# Neutered pup crazier than before....



## sarah70 (Feb 12, 2011)

I've posted before about the little man, he's nippy, jumpy and very energetic. Exhausting actually!

I had him neutered a week ago and since he just seems to have gone crazy. If we let him outside he barks and barks, digs, whines to come in, throws himself at the door...so we let him in, he goes crazy...knocks over tables, nips at my 7 year old, chases the cats...is ripping everything apart...i'm telling him "no" every five minutes. Dont get me wrong, he did all this before but he seems ten times worse since his operation, he just doesn't stop now.

Is this normal? I was under the impression it calmed them down? (He's 8 months by the way, terrier mix).


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## Guest (Jul 8, 2011)

neutering can calm dogs down but certainly not in a week! it can take months before the hormones leave the body.
He shouldn't be allowed to run about like that after an op. If you can't control it then he should be crated to prevent injury.
Have you tried to mentally control his excitement with some fun training? He sounds like a normal puppy with lots of pent up energy to me and is displaying this behaviour because he doesn't have anywhere else to direct the energy.


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## Sleeping_Lion (Mar 19, 2009)

This is completely normal for a young dog, it's just lacking in social skills and training I'm afraid. That's not to say you don't do any with him, just that people often under estimate how hard work individual characters can be. 

Neutering is not guaranteed to calm down behaviour, not even sexually related behaviour. It can help, but often it can also exacerbate a problem as well. 

He may well mature into a more laid back character, but realistically, you can only judge that by looking at his parents, and their parents, that gives you an *idea* of the sort of characters he's from, and what he could turn out to be like.


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

As sleeping lion said, he seems to be lacking in doggy manners and a bit of training.

What training have you done with him? Do you do any formal/informal training with him?

i.e. He has to sit and wait for you to open the door before he's allowed to greet people, he has to sit at the curb before crossing the road, has to give paw or something before having his dinner etc ?


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

I'll tell you what our routine is during the day, dogs (like children) like routine, it makes them feel safe and secure.

7:00am, wake up and breakfast 7:15 - 7:30 outside. From 7:30 - 8:00 they are locked in the kitchen, whilst the kids have breakfast in the front room then they're allowed in

8:45 - 9:30 they are on their own while I do the school run, then they have free roam of the house.

12:00 they are locked in the kitchen again for an hour while my daughter has lunch then they have free roam of the house

2:30 - 3:30 Pup is on his own while I take Duke on the school run

4:00: Dinner then 4:15 - 4:30 outside, then free roam of the house for an hour until our dinner time at 5:30 then are locked in the kitchen

6:30 - 7:30 Take both of them out, we carry pup as he's not had his vaccines and take them both to the park opposite where we meet alot of other dogs and they can run offlead there.

Again, when they get back they have an hour in the kitchen to calm down and be by themselves, all evening they have free roam of the house.

Things I always get them to do:

Sit before crossing the street, sit and wait for their dinner until I say "okay", sit and wait whilst I open back and front door to let them go out, I'm sure there are other things but I can't remember 

Oh sit still whilst putting on a lead before going on a walk, and once a day for Duke I do like a formal training, sit, stay, wait, down, beg, close, etc for 5 minutes. For the pup we're just doing recall, 4 times a day lasting for about 5 minutes each depending on his concentration.

Have you tried doing a recall game with him? Giving him a kong stuffed with peanut butter, or those treat balls where you can put his dinner in and he has to move it to make the biscuits come out


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## Little_em00 (Jun 14, 2011)

I have a jrt x who is 5 months and I find the longer he's been walked the calmer he is in the house. I find that walking through our town with him takes more of his energy than a walk somewhere secluded. So I like to mix up our days of a walk in town in the am, home then play and training throughout the day then a walk around a field or quiet village. If my kids are too tired for a walk and my husband is away we do training in the garden and ball throwing which really tires him out!


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## GoldenShadow (Jun 15, 2009)

It will take longer than a week to calm down, my golden was neutered at 10 months old and he was easily 18 months old before I saw any change.

