2 questions

[flmagi]

1.  My Rotty, Rocky, has never been fixed, since my husband wouldn't allow it. Said he'd rather have himself done than little Rocky. So I'm divorced now and am going to get Rocky done. He just turned 5 yrs. in Dec. Will getting him fixed cause him to gain weight?.......just curious, it won't change my mind about having it done. Also will it calm him down at all?  I have 2 dogs, a female Pit Bull, MiMi, spayed, 8-9yrs. and Rock-a-Roni (Rocky). He can be a little aggressive towards MiMi sometimes, usually over food or raw hides etc.
2.  We got Rocky when he was about 4 wks old and MiMi (Muppet) has raised him as her own. She is incredibly doting over him. But MiMi has this obsession with cleaning his ears and his mouth and gets upset if I tell her to stop. She will lay there and lick him until someone stops her or shes out of breath.  She gets his ears all slobbered!What is the deal with that?

[flmagi]

LOL  Men like my ex-husband drive me crazy too!  That type of stupidity about Everything is the reason he is my EX.
Thanks!

[flmagi]

Everyone,  Thanks so much, it all makes a more sense now. I consider myself pretty knowledgeable about dog behavior, but MiMi's licking and cleaning obsession I never saw before in any other dogs I've had. When Rocky gets nasty with her, she turns right around and will lick him. LOL I thought she was forgiving him for being such an A$$. lol   Most of the time they get along great, playing, cuddling etc., I just watch them if there's special treats around.
I'm some what secluded where I live right now and haven't really worried about Rocky and his "cajones", but I'll be moving in the next week or so, where we'll be a lot closer to neighbors and possibly unspayed females. So it's "Off with the Cajones!!"   I have to watch That I don't say that to Rocky, because he's bi-lingual. My Ex is Cuban, so Rocky understands both Spanish and English. LOL
Thanks again everyone, it's always great to have a better understanding of our babies behavior.

[Ghilly]

When it comes to neutering male dogs, it's a good idea to have it done, but it's not a critical health issue like it is with females.  Some males, and especially males of breeds like the Rottweiler, are much easier to deal with when they're neutered, although at five years of age, you probably won't see much of a change in him at this point.  

There was some debate as to whether or not neutering prevented prostate cancer in male dogs, but most studies have shown that there is no appreciable difference in the incidences between neutered and unneutered males, so it's more a matter of personal preference than anything.  If you do go ahead and have it done, the BEST thing about it will be that if he ever DOES manage to get out or get away from you, you won't have to worry about him being a "puppy daddy" to an unspayed neighborhood female.  

It MAY (I stress MAY) help with the aggression issues between him and your female, but I wouldn't count on it.  Sometimes personalities just clash over certain things, and they could be best friends in every respect, but when it comes to one of their possessions, all bets are off.   Even though MiMi "raised" Rocky, the fact that he shows aggression toward her when there is food or rawhide around is the reason for the constant licking.  Dogs lick to show that they are submissive.  When puppies lick an older member of the pack, it's saying "I'm just a puppy, don't hurt me!"  When they lick their mother around her jowls, it means they're hungry and they want her to regurgitate something for them to eat.  MiMi's incessant licking of Rocky's ears is saying to him "I know you've gotten mad at me in the past, but I really REALLY like you and I don't want you to hurt me."

Ghilly

[Jaybay]

You're definitely doing the right thing.  As for changing his personality, I doubt you'll notice much of a change.  He's had all his hormones through to adulthood, and if I remember correctly, late neutering won't necessarily change certain reproductive behavior.  I'm hoping Ghilly will pop in here and comment on that question.

As a side note, men like your ex-husband drive me crazy!  Let me take a wild guess: "He won't be able to have any FUN!  The cajones stay one!"  It never seems to matter how many horror stories you throw at people like about things that happen without neutering.  They just won't be educated and that's that.  GRRR!!!

On the licking issue, don't worry about it.  I still miss our girl Chica who died a year ago.  Every evening she would completely clean our other dog's face including eyes, and deep down in her ears.  Now that she's gone, WE get the ear cleaning duty.  Never realized what a great service Chica was performing on her pack members until she was gone.  I've noticed it seems to be the more dominant dog in a pack who does most of the licking.  Since the pack leader is supposed to care for his or her pack, maybe cleaning is part of it?  I honestly don't know on that one!

Now our oldest dog is Maggie (my avatar pic) and several times a day she gets all excited about licking Doc the dalmatian's..... tonsils.  Seriously, she practically forces his mouth open and she just dives in as far as she can go licking as fast as she can.  I don't see the attraction, but they both seem to enjoy it.  :-O

[ginger899]

It might be good for Rocky in the future if you did have him neutered. The dog I had before (in the nineties) was fit and strong, then suddenly when he was nearly 14 we found he had prostate cancer, and it was too late to do anything about it. The sad thing was he was still so FULL of life, and energetic. I think without that he would've gone on to live a few more years. I asked the vet if there was anything I could have done to prevent it, and he said, yes I could have had him neutered when he was younger.

The one main thing that will make an animal overweight is: too much food hand in hand with too little exercise. Or too many calories in for the level of exercise they are getting regularly. So being neutered won't affect that. The one thing it might do is calm him down somewhat, and make him less likely to be filled with nervous energy or frustration (all of which burns calories, but at what cost?) If he gets sensible feeding, and as much exercise as he needs daily, he won't gain weight.

[arachnaphob]

Hi,

I think it must be a mother dog thing with the ear and mouth licking.  My previous dog (rotty) would lick my little chihuahuas ears etc all the time.  When Heidi had to be euthanased, I got a little Kelpie puppy.  The chihuahua took over the licking duty and started cleaning the puppies ears and mouth.  They are now 10 and 7 yo and the chi still cleans the kelpie.

Although I do wonder sometimes if it's a power, in control thing.. I don't know what makes me think that, It's just a feeling I have.

Arach