Suddenly low confidence after neutering

[CarolineVeldman]

My dog Gunner was an amazing confident dog willing to play with any dog before he was neutered. He attended a wonderful daycare a few times a week and had wonderful social skills for his age. Due to daycare rules he had to take a month and a half off of daycare because he was intact and we were waiting to fix him. During that time we still went to the local dog park and played a lot of brain games with no issues. Once the vet agreed it was time to neuter him we did. After taking it easy for the 14day rest period he is suddenly very submissive at daycare and will not initiate play with other dogs. His entire behavior has changed. Now he just rolls over in fear. I'm not sure why his behavior would have changed so drastically. Any ideas why this might have happened? Could it just be spending the two weeks healing in the house with much less exposure? Any suggestions to build up his confidence? 

Thanks

[Adrienne]

Hi Caroline,

Welcome to the forums! This is a puzzling situation and I am sure also upsetting. I have a few questions. 

How old is Gunner at the moment?

What breed?

Did anything unusual happen at the dog park before the surgery? Not necessarily a fight, but even something minor like another dog being a bit of a bully? A dog chasing him while he wanted to take a break from play?  

Any other behavior changes at home after the neuter?

Have you reported these changes to your vet?

Thanks!

 

[MatejCipka]

Hello! 

I have a mini bull terrier Barry who is almost 2 years old. We did puppy school, a lot of socialising, also with kids. He is crate trained, well behaving, mischievous and stubborn but overall super happy dog. I am a bit suspicious that he sometimes felt our stress and he was then also stressed. Basic daily routine home office job stress. Not sure if relevant. He was submissive, and great with other dogs, once he had a little fight with bedlington terrier who was very dominant (fight over female dog partially involved). Even after that he had his dog friends in the park and behaved normally, but sometimes he was a bit aggressive to some random dogs, only male. After discussion with vet we decided that we will neuter him (that was not the main reason, we wanted him also to be more chilled, and eventually want to take him to Australia where it is a rule). We neutered him in March 2022 and we left him in April with our parents for 3 weeks (we did that a lot of times for a few days, max week and he was always coming home as an angel, like from spa - parents did a good job, even spoiling him a bit). Since we came back, he is stressed a lot, he is checking his tail (stress sign from childhood), and the worst part, he is growling and barking on other dogs, and he is initiating it now. He is doing it to females too. There is no pattern in it, he goes with wagging tail, super happy, sometimes sniff the other dog, and 90% of the times he snaps and growls/barks. Sometimes he does it from 3 meters already. He is not doing it to people, he is totally fine with them. I also realised that when he is having a positive experience meeting some other known person with dog, he first wags his tail approach lick a hand or something and then starts to do a rounds like tail chase a bit, like he is not sure about himself. He is also unsure about himself at home, before when I told him NO, he was like yeah yeah ok sure. But now he is like more scared of me. We discussed this with vet and they recommended a dog behavioural therapist, which is very expensive. I wanted to ask if some of your techniques could help this behaviour, or we really should go for the therapist.

 

Thanks!

 

Matej

[Adrienne Farricelli]

Hi there, welcome to the forums!

Please see my observations in non-bold under your statements. 

I have a mini bull terrier Barry who is almost 2 years old. We did puppy school, a lot of socialising, also with kids. He is crate trained, well behaving, mischievous and stubborn but overall super happy dog.

That's great that you have given Barry such a great start! He sounds like a wonderful companion, and although this breed is known for having an independent streak and a rather 'strong personality" it sounds like he's very well behaved overall. 

I am a bit suspicious that he sometimes felt our stress and he was then also stressed. Basic daily routine home office job stress. Not sure if relevant.

It could likely be. Bull terriers are very "people-centric" dogs and very devoted. Many dogs sense their owners' stress and react accordingly. 

He was submissive, and great with other dogs, once he had a little fight with bedlington terrier who was very dominant (fight over female dog partially involved). Even after that he had his dog friends in the park and behaved normally, but sometimes he was a bit aggressive to some random dogs, only male.

While bull terriers, may not be major troublemakers, if they notice a certain dog approaching with an "attitude" they may take that as a challenge and a fight may ensue. Some bull terrier may also struggle tolerating dog of the same sex and some won't even tolerate the opposite sex. 