I have to say I don't like routine for dogs. I find it makes them clingy and expectant of what is happening and I like my dogs to cope with change and different goings on every day. Puppies are different but at 8 months old he's kind of moving out of that phase. I hate beggy dogs at tea time and walk time. Mine just accept whatever happens will happen at whatever time. This is just my dogs though I feel Rupert would be very dependent on people should he have a regular routine and that get broken, I like having an independent dog who doesn't worry if something changes.

Re training/stimulation, I'd pick something easy to start with that you know he is capable of and work from there. Ie. can he do a sit stay? If so get him to do that and build on it.

Anything like that is mentally tiring for them and it sounds like he could do with a bit of mental stimulation. Get him to do little sequences and leadwork outside with you rewarding when he gets it right. If he is very food oriented I'm sure he'll be just desperate to get things right first time which makes it a lot easier


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

i had a similar experience only jake was a very well behaved dog before being neutered, people were always commenting on how good he was - even the trainers at classes. about 2 days after being neutered he was a dog i didn`t recognise and i was tearing my hair out thinking the vet had sent me home with a different dog  it was like a sudden last ditch release of hormones and he just HAD to go nuts and get it out of his system but 2 months on and he`s returning to the same calm and loving dog he was before he was neutered - he`ll still have the few odd loopy moments but nowhere near as bad as he was when it was first done. i`ve actually found he`s become a lot more clingy to me also since he`s calmed down. as the others have said it can take a while for the hormones to settle after having it done, i swear if someone had told me it can send them nuts for a while i`d have thought twice at the time  you did say your pup already had a few issues so it might be you need to also address those before you notice a real difference also? i`m not sure, i didn`t neuter to calm my boy down as he was already so laid back he was horizontal :lol: i was kinda told if i didn`t have him fixed i couldn`t adopt syd (then again they let me take syd home the week before jake was neutered and have never contacted me since so in effect i actually could have)


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## metaldog (Nov 11, 2009)

sarah70 said:


> I've posted before about the little man, he's nippy, jumpy and very energetic. Exhausting actually!
> 
> I had him neutered a week ago and since he just seems to have gone crazy. I*f we let him outside he barks and barks, digs, whines to come in, throws himself at the door...so we let him in, he goes crazy...knocks over tables, nips at my 7 year old, chases the cats...is ripping everything apart...*i'm telling him "no" every five minutes. Dont get me wrong, he did all this before but he seems ten times worse since his operation, he just doesn't stop now.
> 
> Is this normal? I was under the impression it calmed them down? (*He's 8 months by the way, terrier mix)*.


This is all completely normal terrier behaviour. Terriers are as mad as puppies even when they're 15 years old. There's never a dull moment though and they are comedy genius  You can help to control his behaviour with reward based obedience training, brain games and tons of exercise then he should be more manageable.

Can we have photos of the little imp please


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## itsadogslife (Apr 11, 2010)

I suspect the naughty behaviour is a direct result of him not getting his usual exercise since the operation. 

From reading your routine, it looks like the dogs don't have a walk in the mornings, just in the evening? I have a 10 month old entire bitch GR puppy here at the moment and she would go up the wall if she couldn't have her walk in the morning. Just for mental stimulation alone, I think they need a walk in the morning, as they wake up full of beans.

I'm not sure that neutering really calms dogs down really. Well, it doesn't change their personality anyway... I really do think vets have something to answer for when advising owners, the earlier they get rid of their reproductive parts the better! 

I think if you make sure he gets a good walk inthe morning as well as at night, this should help him to calm down a little. Also, go back to square one with his training, as he's entering the "teenage" phase and most things seem to go flying out of the window at this time :mad2:

I'm sure things will get easier, good luck!


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## NicoleW (Aug 28, 2010)

I wasn't the op, just giving an example of my routine. My dog has never been "full of beans", or hyper or excited that much. So there has never been a real need to walk him in the morning, he is 13 months old now but even since we first got him at 14 weeks old he's been the same, has breakfast, have a stroke, toilet time and back to sleep mostly.


