Problem dog

[Pokidia]

Our dog Sparky was such a sweet little pup, friendly towards all dogs and humans, then at about 8 months old we had him desexed. His behaviour straight after the op was very unusual - he often sat in a corner staring at the wall, he was very sad and lethargic. The change in his behaviour worried me and I took him back the the vets twice and they assured me he would get over it. After about 3 weeks he did get over it but with a totally different change - he has since been very agressive with other dogs and barks all the time at every little noise and often at nothing at all. I wonder whether we made the right choice in having him fixed

[lizbud]

Having a dog neutered or spayed has nothing whatever to
do with a dog's being aggressive or non agressive. Training
or lack of it has everything to do with it. Blaming a dog's
aggression on neutering is like saying there's no hope,or use
in trying to fix the problem. The problem behavior can be "fixed"
and it involves commitment & work by it's owner & a good
training instructor. Good luck with your dog.

[Pokidia]

Lizbud,

I know that training can help with many types of problems our pets present us with and I'm sure that there is hope for most of them if we are willing to put in the time and effort. However, there were definite personality changes in our dog after he was desexed. The fact that certain hormonal changes take place in our pets after this operation may explain the change in their behaviour.

[Orlando Bloom's Gal]

I'm not blaming it on the neutering, I'm just say his was very friendly with other dogs and people before his neutering, and EXTERMLY aggressive afterwards. He's extremly stubborn. I don't know how to get him to stop being so stubborn, and maybe to get him to like me more than my dad becasue my dad didn't want another dog in the first place, and Kiki is very attached to him, and no one else. Is there anyway I can work the stubborness out of him?

[lizbud]

I think I was wrong in emphasizing training alone as the
only answer to aggression problems. Many cases of aggression
are due to medical reasons. There are 50 know medical problems
that can have aggression as a symptom & 13 different kinds of
dog aggression. Here's a link to some types of aggression;

http://www.allbreed.net/chows/Train/aggrtype.htm

and one article on just one of the medical problems that can
be involved.

http://www.petplace.com/articles/artShow.asp?artID=1807

I think anytime there is a marked change in behavior, a good
checkup be your Vet is a good idea.

[Orlando Bloom's Gal]

When we did take him for his last vet check up, the vet said he is definately dominant, and that we should take him to a behaviour specialist. The only problem is, my parents are not willing to take him. The second link link that you put, doesn't have anything do to with my dogs aggression. I don't know whether it was the "not being allowed for walks for two weeks" after the neutering or what. He lived with another dog before he was turned over to the Humane Society, but the other little dog was adopted by the time we got there.