 Barked: Fri Dec 28, '12 10:29am PST |
 | |  | | Charlie Chaplin, what people mean is that behaviors that start out more hormonally-driven (you know, the typical stuff which for males can include humping, marking, even escaping, roaming, aggression) -- can become "also" a habit for the dog, which then is harder to correct, even after a later neuter. In other words, if a dog starts habitually humping, for example, neutering might not fix the behavior. Whereas, had the dog been neutered at a younger age, he might not have started humping ever. (That's hard to know though; as you can't go back in time, neuter younger, and find out!)
But sometimes, of course, if a dog does start "those" behaviors, a later neuter does solve the problem.
It's just hard to predict in the individual dog the behavioral effects of a neuter and how the effects will vary according to the age at which the procedure is done.
Anecdotally, I've had male dogs neutered as puppies, and one at the age of 1 year. None of them have shown any humping or marking or such. But then again, would they have, if they'd been neutered later, or not at all? No way to know! |  |  | |  |
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