I have a bichon that is 5 now and has been castrated for about 3.5 yrs. he didn't show male tendencies of marking his territory in the house or out until about 1.5 yrs ago when we purchased a farm and the 10 yr old black lab(male) came with it. I also have a 3 yr old german shepherd(female) and a 1.5 yr old peke. neither female is spayed and the lab is not nuetered. i could handle a growl or 2 at the lab when th german is in heat and having to clean up the occasional pee markings in the house but since the peke came into her first heat, he has been horrible. he is marking everything-inside and out- he goes after the lab if he even walks into the room where the peke is but last night was it! after coming up from the barn the bicho and peke were tied together! my vet told me that by castrating him he wouldn't do these things! now i can get no answers from him or his staff. they tell me the only way to fix it is to spay the females. i want to breed the peke so that won't work. help!

this is an excellent question!
with 262 views surely someone has an answer,
id be interested in the responses!

[Yogi]

this is not uncommon. You stated that he is 5 and that started marking recently with the introduction of a new male unaltered dog. Since the neuter was done at a late stage the instincts are there but in his case there was no need to do so until a male unaltered dog made an appearance. Too assume a male just because neutered will no longer show interest in a female that comes into season is sorry to say far from the truth. A neutered male can and will still occasionally tie with an unaltered bitch and as for the unaltered male, this is only provoking the neutered male to act on those instincts that were not curbed by early neutering. The reason why 4 to 6 months for neuter and spay is to avoid just these things from occurring. Once a male or female has reached age to breed whether healthy or not instincts will become apparent if opportunity arises. Until this point the male has probably not seen any other males that posed a challenge to him in this area.

well put Yogi.

chelley, are you aware that females that go into their first heat are at 80% higher risk for cancer, as well as uterine infections that are very often fatal.
males - prostate cancer, testicular cancer & anal tumors.

are you showing your peke? has she earned titles so you know she meets the breed standard & is worthy of breeding? are you familiar with all the genitic health testing that should be done to both dogs prior to breeding? brucellosis & STD's?

yes i agree,yogi got it spot on.