Journal of Veterinary Science & Medicine
Research Article
Behavioural Correlates of Neutering Male Dogs -a Question of Breed?
Kolkmeyer CA1,2*, Schmitz J3 and Gansloßer U2
1Department of Biology, University of Vechta, Germany
2Institut für Zoologie & Evolutionsforschung mit Phyletischem
Museum, Ernst-Haeckel-Haus und Biologiedidaktik, Erbertstr. 1.
07743 Jena, Thuringia, Germany
3Department of Biology and Biotechnology, Ruhr-Universität
Bochum, Germany
*Address for correspondence: Kolkmeyer CA, Fach Biologie, University of Vechta driverstrasee
22, 49377 Vechta, Germany, Tel: 49 -911790 9360;
Email: carina.kolkmeyer@uni-vechta.de
Submission: 1 April, 2021
Accepted: 5 May, 2021
Published: 10 May, 2021
Copyright: © 2021 Kolkmeyer CA et al. This is an open access article
distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which
permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium,
provided the original work is properly cited.
Abstract
Castration of dogs is often conducted as a preventive measure
against diseases and undesirable behaviour. While female dogs are
preferably neutered for medical reasons, owners of male dogs hope
for an improvement in behavior. Although there is a lack of scientific
knowledge on this subject, neutering is often conducted to get a more
trainable and less aggressive dog.
The aim of this study is to examine castration from an ethological
perspective and to reveal possible behavioural changes after
castration related to breed.
An online study was conducted consisting of two different
questionnaires about the dog’s personality. A total of 242 dog owners
participated in the study concerning specific behaviour problems (n
= 130 intact and 112 neutered males). Another 211 owners of males
(n = 115 intact, 96 neutered) completed the questionnaire about
personality traits (dog sociability, trainability, emotional stability and
extraversion) based on Turcsán et al. 2011.
Four breed categories were formed following Parker et al. (2017):
shepherds, retrievers, terriers, and hunting Dogs. Our study reveals
that intact males are bolder than neutered males. Intact males have
lower aggression scores than neutered ones. Castrated males show
significantly more panic behavior (multinomial logistic Regression, p =
0.04).
Intact shepherds are bolder than neutered ones (Mann-Whiney-U-Test:
p = 0.03) and intact terriers are bolder than neutered terriers (Mann-
Whitney-U = Test: p = 0.04). Intact terriers scored lower for aggression
than neutered ones. With these results and the data of previous
studies, we question castration to modify behavior, as a measure for
reproductive control and as a preventive measure against diseases.