Your Dog article - Crisis of confidence

[runlikethewind]

Hi there

I don't normally buy this magazine as I do find it a glossy rag with not much content but I did read an article about male dogs and the idea that as they mature, they become over confident because of high levels of testosterone, making them too ready to pick fights.. If they lose a fight or become nervous, then they could (amongst other options) turn into the victim-turned-bully ie only using aggression on dogs they figure won't retaliate.

Do you think this is plausible?

Post edited because I gave wrong magazine title. I meant Your Dog.. not Dogs Today which I do find a good magazine

[Wicket]

Do you have a link to the article?

[runlikethewind]

They don't have a copy of the article on their website. It's the Feb issue of Your Dog (article written by Carol Price)

[Nettle]

For my work I have to read all these pet-dog type magazines because I need to know which cockamamie ideas my clients have been subjected to.

The limits of an article in magazines like these is that the writer is only given so many words to get their point across and so often can't go into sufficient detail.

All adolescents get antsy, male and female, dogs and every other intelligent species, and start to see how far they can push boundaries. Obviously picking fights with stronger smarter beings isn't an excellent survival imperative, so once the dog has established who is where, they will only pick on animals they think they can beat. Some of the time they'll get it wrong.

IME unruly puppy classes contribute hugely to this problem, because they encourage bullying and the bully gets a huge hormonal "hit" from what he or she is doing. The other big contributor is too-early neutering.

So yes - broadly - it is true - but there is SO much more to it. It is a perfectly normal rite of passage into adulthood, and you only have to think of a group of teens lurking about in the shopping centre to see a good parallel

Once dogs of either sex are mature, the hormone levels settle and you have - or should have - a calm dog that knows his/her place. Dogs can assess each other is a snapshot - we do that with other people too.