Abrams will be 2 years old in April, and I'm highly considering getting him neutered shortly thereafter (if not sooner). Obviously, neutering is very...irreversible and I want to make sure I'm making the most informed decision possible.
I've read most of the literature available and even some behind the scenes discussions on the Veterinary Information Network, and I am comfortable with health-related issues neutering him around 24 months. But that isn't really where I'm hesitating. I'm more curious about how neutering him will affect his behavior.
In some of my research, I feel like I read somewhere that neutering can exacerbate fearful behavior? My childhood dog and my Grandmother's yorkie were both neutered around 3 years of age. I didn't notice anything adverse because of the neuters - my lab calmed down a LOT (he had a hard time focusing and kept mounting my younger siblings) and Cooper stopped marking in the house. They didn't develop any weird personality quirks or fears.
While Abrams isn't fearful, he's always been a bit dramatic about certain things. I never really noticed any change in this as he's matured other than him gaining confidence to investigate what he's being dramatic about (as a wee pup he'd startle, run away from what startled him, and then investigate once he had backup [me ha]...now he'll jump to alert and confidently investigate without the initial flight response), and I don't want neutering him to cause him to revert, if that makes sense.
I AM hoping that neutering him will help him stop being such a butt. He's become progressively more annoying with Cynder (and other dogs - crap, even Histamine) by sniffing, chittering, drooling, and zoning out while doing all of the above. It's starting to drive me batty. He redirects well, but it's the fact that I *have* to redirect him so much that irritates me. He's even started to break a retrieve when Cynder pees and he feels the need to smell/drool/chitter mark it, and he blocks out *everything* when we play fetch.
I'm leaning towards getting him altered...just want to make the right decision!
So....thoughts? Personal experiences? Opinions? Any studies done on the issue?
I've read most of the literature available and even some behind the scenes discussions on the Veterinary Information Network, and I am comfortable with health-related issues neutering him around 24 months. But that isn't really where I'm hesitating. I'm more curious about how neutering him will affect his behavior.
In some of my research, I feel like I read somewhere that neutering can exacerbate fearful behavior? My childhood dog and my Grandmother's yorkie were both neutered around 3 years of age. I didn't notice anything adverse because of the neuters - my lab calmed down a LOT (he had a hard time focusing and kept mounting my younger siblings) and Cooper stopped marking in the house. They didn't develop any weird personality quirks or fears.
While Abrams isn't fearful, he's always been a bit dramatic about certain things. I never really noticed any change in this as he's matured other than him gaining confidence to investigate what he's being dramatic about (as a wee pup he'd startle, run away from what startled him, and then investigate once he had backup [me ha]...now he'll jump to alert and confidently investigate without the initial flight response), and I don't want neutering him to cause him to revert, if that makes sense.
I AM hoping that neutering him will help him stop being such a butt. He's become progressively more annoying with Cynder (and other dogs - crap, even Histamine) by sniffing, chittering, drooling, and zoning out while doing all of the above. It's starting to drive me batty. He redirects well, but it's the fact that I *have* to redirect him so much that irritates me. He's even started to break a retrieve when Cynder pees and he feels the need to smell/drool/chitter mark it, and he blocks out *everything* when we play fetch.
I'm leaning towards getting him altered...just want to make the right decision!
So....thoughts? Personal experiences? Opinions? Any studies done on the issue?