# Early spaying/neutering...and the effect on a dogs personality/behavior?



## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Any thoughts or experiences on pediatric spay/neuter and how the lack of hormones affects the dogs personality?

I was talking with my friend and a customer at work on Sunday and she was very upset that her new rescue dog had been spayed at just 4 months old. She was worried about possible health effects down the line...

I mentioned that while definitely not ideal, and its not what I would have wanted, that my Abbie was spayed at around 2 months old (ack) and so far has been the healthiest dog I've ever had. My friend said "but she's had some behavioral issues hasn't she? (referring to her nervousness)" and I said "yeah...but is that related to being spayed so early???" and he said absolutely, hormones have a hand in everything in the body. 

What do you think? Do you think that a dog being spayed/neutered SO early could affect their behavior/personality?


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

Yes, I have heard that before, that spaying/neutering (I don't remember if age matters) can cause in increase in anxiety/fearfulness (and thus behaviors associated with it including aggression/reactivity). But I'm not sure how much truth there is to it. Reason being that most dogs nowadays get neutered around 6 months which is also around the time dogs start to come into their true personalities. So while it may seem a dog has been affected by the neuter, it may just be that the dog was going to start to change in personality anyways. I don't think a perfectly stable dog would be made fearful/anxious by being neutered. I do think that perhaps a dog who already had genetics stacked against it for those things could make it worse/more likely to show itself.


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## Kassandra (Jun 6, 2012)

I'm not sure if I really believe that these certain hormones (or lack of) causes any major changes to the personality. 

Sure, in a male dog then the testosterone levels are way down after they get neutered and they aren't as.. manly. (Meaning they don't get as aggressive, they don't want to hump as much, etc. IME) In a female dog spaying makes them a _little_ more timid (and really I wouldn't even use the word timid, moreso not as sassy as an unspayed female IME)

Yes, you could see some differences in the dog. Ex a dog that is already nervous/anxious could become more nervous/anxious (Charlie did) but I just associate that to her being spayed around the time that her true personality would have come out anyways (8 months). If the dog was fixed at say, 3+ years, would you see any differences? I don't think so. In my experience with dogs being fixed at an older age there aren't much changes besides the females being a little more lenient and the males being less manly. 

So, if it were true that the hormones (or lack of) cause a change in the dogs personality, then wouldn't the dogs fixed at an older age have a change in their personality, too?


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

Kassandra said:


> I'm not sure if I really believe that these certain hormones (or lack of) causes any major changes to the personality.
> 
> Sure, in a male dog then the testosterone levels are way down after they get neutered and they aren't as.. manly. (Meaning they don't get as aggressive, they don't want to hump as much, etc. IME) In a female dog spaying makes them a _little_ more timid (and really I wouldn't even use the word timid, moreso not as sassy as an unspayed female IME)
> 
> ...


Off topic Kassandra, but your signature picture is hilarious lol.


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## kathylcsw (Jul 31, 2011)

I had Lola spayed at 5 months old and I saw no changes in her behavior or personality. She has always been slow to warm up to people but shows no aggression. She isn't timid or shy at all.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

I think it depends on the core personality of the puppy as most puppies have a core personality type that they're born with. Its possible that the loss of certain hormones earlier in life can perpetuate SOME behavioral traits but ultimately a LOT of it has to do with how the dog is raised and socialized. If you don't socialize and train timid puppies properly, that will perpetuate their timidness a TON!


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

DaneMama said:


> I think it depends on the core personality of the puppy as most puppies have a core personality type that they're born with. Its possible that the loss of certain hormones earlier in life can perpetuate SOME behavioral traits but ultimately a LOT of it has to do with how the dog is raised and socialized. If you don't socialize and train timid puppies properly, that will perpetuate their timidness a TON!


How do you do it properly?

Abbie came to me and would freak out, just going outside. I mean, when I would try to walk her down the road, even going past things in driveways like cars, trash cans, mailboxes, not even moving mind you, she would claw to get away, strained at the end of her leash. It was very sad. People are always like "oh wow she's nervous isn't she" and i just want to be like "you should have seen what she USED to be like...this is so much better". I mean, she would pee from being scared just closing a door to a room (not slamming it either). I just don't understand what made her so heart breakingly terrified to begin with. Esp since her sister, who we ran into last night, is so much more laid back and mellow.

Oh and she's been through like...three rounds of puppy classes lol. I've found those to be helpful. The first one was at like 6 months old, because I recognized she needed some more help than i could give her myself. She's gone to them as an adult too, and I think the atmosphere has helped her a bit.


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## lauren43 (Feb 6, 2011)

Here's my experience.

