Many concerns with this one.

KaiserTheYorkie

Hello all, I've recently adopted a Yorkie, but a few things about him are bothering me.

1.) Recently he's only eating half (or less) of his food (for about a week.) He still has his energy, but he's eating less than half of the recommended serving.

2.) Ok..He humps a lot of things (towels, blankets, etc.) I stop him just as he starts, but he continues to do it. He acted like he was going to hump our miniature dachshund a couple of times today. I'm curious if he's ever going to get out of this or if getting him neutered is the solution (Really would like to try to avoid it.)

2.1) He also has started urinating on one particular wall, but I've heard from friends/family that getting them neutered doesn't fix this problem.

Thanks in advance,

-Mikael

briteday

How old is the dog, is it neutered, and has the dog seen a vet?

KaiserTheYorkie

6 months old, no, and yes (but not recently..I'd say about 2 months ago was his last visit.)

briteday

Not that it will stop the marking behavior on the wall but at 6 months I would have him neutered anyway.

1. If his behavior and stools are normal, I wouldn't worry too much about a decline in food intake, just yet. He may not be growing as fast, maybe the cold weather means he isn't getting as much activity, maybe he's just bored. However, if his disposition is not the same or he seems ill in any way, stools not normal, vomiting...off to the vet ASAP


2 & 2.1 Neutering is not a guarantee that these behaviors will stop. A good book (take no offense at the title!) is Puppies for Dummies as it has a whole section on this male behavior pattern. I myself, have never had male dogs so did not read it thouroughly but it seemed to discuss some basic strategy. Also be sure to wash the wall really good with an enzyme cleaner from the pet store or any dog will return to the scene of the crime. Natures Miracle and Simple Solution are two that are sold in my area.

Sorry I can't be of more practical help but hopefully some others will chime in here.

KaiserTheYorkie

Thanks very much for the fast reply!

I've owned numerous dogs, and like to consider myself a responsible dog owner (5 dogs, and 3 cats, and none of them have ever gotten away.) I just hate the idea of having him neutered. From what I understand there's a chance it would change his personality, and if you saw this dog, you would understand..He's great, and I wouldn't want to risk changing him one bit.

And I've been cleaning his marks with those chlorox(sp?) wipes, but I'll go buy some enzyme cleaner tomorrow.

Also, he does seem to be bored. There's not enough going on for him I think..He wears out the other puppies (and all of us) and at night he just sort of roams around and falls asleep of boredom. Would you think that's (possibly) the reason he's slowed on his food?

Just Remembered: When we first got him, he would growl at the other dogs as they would near his food (different food though) and now, he's overly passive and will watch as other dogs eat from his dish.


One last thing (wow..sorry for the essay!) I am scheduling him an appointment sometime tomorrow, but I just wanted to get various opinions (because my vet thinks that neutering is a miracle cure for bad behavior.)

Thanks so much again,

-Mikael

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Dana1384

From my experiance with the male I had, He was about 6 months when the male came out in him. The humping (actully my golden fixed that problem), everytime he does it correct him, and redirect his attention. If he starts humping the other dogs, it a sign he trying to be top dog considering you have 5 dogs. I would get him fixed though, it doesn't change their personality, I have plenty of dogs fixed, and it was the same dog that went in, that came out. It may actully calm him down a little bit, but it won't change him to the point that he is a different dog.

Willowy

Having a pet dog neutered is part of being a responsible owner. It won't change his personality, but should be helpful with certain behaviors. I'd wait until he's at least 9 months old, though, if you can stand the behavior for that long. Neutering should help somewhat, although a lot of humping behavior is a play for dominance instead of being a sexual thing. I hope the rest of your dogs are spayed/neutered, or you might be having unwanted puppies. There are way too many homeless dogs in the world to allow more random-bred dogs to come into this world. I do think he should be neutered---if he's this humping/peeing-obnoxious at 6 months, just think how he'll be when he gets to full maturity at age 2.

Annamarie

the marking (urinating) and humping will definately be solved by neutering.

as far as feeding the recommended serving, it's only to be used as a general guideline. smaller dogs mature faster so will require less food than is recommended for their age by 6 to 8 months. if he's not losing weight i wouldn't be concerned. if anything, smaller dogs have a tendancy to get too fat so the fact that he's not gorging himself is a good thing. he could also be teething, make sure he has lots to chew!

Shalva

THIS IS absolutely incorrect, while the behaviors may be lessened there are no guarantees that the behaviors will stop.... I know of males who continue to hump as humping is often a dominance behavior and has little to do with sexual behavior when there is no bitch in season present.....
I know of males who can still tie a bitch in season despite being neutered.

The marking may also continue..... to say that neutering will definitely solve the behaviors is incorrect information.

S

mrsd211

I have 2 Yorkies, (both female), as far as the food situation, I agree with the other posters that the serving suggestions are only guidelines. One of mine will eat anything we put down, the other one eats very little. I was worried about this also, until I realized how big their stomachs are, now I'm surprised that my 'piggy' one eats so much! At least she is very active, though which keeps her weight under control. I don't keep food down for them either, or I'm sure I'd have a t least one fat dog.

Anyways on to the neutering... I've had dogs my whole life, mostly female, but I have had 2 males, all of them were fixed. None of thier personalities changed in the slightest. So if that is your main concern about the neuter, I wouldn't worry about it. I have friends that have male yorkies and they have all said the same thing, within a couple days they are back to thier spunky selves. I have heard that the marking may not be cured by this, but it may help. As long as he can smell his spot and do it without you catching him, he very well may continue. Have you tried blocking that wall /area off somehow and see if he still does it?

