth, also any underlying health problems need investigating. I would say though that now is the right time to get this done as he is fully grown. I am guessing he is spoilt and is establishing himself as the leader of the pack. A good behaviourist could help, but be very caredul choosing one of these as many seem to go strickly by the book and all dogs are different, One by referel would be my advice.


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## moboyd (Sep 29, 2009)

Sadly the OP stated in their initial post that she has already given the sister a number of an excellent trainer, but dosnt think the sister will take the dog?, the OP poster also mentioned that the sister had spoken to the vet who said neutering will not help? unfortuantely I find this a little odd a vet saying this, many vets would prefer dogs to be neutered from my experience, and would advise a dog to be done, because it does help "calm" a dog? so it seems to me the sister may be allowing the dog free reign and now its asserting itself, the sister may not want to neuter it and is possibly saying the vet said not too, for reason I can only assume are that they may want to use the dog at stud at a later date because of the breed it is?

Mo


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## Guest (Oct 5, 2009)

moboyd said:


> Sadly the OP stated in their initial post that she has already given the sister a number of an excellent trainer, but dosnt think the sister will take the dog?, the OP poster also mentioned that the sister had spoken to the vet who said neutering will not help? unfortuantely I find this a little odd a vet saying this, many vets would prefer dogs to be neutered from my experience, and would advise a dog to be done, because it does help "calm" a dog? so it seems to me the sister may be allowing the dog free reign and now its asserting itself, the sister may not want to neuter it and is possibly saying the vet said not too, for reason I can only assume are that they may want to use the dog at stud at a later date because of the breed it is?
> 
> Mo


Sorry, but castration is not guaranteed to calm a dog down, my vet specifically made me aware of this when I was considering having a dog with similar problems castrated many years ago. I certainly feel that entire dogs should be castrated if there are no intentions of breeding from them, and by reading the original post I certainly think that this particular dog should be done due to the temperment issues that it has, as obviously it is not sound breeding stock and certainly should not be breed from.


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## moboyd (Sep 29, 2009)

I agree its not guaranteed, but there is a strong likelyhood that if you remove the drive from teststerone in the dogs body it can assist, if and its a big if the behaviour IS caused by teststerone it would be sensible to remove it, even if its only a small part of the problem. it would help by neutering, I have a 9 year old here, he has always been very dominant and challenting, I showed him so had to have him entire, but I retired him last year and had him neutered at the age of 8, I wasnt sure if it would make any difference, as he had had 8 years to learn his behaviour, but I can honestly say hand on haeart the change has been amazing, he is calmer, not challenging, even with the other dogs he has calmed, and when the girls are in season, he is not bothered whatsoever its been fantastic. edited to add one of the other reasons I never had him neutered, was in the early days I had him injected with if I remember the name correctly Tadart? this was "supposed" to act like he had been neutered, and I was told by the vet if the injection made no changes then the likelyhood of being neutered would make no changes, it didnt effect him in the slightest, but the neutering has.


Mo


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## james1 (Sep 21, 2008)

Not read all of this. 
I did a little reading on them a while ago and everything i read told me they are a highly independent breed and owners should either have good experience of dominant dogs or be able to be a natural leader in exerting authority in knowing how to control them. Id say dont repeat commands if she doesnt do as you ask first effort, walk away/ignore. If shes playing up chill her out in a crate, dont praise when you see bad behaviour and praise well when she does as you say - dont coddle her as shes basically not working for the praise. Keep her on a leash if your having issues with other dogs and use a leave command if so, but you have to make her understand what you want - dont expect her to know what your asking


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## lauren001 (Jun 30, 2008)

It is a bit worrying that a lady with children is not willing to take an aggressive dog to a trainer to try and get it sorted out.

I would definitely try and persuade her to do this. I wouldn't like to see it pts just for the want of a few training sessions.


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## chestersmum (Sep 18, 2009)

Thank you to everyone for all your posts. I am going to try and talk (again) to my sister and try and make her see sense


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## kazschow (Oct 23, 2008)

Is the dog insured? If so, check the policy, a vet referred behaviourist may be included.. the thought of not paying the full amount may be an incentive to your sister to seek help.

I also don't think caastration is the answer to this problem.


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