# Neutering your Golden



## carolinehansen (Sep 16, 2015)

What do you mean by creating problems? Just humping?


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## awillis (Apr 17, 2016)

Yes, he will hump any female.


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

Unless all the females are in heat, this isn't a sex hormone related issue. It's likely just training. He needs to be taught that it's not acceptable behavior. My spayed female dog is our worst humper. My male golden never did it except a handful of times during over exhuberant play and he wasn't neutered until he was over 2.


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## awillis (Apr 17, 2016)

My vet recommended it since I was not going to breed him. Just wanted some opinions from others who had neutered their dog. Did it have any major change in their behavior or personality. Thanks


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## Charliethree (Jul 18, 2010)

Dogs don't become over weight couch potatoes all by themselves. I have a neutered golden, almost 9 years old, and not at all an over weight dog. I am careful what I feed him for treats, and measure how much food he gets in his bowl. I also insure that he gets enough and appropriate physical and mental exercise for his age.
Humping can be anxiety/stress related, a behavior seen more often in less confident dogs, who are conflicted/unsure about how to be 'socially appropriate' when interacting with other dogs.


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

He actually doesn't get along with other male dogs quite as well. I'm glad we waited until he was physically matured. I think it definitely affected his development.


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

Noah is 15 months old and intact, and he definitely is interested in girls. We've decided to wait until his growth plates close at 2 years old before neutering, and now we're thinking not at all. We're making this decision based on what we believe is best for his long term health, and it's a personal decision for each person and their dog. 

We also sometimes have "challenges" in his interest with females, but I don't let him practice behaviors that we don't want. If he is insistent, he is removed immediately from the situation, and playtime is over for him. 

It is more management, but training is forever, IMHO, and he's learning that his fun ends when he acts inappropriately.


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## tennessee_rose (Apr 7, 2014)

My dog was neutered at around 7 or 8 mos old. He did not become lazy afterwards at all. He did stop a lot of the humping & snarling and other annoying dominance behavior, but it took a few weeks. It's not an overnight fix but it definitely helped a lot. You need to work on training too. My dog calmed down a lot when he got to be about a year & a half old. I was debating when to get my dog fixed too, but I just couldn't handle it anymore with the humping and hyperness so I took him to get it done and was really glad I did. He was still his usual self afterwards (and still is), just with less of the dominance stuff. Neutering also helps to prevent cancer, and that's important. 
My husband had a female dog once that he didn't get spayed til it was around 7 yrs old or so, after she'd had a litter of pups, and she did get super fat & lazy afterwards. But in my young Golden male, hardly any change at all. He's 2 yrs old now and still super playful & active... just not ANNOYINGLY so


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## West1134 (Nov 3, 2014)

You'll get lots of opinions on this topic, and in the end you need to do what is right for your family / situation.

From our experience, getting our Golden neutered around 10 months, was that it absolutely did not make him a couch potato, he still has stupid energy, and hasn't changed much at all. The biggest thing we saw, was once the hormones subsided (took a month or two after the surgery to really balance out) he was a bit calmer, and the barking, and humping all but went away. Partly neutering, partly continued training, partly aging.

Overall, zero regrets for our family, and being able to take him to any daycare, dog park, etc. is nice since he is neutered.

Good luck with the decision!


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## cmsims (Mar 16, 2016)

ArchersMom said:


> Unless all the females are in heat, this isn't a sex hormone related issue. It's likely just training. He needs to be taught that it's not acceptable behavior. My spayed female dog is our worst humper. My male golden never did it except a handful of times during over exhuberant play and he wasn't neutered until he was over 2.


*Training to ignore hormones*.... I once read a study involving 50 high school aged males that participated in a class to teach them to do this. All 50 refrained from pursuing females because it was unacceptable by their parents. :doh:


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## Max's Dad (Apr 23, 2012)

Max was neutered at 8 months. It definitely reduced the humping and improved his behavior at dog park. He did not gain weight. He is now 5 years old and doing very well.


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## ArchersMom (May 22, 2013)

cmsims said:


> *Training to ignore hormones*.... I once read a study involving 50 high school aged males that participated in a class to teach them to do this. All 50 refrained from pursuing females because it was unacceptable by their parents. :doh:


I said trained not to express a behavior. The hormones are all still there. Unless you think it's sex hormones driving dogs to hump dogs of the same sex.


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## Altairss (Sep 7, 2012)

it depends on the dog, I have seen neutering help and I have seen it not make one whiff of difference. Several still did it and with one his humping behavior was worse. Boots was neutered at age one just before I got him and only with a ton of training (when he did not stop after the hormones had time to clear) did he finally learn he was not to do it that I found it unacceptable. Lots of redirect and training I put him to work each and every time he did it. Its tough and takes consistency some get it right away he took a couple months. He did still occasionally when off leash try it even when he was 7 years old. For him it was behavioral and happened when he was over excited or stressed. At that point all I had to do was say no and he stopped.

