You've Got Questions, I've Got Answers!

A dear friend texted me last week about her own dog.  She'd noticed that her young, now neutered male dog doesn't like other male dogs who are intact, that is unneutered. She talked to a dog walker she knows and he said it's a pretty common occurrence.  She was curious if I'd seen this too and thought it might be good to address the topic here in my blog, and she was right!  In fact, I had two people come up to me at the Pawsitively Summer Event series and ask about the same thing.  Let's dive into this topic more deeply, including what you can do if you own an intact male dog and this is happening to you when you are out and about.

First off, why this happens.  Simply put, intact male dogs smell different.  Their hormones mean they smell like a dog who is still male and has the ability to mate. The scent of an intact male dog can cause tensions to rise even before the dogs engage each other.  Neutered male dogs, on the other hand, are believed to smell like female dogs and thus don't automatically put other male dogs on high alert.  Intact male dogs can also trigger aggression in female dogs, both spayed and intact. Why?  Because, once again, those intact male dogs have the ability to mate. It is also true that some intact male dogs engage in postures that elicit negative responses from other dogs, meaning intact male dogs may stiffen their gait, raise their tails, and stare directly at other dogs resulting in an altercation. While dog on dog aggression can occur between any combination of dogs, it seems to be on the rise between intact male dogs and their neutered male counterparts.  Why is it on the rise?  No, we can't blame this one on COVID-19 and a lack of socialization.  Rather we need to look at changes in spaying and neutering trends among dog owners. 

In 2020, the results of a study at UC Davis were published, examining the rates of some joint disorders and cancers in 35 breeds of dogs, looking at the correlation between early spaying/neutering (at or before 6 months of age) and those specific health concerns. As a result of this study, many veterinarians have begun advising their clients to postpone spaying/neutering their dogs until after a dog's first birthday, and for some breeds, even longer than that.  While timing of spaying or neutering varied with breed, one thing seemed quite clear; larger breed dogs had a higher incidence of joint issues and cancers if they were altered early. This is likely due to the absence of hormones which provide a certain level of protection from those health issues. 

Back in the 1970's when I was a kid, very few people in our neighborhood altered their pets.  And yet, I can remember very few aggressive encounters.  Why is that?  I chalk it up to different pet practices back in those days.  Dog owners didn't spay or neuter, but they also didn't take their dogs to dog parks, doggie daycare, or to restaurants and stores with them. Rather those dogs were mostly in the house or yard, and walked on leash in the neighborhood with little chance to get into an altercation with another dog. While the techniques used to spay and neuter pets have been around since the 1930's, it really didn't become a common practice until the 70's and beyond.

So here we are today, having come full circle.  We are delaying spaying/neutering if we do it at all, knowing that keeping our dogs intact may protect them from some very common health concerns. But we are also taking our intact dogs everywhere with us, including to dog parks, daycares, off leash at the beach, etc. Doing this means we are exposing our intact animals to potential negative encounters that could result in aggression.  

I was also asked why intact male puppies don't trigger these same aggressive responses and the reason is still all about hormones.  Testosterone peaks around 10 months of age when a dog reaches adolescence.  Research seems to indicate that these adolescent dogs have testosterone levels 7-10 times higher than intact, adult dogs, which explains why so many intact, adolescent male dogs are getting aggressed by neutered adult male dogs.  They smell like a threat.  The bigger issue here for owners of those adolescent dogs is putting those dogs into situations where they have to face this overt aggression daily, which may result in fearful or preemptively aggressive behavior in their young dog. So, what can you do to protect your intact adolescent dog?  For starters, avoid the dog park or any other place unknown, off leash dogs congregate. Keep your dog on leash and only allow off leash interactions with known playmates who have an established relationship with your dog and are therefore less likely to behave aggressively toward him.

Now, you may be wondering when (or if) I will be neutering my newest collie, Henley.  Based on the above mentioned study (and here's the link to it in case you want to explore it in more detail:  https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fvets.2020.00388/full), I've got options.  Of the 116 total collies they looked at in the study, they found no increased occurrence in joint disorders or cancers associated with neuter status in the male dogs.  They did find, however, an increased cancer risk in female collies spayed earlier than 6 months, and an increase in urinary incontinence in female collies spayed between 6-11 months of age.  So, I always encourage my friends with female collies to wait until their dogs are over a year of age to spay them.  For me, I still think I'll wait for Henley to reach at least his first birthday before I neuter him, unless he starts urine marking in my house, something that could happen given that I have a household full of male dogs!  Ozzie started marking in my house when he was just shy of his first birthday, so he was neutered before he hit that milestone.  I'm keeping my fingers crossed with Henley!

As always, if you have questions about your pet's behavior, you know where to find me.

He's getting bigger all the time.  His ears don't look like they belong to someone else any more!