From: Valaria_Vorlop@mindlink.bc.ca (Valaria Vorlop)
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs
Subject: Re: Neutering to reduce aggression? *Kinda Long*
Date: 16 Oct 92 22:42:33 GMT
Organization: MIND LINK! - British Columbia, Canada
Distribution: world

r hardin writes:

>>Sky Warrior writes:
>>Neutering will definitely reduce aggression.  He will still be an Alpha in
>>personality, but it will be toned down.  I highly recommend a book by
>>Job Michael Evans called "People, Pooches, and Problems"  It has a whole
>>chapter on dealing with aggressive dogs.
>
>Neutering is another politically correct decision.
>Sometimes it is medically correct.
>Usually, you're looking at the wrong end of the dog.
>Find a training method that works, and use it.  If your method can't
>deal with the energy of an intact dog, change.

I may not have many years of experience behind me, but I HAVE taken more
than five very different dogs successfully through various levels of
training, and solved various behaviour problems, so I'm not an absolute
beginner either. When I could not teach my dobie not to attempt to sexually
assault other dogs, I was baffled. I tried everything, I tried each thing
long enough to give it a chance and I applied it correctly. I used methods
that might have been suggested by Koehler, those that might have been
suggested by Bauman as well as many things I thought up myself which worked
for me in the past or I tried for the first time. So I did 'change' many
times, but to no avail. The DOG was not in control of his actions at these
times, just as a dog in the midst of a fight may not be able to control
himself...he may be controled by the hormones, and they can be VERY
powerful. I myself have had problems with my own hormones, they often
caused alarming behaviour in me over which I had NO control. If the dog
could not control himself, is it a wonder that I could not control his
hormonally influenced actions? I finally came to realize that what I first
feared was a sign of my failure as a trainer, and also of the people from
whom I sought help, was not something we or the dog could be held
accountable for.

You are right that many behaviours CAN be trained away by an experienced
person, and that most often an 'uncontrollable' dog is merely a poorly
trained dog with an inexperienced owner, but not every situation is so cut
and dried. Hormonal and chemical imbalances are a very REAL cause of some
very strange behaviour in both people and dogs and I think it is a mistake
to always assume that training will solve the problem.

Even if an owner is experiencing a hormonally influenced problem in his dog
that could be fixed by a more experienced trainer, I don't see anything
wrong with going ahead and neutering if that's what it will take to allow
the dog to continue living in it's home. There's no shame in admitting that
one does not have the particular psychological make-up needed to deal with
the energy of an intact dog. Some people seem to have the attitude that a
neutered dog is in some way diminished. *I* had this attitude before I
neutered my dog...now I know better. My dog is no less than he was before,
he is really hardly even different and the differences that I've noticed
are GOOD ones. If my dog had been neutered before reaching sexual maturity,
the differences would have been far greater, but I welcome the personality
changes that come with sexual maturity in a dog and probably will never
neuter a dog before this time. I can understand why some people would opt
for early neutering though. The sort of energy some intact dogs have may be
very desireable in a dog that is competing or a dog that is working in law
enforcement or S&R or what have you, but in a pet dog there is nothing
wrong with neutering a dog in hopes of toning down it's behaviour. And it's
also true that many dogs work BETTER without the distracting influence of
hormones. That sort of energy may find itself without an outlet in the home
of the average dog owner.

Given a responsible owner, I don't think neutering need be manditory...my
other dog is unneutered simply because there is no reason, behaviorally
speaking, why he should be neutered and because I am responsible enough not
to allow him to breed. There are health concerns of course, but that is a
different issue. The the only reason neutering has become so politically
correct is because of the people who can't handle the responsibility that
comes with owning an intact dog and who don't CARE about the consequences.
So we are being forced to neuter many dogs that would not need to be
neutered if we lived in a country with more civilized attitudes towards dog
ownership and responsibility. Such attitudes exist, so I've been told, in
countries such as Finland where neutering is the exception for dogs that
NEED it, rather than the rule for all dogs.

In any case, I have never heard of a case where a dog was harmed by
neutering (unless it died during surgery of course, but I don't think that
applies!) so I don't really understand the aversion that many people seem
to have towards it. Well okay, I do understand it, 'cos I FELT it before my
dog taught me a lesson, but to explain it would turn this into a
sociological discussion and I'm already far enough off the topic :*)

Sorry about the long, rambling letter, I'm waxing philosophical these
days...maybe it's contagious :) Comments are welcome...


--
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Valaria_Vorlop@mindlink.bc.ca    I cried because I had no shoes
or:      a4080@mindlink.bc.ca         Until I met a man who had no feet.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *                          - ???
Newsgroups: rec.pets.dogs