And now the humping... my oldest, spayed and female Yorkie does this to our younger one. It's simply a dominance thing. Your pup has probably just sexually matured, so he may be going crazy because of that. I think neutering him will help that a lot. It might not stop it, but I do think it will help. When we got our first male dog, my husband had the same concerns as you about neutering, he grew up with male dogs and I guess they never had them fixed because they, too, thought they would change. I convinced him to come to the other side and he was very happy with it.

I hope I have helped you and good luck. I would love to see pics, have you posted pictures yet?

Pawper

Trust me - get him nuetered. I agree that it is part of being a responsible pet owner. But do wait until he is around nine months, as fixing a small breed too early can upset the development of their urethra and cause prostate problems along down the line. But having an intact male that is not used for breeding can cause huge prostate and health problems down the line, so having him nuetered is the best way to go. And no it will not eliminate the marking and humping. It mgith help, but these are pack tendencies and written into the dogs DNA. He is claiming dominance and marking his territory. These behaviors can be eliminated, but not with just nuetering.

FilleBelle

Get him neutered.

It would seem to me that if he is peeing in the house, he is simply not potty trained yet. I mean, my big guy will spend forty minutes in the yard, wandering around and marking every bush he passes, but he has never once lifted a leg inside because that is not where dogs pee. Dogs don't pee in the house and he knows it.

Maybe you need to step backwards a bit in your potty training and reteach the basics.

Annamarie

shalva, you already got one neutering debate closed because you were rude. please don't turn this into another anti-neutering propaganda thread just because you and i disagree.

i realize that sometimes humping is a dominance behavior, but 90% of the time neutering a dog completely eliminates the humping and marking. if it continues after the dog is neutered it's not a hormonal issue, it's a behavioral issue, and can be solved with training very easily.

Shalva

actually there was nothing rude about what I said then or now....and if you read the thread you will see that I am not the only one saying this and there are a multitude of other posters saying the same thing....

and there is nothing in this thread about propaganda
so you can go about believing what you believe.....
and I will continue to report on the actual data and research......
and when clearly incorrect statements are made I will continue to correct them.

There is no data out there that shows that 90% of the time neutering will correct the behavior.... and people like myself and briteday and many others on the board some of whom posted in this thread will clearly state that neutering did NOT change the dogs behavior at all..... humping and marking are behavior manifestations and should be treated as behavioral issues. I have 5 intact dogs here and you know who humps the most and marks the most.... my foundation bitch..... NOT the boys.... and ya know what..... she is spayed..... and she is still the one that tends to hump things and she is still the one that will pee over the other dogs pee and mark..... and we have treated it as a behavioral issue....

My boys.... 3 intact boys..... was four until last year... but they do not hump nor do they mark except outside in their yard.... because we don't allow it ..... period....

there are reasons to neuter but to say that neutering will correct behavioral issues is incorrect...... and to quote a percentage without data to back it up is even sillier

s

Annamarie

I'm not going to argue with you shalva, and I don't need to post scientific studies that I found on the internet from unreliable sources to prove my points like some people do. The OP asked for opinions, and I gave mine based on common sense and nearly 30 years of neutering dogs.

briteday

OK, we've all stated our opinions and I think it's time to let the OP choose his position.

salask

My baby is neutered and humps my other 3 bitches. My sisters' dog - Cutie - is also neutered and he humps his plush toy. He is a kept in doors most of the time but they can't seem to keep his away from the x-mas tree. He has a thing for the x-mas tree and urinates on the tree when no one is looking. Neutering your dog is the best thing you can do for his health but not to correct behavioral problems.

Willowy

Yes, I agree that you shouldn't guarantee someone that neutering will fix a certain behavioral problem. It can really backfire. For instance, I know a family that had a little (10-pound) terrier mix. He was a macho little beast, even going so far as to lift his leg on people. Now, maybe a pants leg looks like a tree to a little dog, but he should have had better manners than that. He also would challenge and fight any other male dog, no matter how much larger. He was allowed to run loose and fathered plenty of puppies in his lfetime. When he was about 9 or 10 years old, the mother of the family was convinced by her co-worker that neutering the dog would help with his behavioral issues. Well, of course there was little improvement in that regard---after all, he had been in the habit of fighting, roaming, and marking for 10 years! So now the family says "That was a waste of money! We'll never have a dog neutered again!". Fortunately, their current dog was neutered by his previous owners, but I fear for any future dogs they may get. They aren't responsible enough to have an intact dog. So no guarantees.

The main reason to have a pet spayed or neutered is for population control. Period. The #1 cause of death for pet animals in the U.S. is euthanasia. Not because Fluffy had cancer and needed to be PTS, but because of overpopulation and/or behavioral issues. If millions of pets were dying of some disease, the vet community would be scrambling for a cure. THE cure for overpopulation is neutering. It can also help with some of the more common behavioral issues, but that's not the main point.

Even if I could be convinced that spaying/neutering was bad for my dogs, I would still have it done (though I prefer to wait a while before having it done). I do not want to add to the overpopulation problem, even unintentionally. I can't live with the idea of my actions being responsible for more dogs dying. And, no matter how responsible I am, I cannot guarantee that my dogs will never get loose. Sometimes the fence breaks. Sometimes a dog jumps through a window. Sometimes they get loose while at the boarding kennel. Sometimes some irresponsible lout brings his intact dog into your yard/house while your bitch is in heat. Anything could happen. Neutering saves lives. That's the whole point.

Love's_Sophie

Unless you are planning to show and breed this dog, I would strongly suggest neutering him. The marking and humping should be greatly reduced, if not eliminated by getting him neutered. You may have to go back and revisit his 'in house' potty manners again, for a while, to make sure the marking habit is resolved.

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