You can try and see if training and redirect works with him it usually takes a couple of weeks with you interrupting and putting him to work. And really work the brain make sure what you do is a big enough redirect. I would spend about 3 minutes or more working Boots to make sure he was fully focused on me. I would move quickly into a serious of tricks or a quick moving heeling pattern. If my daughter had the agility equipment up we would do a couple minutes of that. If your dog fetches try that.

it also helps to make sure he is well exercised so he is not putting pent up energy into this behavior into this activity. In the end do what feels right to you but understand that neutering may not get rid of the behavior.


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## Alaska7133 (May 26, 2011)

I think it makes a difference to neuter along with training. I would definitely work on training. Keep him on a leash in the house. When he acts up towards another male, make him understand it's unacceptable. Get ahold of the leash, call him to you, reel him in if you have to. Have him sit and stay. Correct him. Limit his access to other dogs unless you can be there to correct him. Goldens are smart. They learn quickly what is acceptable and what is not. By correcting him and stopping the behavior, you set a limit for him. Neutering will also help his attraction to females tremendously.


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## gold4me (Mar 12, 2006)

We have had 5 male goldens over the years. None of our males were neutered until after 2+ years so they could completely mature. We just did not allow humping and after awhile it did not happen. It was more of a dominance issue rather than sexual issue. We did not breed our boys but still followed the recommendations of our breeders to wait for full maturity. Our boys never marked in the house and we just stayed away from any female in season. There is a lot of great research as to the benefits of waiting.


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## Bentman2 (Sep 30, 2013)

Bentley will be 3 in June and is still intact. He is very high energy and tends to get excited around other dogs that are noisy and rowdy. I don't take him to the dog park for that reason. He tends to be to himself when I do but I know what breeds that he does not like their behavior around, so he leaves then. I don't think his behavior is driven by being intact but by training. His breeder does not neuter her males unless there is a medical need to do so. So I tend to think that males should not be neutered arbitrarily.


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## Prism Goldens (May 27, 2011)

awillis said:


> My vet recommended it since I was not going to breed him. Just wanted some opinions from others who had neutered their dog. Did it have any major change in their behavior or personality. Thanks


It's not a matter of whether you'll breed him or not- once he reaches sexual maturity (and someone else already pointed out this is not a sexual thing but instead a behavioral thing) then is the time to neuter him. There is good evidence that early (before sex hormones are a part of his life) neuters' long bone development is not halted as it should be at puberty, and therefore they grow too long, which can cause all sorts of joint issues. So just try to wait another 6 months or so and invest a lot of time in training, socializing. And google 'long bone neuter Golden retriever ' and one or more of the studies will come up for you to print for your vet who may not know of the latest and greatest knowledge on the topic.


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## Lise123 (Jan 1, 2014)

We were concerned that neutering would change our dog, but it didn't change anything. He was well-mannered before (no humping or marking in the house), and he's still as full of energy afterward. He likes to be with me when he's off-leash, but there's not any more marked tendency to stick around.

He's also just as goofy and naughty as ever.

My boy was neutered around 13 months, and he's almost 2.5 now. He is a stocky, block-headed guy with very solid bones.

We chose to neuter because he loved playing with other dogs, and we needed to use daycare and overnight boarding from time to time. It made the most sense for our family overall.


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## Bentman2 (Sep 30, 2013)

Lise123, has your boy maintained his weight since he was neutered? Bentley is about 6 months older than your boy and really has not gained much weight (8 lbs) since he was 13 months old. He is now 104 lbs but just a large boned and muscular dog. Post a picture of you boy, please.


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## CAROLINA MOM (May 12, 2009)

I currently have a 7 yr. old male golden that is neutered, my Bridge boy was neutered also. Neither of them gained a lot of weight afterwards or had a weight problem, they both remained very active. 

As long as you watch how much food you are feeding, what you are feeding them including treats, and they are getting enough exercise, they don't become overweight.


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## Merlin2015 (Apr 24, 2016)

My vet has told me to have him done when he's seven months , he's five months now are there any health risks having him done so early apart from possible weight gain


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## rabernet (Feb 24, 2015)

Hi Merlin - ultimately, it's a personal choice when you neuter, but current studies seem to indicate that it's best, particularly with Goldens, to wait until 18 months to 2 years old. You can Google Delayed Nueter and you'll pull up a lot of information to read over and decide for yourself. 

Here are a few links to get you started: 

http://www.saveadog.org/Documents/EffectsOfSpayNeuter.pdf

Study: Neutering Is a Serious Problem for Golden Retrievers

Early Spay Neuter: 3 Reasons To Reconsider

Your Dog Needs To Be Spayed Or Neutered - Right? - Dogs Naturally Magazine


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## Merlin2015 (Apr 24, 2016)

Thanks for the information


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## Merlin2015 (Apr 24, 2016)

rabernet said:


> Hi Merlin - ultimately, it's a personal choice when you neuter, but current studies seem to indicate that it's best, particularly with Goldens, to wait until 18 months to 2 years old. You can Google Delayed Nueter and you'll pull up a lot of information to read over and decide for yourself.
> 
> Here are a few links to get you started:
> 
> ...


Thank you rabernet


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