Early Neutering ....

[Kris & Brinkley]

 I have had other dogs but Brinkley is my 1st Doodle .

 

Since he seems to be very smart & doing things much earlier than my others I wondered about  early neutering.

He is a ShepaDoodle being 1/2 German Shepard I want to be mindful of early sexual onset & aggressiveness.

He has picked up on humping from somewhere @ 12 weeks old he tries it on my sleeping 8yro male lab, the lab would never go for it if awake LOL. I had never seen humping in such a young age, so once again I find myself seeing him do everything early.

 

* insert Advise below* ;-)

 

[Smita, Ollie and Juno]

I don't know if confidence has anything to do with neutering.Of course I could be completely wrong. But I am basing this on the fact that Ollie was neutered at 7 weeks but is one of the most confident dogs ever. He is very confident, curious and interested in everything and everyone and is very (a little too) friendly. :-)

[Linda, Webber and Seda]

Webber was neutered at 7 weeks and I took him home a few days later.  He is a confident, well trained, dog.  I don't think early spay/neuter has anything to do with confidence.  I think confidence is genetics and socialization.

[Lesley, Wellington & Bingley]

 

The point is that some dogs need the extra confidence that testosterone gives them and that when they do (adolesence say 6 - 12 months) it's too late if they have been neutered early.

 

Luckily in the UK vets are just begining to realise this and the knowledgable ones hold off neutering anxious dogs.

[Kris & Brinkley]

I would agree with the socialization + leadership = confidence .
Today I took him with us to Wal Mart I stood outside in the entrance area, he was WONDERFUL!!!!!
I basically disappeared as ppl adored him, the only thing that even got him was when my hubby came out with a buggy the buggy made him get between my legs.
There are times on walks I can see him position himself safely among us as if saying" I am the smallest the beasties eat the smallest first" lol  He is a brave soul.

[Noble Vestal Labradoodles]

Humping in this case has NOTHING to do with sexual desire or orientation.  You can neuter your puppy and he will still do it because he is doing it out of dominance!  It is very common for two dogs to do this to establish pack order and to determine who the dominant dog is.  This does not mean your puppy is aggressive or bad this is just how it works BUT you should neuter him before he reaches sexual puberty otherwise you might find that he will still hump and may pick up marking out of dominance too.

 

This is a great age to start puppy kindergarten with your puppy!

[Kris & Brinkley]

I guess I can see why you thought I thought humping was a sign of sexual/ aggression but I didn't. I have trained many dogs just never poodles or doodles & the whole circle of my questions were based on him being  SO! early about everything...hence early neutering/puberty.

 

He is already in training & is doing beautifully.