Neuter your Men

Hello all! Today was highly educational. I was walking the hound dog I previously posted about and from the start he was on the behavior borderline. He was pushier than usual about charging the kennel door jumping up and he added being mouthy to his repertoire. I think I was the last person to walk him, which was several days at least so he had a lot of pent up energy. He did a lot of jumping and mouthing during the walk which I cracked down on and really made him take a submissive position. When we'd stop I'd make him not move a foot and if he did I'd put him back where he was and make him stay. Not the normal routine. After an hour's walk I took him into the enclosed yard to play. We were there over 40 minutes when the educational part of my day happened.

I don't know if I mentioned but this particular dog has not yet been neutered(known as intact or unaltered) and he was feeling his hormones today. It started with me sitting in a chair and him trying to jump on my lap and getting pushy/nippy and led to him trying to hump my leg. I was able to pin him on his side in submission a few times but it wasn't enough to calm his hormone drive. Things escalated to him outright trying to bite(not hard but enough to do minor bruising) to get me to submit. I had him by the scruff of his neck and he had me by my sweater sleeve. At one point I was able to use the leash as a impromptu muzzle(I couldn't get the actual leash on him and fend off his biting at the same time) but he slipped out of it. Eventually I let him jump my back and do his business long enough to get the leash on him and drag him into the mini-kennel they have outside then got help. I'm proud of my calm collected manner I dealt with the situation in despite that the dog was rapidly escalating. Please don't think him a bad or mean dog. He's not. He was simply responding to the natural hormonal drive and when his attempts failed he responded in the same way he would with other dogs in a pack. He used his mouth to correct me. I did have to report the bites but I don't think he's in serious trouble, the guy I got to help said he'd keep an eye on the issue. Really all he needs is to be neutered and given extensive exercise and consistent training. I'm glad to have had this experience. Exposure will make me more prepared for future incidents as I get into dog walking packs and such.