In general, as pups most dogs do OK with other dogs, but once they reach the adolescent stage and social maturity dog-to dog interactions may start deteriorating. More about this is discussed here:  https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/survive-dogs-adolescent-stage/

After discussion with vet we decided that we will neuter him (that was not the main reason, we wanted him also to be more chilled, and eventually want to take him to Australia where it is a rule). 

In general, neutering results in loss of many male characteristics that are hormonally-induced such as marking with urine, roaming, attraction to females and fighting with other males over mates. More specifically, research by Hart and Eckstein revealed that urine marking, mounting and fighting with other dogs were significantly reduced or eliminated after neutering in 50 to 60 percent of the dogs.

Research by Maarschalkerweerd, Endenberg et al. also found a 60 percent reduction  in sexual behavior, inter-male aggression, roaming and marking in neutered dogs.

About two weeks after being neutered, a dog's levels of testosterone are expected to have reduced in half. Afterward, there should be a gradual decline and over the course of six weeks leading to a reduction in hormone-related male behaviors.

Temperament-wise, owners of neutered dogs reported that 50 percent of the dogs who were neutered were calmer compared to when they were intact.

We neutered him in March 2022 and we left him in April with our parents for 3 weeks (we did that a lot of times for a few days, max week and he was always coming home as an angel, like from spa - parents did a good job, even spoiling him a bit). Since we came back, he is stressed a lot, he is checking his tail (stress sign from childhood), and the worst part, he is growling and barking on other dogs, and he is initiating it now. He is doing it to females too. There is no pattern in it, he goes with wagging tail, super happy, sometimes sniff the other dog, and 90% of the times he snaps and growls/barks. Sometimes he does it from 3 meters already. He is not doing it to people, he is totally fine with them.

Glad to hear he is not doing to people! The behavior you report sounds like there's something about the other dogs he doesn't like. Sometimes, if the meeting is on leash, the leash may cause the other dog to assume a certain body posture that make him assume that this other dog is 'challenging' him in some way. It could have started with just one dog and his behavior has been reinforced by the other dog moving away or the owner pulling his dog away or you simply moving Barry away. 

Growling and barking in this case is a distance-increasing signal, meaning that dog is asking for more space because he doesn't like something about the other dogs. Think of it as an imaginary bubble. The space bubble may be larger or smaller depending on what's at stake. Perhaps it's the way some dogs are walking (like with more energy/confidence) or it could be that you dog for some reason is more stressed on certain days and this lowers his threshold. 

I also realised that when he is having a positive experience meeting some other known person with dog, he first wags his tail approach lick a hand or something and then starts to do a rounds like tail chase a bit, like he is not sure about himself.

It can be he is conflict and the tail chase is a displacement behavior. However, if this is a new behavior, it's always best to discuss with the vet to ensure it's not stemming from some underlying medical problem

He is also unsure about himself at home, before when I told him NO, he was like yeah yeah ok sure. But now he is like more scared of me.

In some research papers, neutering was associated in some cases with an increase in fearful behavior. This can be a possibility. 

We discussed this with vet and they recommended a dog behavioural therapist, which is very expensive. I wanted to ask if some of your techniques could help this behaviour, or we really should go for the therapist.

You can try some basic behavior modification if this behavior is very recent and you want to nip it in the bud, but when there's any type of aggression/anxiety involved it's always best to work alongside with a behavior professional for safety and correct implementation. A board-certified veterinary behaviorist comes extra handy because they are really good in ruling out medical conditions first before implementing behavior modification. 

In general, behavior modification consists of a multi-pronged approach using a combination of management, desensitization and counterconditioning and operant conditioning (training).  Here is a general rundown of the process: 

Management:

Management entails preventing dogs from rehearsing problematic behavior by controlling the dog's environment. The more a dog rehearses the barking and growling behavior, the more it establishes and becomes habit-forming. Consider that if your dog is too reactive or hypervigilant on walks, stress hormones will flood his body and this stress will carry over to the home increasing potential reactivity to things. And vice-versa, if it's stressful at home, that stress will be carried over to walks.

So it's important to carefully manage things on walks and indoors, to prevent them from becoming too stressful events. 

