# Neutering and behavior change



## Nikkitine (May 11, 2009)

So I was wondering if anybody's experienced with their malties, a change in behavior after neutering/spaying? I have a friend who recently neutered her little maltipoo and according to her, he's become a complete different dog, and it saddens her! It's a been a month after the surgery and she says he used to always be around her, cuddle with her, and pretty much be her little lapdog but ever since after the surgery, he's been pretty much somewhat of a loner who doesn't wanna be around anyone. I told her "Take a look if you were in his paws, if you had your little jewels removed, wouldn't you be depressed!?" haha. A joke, but I was wondering if anybody had a similar issue of their dog changing their behavior after getting fixed?


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## princessre (Dec 23, 2008)

We had the opposite experience. Our pup has always been mellow and sweet, but the neutering made his personality even sweeter which I did not think was possible :w00t: . All he wants to do now is lick my nose, face, head, hand, toes for hours. When his dad comes home, all he does is lick his dad for hours. He used to lean up against us on the couch to nap, but if he was very tired he would move to the edge of the sofa to get some shut eye. Now he won't touch butt to sofa...he just wants in our laps. And if I am looking at the laptop, he will just sit on the keypad and look up longingly at me. If I won't let him on my lap still, he climbs up on top of the sofa and puts his head on my shoulder for hours and licks my ear and cheek while I work. He also barks two octaves higher. He's still healing, so we haven't been back to puppy play group. I'll report back when that happens because I'm very curious whether he will start behaving normally around other dogs, instead of marking and humping like he was doing before he got the snip snip. (Always been perfect around humans and such a spaz around other dogs, so I'm very interested to know...) We should have gotten him neutered a long time ago- I highly recommend it, haha! :rofl:


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## Simon & Simone (Apr 13, 2009)

QUOTE (princessre @ May 12 2009, 01:52 PM) index.php?act=findpost&pid=775308


> We had the opposite experience. Our pup has always been mellow and sweet, but the neutering made his personality even sweeter which I did not think was possible :w00t: . All he wants to do now is lick my nose, face, head, hand, toes for hours. When his dad comes home, all he does is lick his dad for hours. He used to lean up against us on the couch to nap, but if he was very tired he would move to the edge of the sofa to get some shut eye. Now he won't touch butt to sofa...he just wants in our laps. And if I am looking at the laptop, he will just sit on the keypad and look up longingly at me. If I won't let him on my lap still, he climbs up on top of the sofa and puts his head on my shoulder for hours and licks my ear and cheek while I work. He also barks two octaves higher. He's still healing, so we haven't been back to puppy play group. I'll report back when that happens because I'm very curious whether he will start behaving normally around other dogs, instead of marking and humping like he was doing before he got the snip snip. (Always been perfect around humans and such a spaz around other dogs, so I'm very interested to know...) We should have gotten him neutered a long time ago- I highly recommend it, haha! :rofl:[/B]


We had Simon and Simone neutered and spayed at about 7 months. Simon bounced back no problems, Simone was a little more reserved and quiet for the first few months. She also is fearful of jumping up onto furniture like she did in the past, she just does not have the abdominal strength she use to. Other than that, her personality slowly came back to normal but it took awhile and I too noticed an immediate difference post-surgery. Our vet said it was the hormone change in their bodies and can sometimes take time to heal. Be patient, I'm sure he will bounce back from what is undoubtedly a traumatic experience.


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## ckim111 (Dec 17, 2008)

Casper, my parent's boy maltese did unfortunately have a permanent personality change. He never wen back to him usual playful, silly, cuddling self. Not that he stopped doing all of that completely but there was a definite decrease. I guess really varies from dog to dog. Bella just had her spay so I will report back if her behavior has changed once she heals up..


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## I found nemo (Feb 23, 2006)

No change in Nemo when he was neutered at 7 months, but he did start marking :shocked: 
Still haven't figured out that puzzle yet  He is almost four now, doesn't mark all the time, just occasionally .
Was perfectly trained before he was neutered :biggrin: so I have NO idea what happened.


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## k/c mom (Oct 9, 2004)

I didn't see any personality changes in either Kallie or Catcher when they were neutered.


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## momtoboo (Jan 30, 2006)

The only change in Boo was that he became afraid & anxious of going to the vet.


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## 08chrissy08 (Sep 19, 2008)

No change in Jazz at all. In fact, he was completely back to himself the day of his neuter. I had to lock him up in his crate to keep him from running all over the place!


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## Holly (Apr 20, 2009)

The only change I've seen here is that Jimmy no longer gets fresh with the stuffed Maltese toy we got him. Other than that, he's the same little critter.


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