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

itsadogslife said:


> I'm not sure that neutering really calms dogs down really. Well, it doesn't change their personality anyway... I really do think vets have something to answer for when advising owners, the earlier they get rid of their reproductive parts the better!


sorry but i have to completely disagree with that, neutering CAN alter a dogs personality as you`re taking away the production of hormones. i`ve heard of dogs both changing for the better AND worse from being neutered - i actually know of one who became extremely aggressive afterwards but was a well balanced and trained dog beforehand, it took months of working with a behaviorist to get him back to the dog he once was. it`s a bit of a sweeping statement saying it doesn`t change their personality, that may be your opinion and your experience but it isn`t always the case!


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## Malmum (Aug 1, 2010)

Def takes a while for the hormones to completely leave his system. I also would have waited for him to mature a bit longer in case he retains his puppy traits. T-Bo is a jrt mix and he'll be getting done at 18 months just like Flynn. T-Bo is currently going through a nervy phase and if I had him done now I feel he may never get out of it, so I like to let them grow up properly before being neutered.

Hopefully your little guy will settle and his boisterousness will not be exaggerated by being neutered at 8 months. Time will tell and I think we're talking at least four - six weeks.


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## itsadogslife (Apr 11, 2010)

Leah84 said:


> sorry but i have to completely disagree with that, neutering CAN alter a dogs personality as you`re taking away the production of hormones. i`ve heard of dogs both changing for the better AND worse from being neutered - i actually know of one who became extremely aggressive afterwards but was a well balanced and trained dog beforehand, it took months of working with a behaviorist to get him back to the dog he once was. it`s a bit of a sweeping statement saying it doesn`t change their personality, that may be your opinion and your experience but it isn`t always the case!


Well I can only comment on my experience and of the experience of those I know with neutered dogs. Sometimes it is most definitely the worst thing to neuter an already nervous dog because that dog needs all the testosterone he can get just to get through life!

With my neutered male here at the mo, he was a great big goofball before castration, and he's still a great big goofball at 5 1/2 (castrated at 18 months). The castration has taken away his urges in the sexual department (although when my bitch is in season, he has a VERY good nose) but he is just as bouncy and mad as ever!

So my point is that if the dog's personality is outgoing and is hitting a teenage phase, taking the hormones away isn't necessarily the cure-all the vets will tell you - better to go back to square one with training and get the dog through the phase. I'm not saying I'm against castration, I know about dog's urges (and bitches for that matter) but do not agree that whipping off the testicles is always the best option at this age unless the dog is showing aggression or being over-sexualised.

I had a puppy I bred returned to me at 9 months. He is a large breed gundog, and had hit his teenage phase, and was generally an active pup. So the owners on the advice of their vet castrated him at 7 months, thinking it would calm him down - NOPE!! So they called me, and I took him back. It became obvious from the first minute that they weren't meeting the needs of this dog. He had NO idea what he was supposed to do. It didn't take long, with regular walks and my dog/me showing him how to behave - what a beautiful dog, who was robbed of his manhood just because the owners couldn't be bothered to put the time in with him. This pup was no problem AT ALL - he got what he needed and didn't give me a moment's worry while he was here...

The dog will mature in time and calm down anyway - better to put some extra work in and end up with a better trained individual imo. i've also heard that castrating while the dog is displaying negative behaviour will "fix" the dog at that phase.


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## Leah84 (Jun 22, 2009)

yes i agree with you that neutering when they hit the teenage phase is never gonna be the solution, the dog needs to go back to basics training wise - by all means neuter if you wish but never expect that to do the work for you and i don`t think vets do stress that it`s not the cure for bad behavior - at the same time my vet will always tell people there`s never any guarantee when it comes to the way neutering may or may not alter their dog which i think is why i like him so much, he`s very blunt and to the point but also very honest 

i think i was more meaning my last post in the sense that removing the part of the dog that produces testosterone CAN sometimes alter them - as i said jake was a fantastic dog and he went crazy after being neutered but as the hormones are dying down he`s slowly coming back to normal again, that`s 2 months after neutering so it can adversely effect behavior during that raging hormone stage. the op only had her dog neutered a week ago and he still had some problems before hand so i reckon the best thing to do is try to focus on those problems now and give the dog some time to adjust to the lack of hormones


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