I first met Avery at 12 weeks of age. He was a little spit fire and he was afraid of nothing. When I met him he had just traveled from NC to upstate NY in route to a foster. I only had him overnight.

Next time I met him was only for a second at his neuter at 4-5 months of age. He still seemed confident, but I didn't spend much time with him that day.

Then I met him at a Red Wings Baseball game (its the way the rescue got the word out about their dogs and it was added socialization for the pups) by this time he was fearful of men but in a way that he cowered away from them, nothing threatening at all just the need to get away.

Then another Baseball game and he was the same way. During this time though he greeted most people with a wagging tail but if uncomfortable cowered away.

Now I should mention that it was a known fact that his foster mother had a social anxiety, so there is no knowing how much outside socialization he got from 12 weeks to 8 months...and there are times that I wish I was able to adopt him sooner but there is no way to know if that would have helped.

Fast forward. I adopted him at 8 months of age. He was still fearful of men. It took him two weeks trust my roommate at the time. And when new ppl came into the house, 9 times out of 10 he'd cower behind me, I tried giving him treats and giving new ppl treats but I'm not sure I went about it the right way. At this point though, outside of the house he loved most ppl and generally didn't notice ppl on walks. 

Then I think I made the worst mistake I could have ever made. We were on a walk and this adorable older lady asked to pet Avery and I said yes but looking at his body language I should have said no. Though in my defense most times Avery would act fearful and recover quickly. Not this time. She approached and he started barking like a mad man. Since then he has been weird about ppl on walks. Most times we can have a pretty normal walk but every once in a while he sees a person he doesn't feel comfortable with and he barks at them. I have been working with him and I think he is getting better, I try to give "scary" ppl a large girth when walking and that definitely helps. And on some walks I give him treats every time we walk by a stranger. 

But in the house, well we haven't made much progress. It went from cowering behind me to a big tough bark inches from the person he's barking at I just don't have enough new ppl over to really work on it and when new ppl do come over they don't stay long enough for it to be a worth while training session. This intense fear of strangers may be something I have to deal with for the rest of his life. And I am committed to doing that.

So there is no way of knowing if it was his early neuter or his foster home or me that caused his issues. I know that since I've had him I've tried to bring him everywhere possible with me but there is no way to know if that was a good or a bad thing. There is also no way to know that even if I did everything right, he would be confident or still fearful...I guess now the only thing I can do is work towards a future, trying my best to desensitize him to everything I can outdoors as well as indoors when the opportunity arises.


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## BearMurphy (Feb 29, 2012)

i also think that's a difficult conclusion to make because it's mostly rescue pups that are fixed that early and you don't have a breeding line to compare them to

murphy was neutered at 2 months and I adopted him around 4 months. he was more fearful than his sister in general but he is a well adjusted dog. although he is sometimes reactive on leash and I would attribute that to his genetic makeup or life experience not his early neuter


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## Maxy24 (Mar 5, 2011)

I think most fearful/reactive/aggressive behavior, unless very specific or triggered by a traumatic event, is genetically based. I certainly think how the dog's personality is handled can make things better or worse, but I don't think how the dog is raised plays the biggest role unless we're talking abuse/neglect (though even then dogs show us again and again that they can come out of that without becoming fearful/aggressive if they are stable to begin with).


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

How old was Abbie when you got her Meg?


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Maxy24 said:


> I think most fearful/reactive/aggressive behavior, unless very specific or triggered by a traumatic event, is genetically based. I certainly think how the dog's personality is handled can make things better or worse, but I don't think how the dog is raised plays the biggest role unless we're talking abuse/neglect (though even then dogs show us again and again that they can come out of that without becoming fearful/aggressive if they are stable to begin with).


I agree that genetics has a lot to do with personality and reactivity to surroundings but if shy/timid puppies are socialized properly, early enough in life I believe that will make a huge difference in overall confidence. Sure, timid dogs will probably always react to new things with fear or uncertainty but it's a matter to what degree. A timid puppy who's never socialized or socialized improperly will react completely different to stress, or stimulus than a similarly timid dog who was socialized properly.


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## meggels (May 30, 2010)

She was 4.5 months when I got her. She was in one adoptive home before me, for a few weeks, but they returned her, and she was fostered for a month before I got her.


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## DaneMama (Jun 27, 2008)

Unfortunately the window of opportunity for a lot of socialization for puppies closes around that age. They become more fearful of their environment, especially if they're timid to begin with. You just have to take things super slow with timid dogs, just going outside is too much so you have to break it down further. Work with her next to the door while it's closed, then open it some, then more then all the way, then go right inside the door frame, then just outside it, etc, etc using a great tool called "protocol for relaxation" has worked for me.

http://www.dogdaysnw.com/doc/OverallRelaxationProtocol.pdf


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