If your dog is lunging and barking, what you are dealing with is a dog who is over threshold. When a dog is over threshold, it is more difficult to get the dog's attention and work on changing behavior. An important first step would therefore be taking measures to therefore keep your dog better under threshold. One good way to do this is by increasing distance. I would no longer suggest close encounters so he doesn't get to practice the behavior and get into an irresponsive state. You can read more about dog threshold levels here:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/threshold-levels/

To keep a dog well under threshold, it would be important to recognize signs of fear/stress to to prevent the dog from reaching that point. 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/signs-fear-stress-dogs/

Ways to manage reactivity towards other dogs:

-Walk your dog at a time when there are less dogs around

-Keep distance (in your case much greater than 3 meters)

-Do an about turn if a dog is approaching or you are caught unprepared, you can train the emergency U-turn as described here;

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/emergency-u-turn/

-If it's difficult to avoid dogs, stop temporarily walking altogether until your dog is better under control and has formed positive associations in more controlled settings (like watching dogs from behind a window or from inside a car) and then practice from the porch etc before moving into walks.  During this timeframe, you can provide plenty of activities indoors such as brain games and confidence boosting games like clicker training and trick training. 

Start by training a fluent response to a smacking sound:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/the-airplane-game/the-smacking-sound/

and then apply to looking at other dogs walking by from inside the home:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/university/look-at-that/

Now this this is mostly management. To work on this behavior you would need mostly behavior modification. The goal of behavior modification is changing the dog's emotional response to triggers by training an alternate behavior to engage in. This is done through a desensitization and counterconditioning program and can also involve some elements of differential reinforcement of alternate behaviors.

A dogs threshold levels often reduce if the dog is given distance from the trigger and is exposed gradually in a systematic manner to her triggers. This gradual, step-by- step approach is known as desensitization. You can read more about desensitization here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/desensitization/

Behavior modification works best when desensitization is combined with counterconditioning. You want to present triggers at a distance and gradually expose to them while also making great things happen when the trigger is present. One of the most powerful ways to do this is by feeding high-value treats that are only given during behavior modification exercises. Creating these powerful associations falls under counterconditioning, you can read more about it here: https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/counterconditioning/

Tip: tossing several small treats to the ground rather than hand feeding them can make them appear more interesting to dogs. 

Ideally, you want to create what's known as a positive conditioned emotional response (+CER): 

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/conditioned-emotional-response-cer/

-Other than Look at That, another helpful form of counterconditioning is the open bar/closed bar method. This helps make it clear that dogs walking by/approaching are what make treats happen, treats are therefore fed when dogs are walking by and no more treats are fed when the dogs have gone out of sight. This is best carried out in organized setups with a helper and a dog who is calm and non-reactive. You can read about this powerful method here:

 https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/open-bar-closed-bar/

As your dog's underlying emotional response is changed and he is better under control, you can start asking for specific behaviors upon spotting dogs. I like to use my smacking noise, treat at eye level and ask for several steps of attention heeling as we walk past dogs:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/brain-training/obedience-101/heeling-attention-heeling/

Bull terriers, also benefit from gaining superb impulse control. You want them to learn this skill so that they remain responsive to you and in a clear thinking state despite distractions. This because, when they reach a point where their adrenaline kicks into high gear, they may reach an unresponsive state where they'll act as if you don't exist at all. Here are some impulse control exercises:

https://www.braintraining4dogs.com/members/archive/impulse-control-frustration-tolerance/

The whole behavior modification process requires observing dogs carefully to recognize early signs of stress to prevent pushing too close to their limits, making various judgement calls as to how quickly to increase criteria, implementing safety measure (muzzles, tethers, leashes, having plans in place should a fight erupt etc.) and measuring how everything is going possibly with charts (setbacks are always possible, but if they happen it means we have proceeded too fast and must take a step back or two to where our dog was better under threshold and resume from there). 

I hope this helps!

Let me know if you have any questions!

Disclaimer: behavior modification comes with risks. Articles, videos and general info found in the forums or course (or any online source) are not meant to replace in-person training/instruction. By using this course and forum, you are waiving any liability claims or other type of claims related to any dogs' behavior against you or others.