Our dog peed on my husband

Question
Our fawn pure bred pug (turned 2 years this May) has not been neutered and
show signs of aggression.  We were confused as to whether we wanted to
breed him since he is 4 generation pure bred.  Now, we find ourselves with a
pooch that is very stubborn and aggressive, and marks EVERYTHING including
his master. What does this behavior tell us?  Is he acting out -- what should
we learn from this act?  What is the ideal age to neuter your dog?

A pug lover in need of advice.

Best,
Karen and Rob Rosenow

Answer
Dear Karen and Rob,
Thanks for the questions. As to the breeding / neutering question- I

My stance on breeding is this- if your dog is such a perfect representation of the breed - so perfect that the gene pool would suffer if his or her genes are not introduced, then by all means breed. If not, why breed? There are so many dogs in shelters - about one third are pure breeds. In addition, all behaviors have genetic and environmental contributing factors.

Marking is when dogs urinate on vertical surfaces or items that "stand out" in the environment. It's a social statement. It can be caused by many reasons - presence of testicles being one-of-them!

I had a min schnauzer that would pee on my leg when I was paying / checking out at the vet clinic. I didn't take it personally, he was just anxiously marking the most prominent vertical surface at his disposal at that moment! He only did it at the vet clinic - where there was plenty of smells - and since I had him on a leash next to me, he didn't have a selection of items to mark. I miss that little rascal!

OK, back to your questions- If you want to stir up some discussion, get on any group message board and start talking  about neutering and breeding! For obvious and some not-so-obvious reasons, people get very emotional about these topics.

I suppose any discussion about the best time to neuter depends on what you expect to achieve by neutering. I can only discuss behavioral implications.

Behavioral Implications- In male dogs, neutering is reported to reduce roaming behavior - reduce marking behavior - and reduce the dog's impulses to react via flight/fight as quickly as when intact.

That being said, dogs that have practiced any of these behaviors (for months or even years) while intact may very well continue all these behaviors after neutering.

I have rarely noticed any reduction in aggression that can be attributed only to neutering. I have noticed a reduction in marking and escaping (a prelude to roaming) - when older dogs were neutered.

Some folks neuter pups at a very early age (under 4 months)  - others wait until the dog is around 4-5 months (before sexual maturity @ approx. 6 months) and others wait even later. All can give you anecdotal evidence as to their choice of timing.

Without a complete history - and knowing lots about the way you interact with your Pug, it's difficult to attribute any particular cause to his marking behaviors. Sometimes I treat marking as a sort of anxiety about the environment - other times it's a social statement.

Sometimes it's just funny! My neutered turbo terrier Bentley, will take his favorite ball outside, drop it and then pee on it. He'll go to pick it up a few moments later and then bark at it (or maybe bark at me). I'll leave it there, hose it off and few days later bring it back inside.

Good Luck!
AT
http://howsbentley.com