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Anyone have any words of wisdom regarding my four month old bc/mcnabb mix, who piddles when he meets new people or gets extremely excited? It doesn't help that he's cute and friendly and everyone wants to make a huge fuss over him. I have a hard time, when out in public with him, keeping random people from fussing all over him. And then we have a puddle ... He knows sit/down/etc fairly reliably and I've tried asking him to "sit/stay" and asking people to just give him a pat or ignore him as he's "in training" but they're always surprised to see an obviously young puppy so obedient, and they make a huge fuss over him anyway, and then he breaks his stay and goes into a frenzy of wiggling and jumping and ... whiz happens. Arrggghh. I've tried being blunt. "He'll pee on you! Please don't pet him." Doesn't help. I'm not sure how to deal with random strangers who won't respect my request to either leave the dog alone or just give him a quick pat and then ignore him. Particularly when they're warned it's because he will PEE if excited. It's not submissive peeing, as far as I can tell -- he's just an excitable puppy with an immature bladder. He doesn't accidently piddle much at home (and has been housebroken since he was two months old! I got lucky there ...) -- only if neighbors he doesn't know come over, or if I get him too revved up when he's got a full bladder.

True story: For several years when I was a child, we had a friendly tuxedo kitty. We had him neutered, so we KNEW he was fixed. One day, he disappeared. We figured he was gone for good ... then a month later, he showed up again! Yay! The other cats were all cool with him, dog seemed to know him (she chased strange cats), and he moved right in and seemed to be his old self, albeit with a few new quirks in his behavior. One of those quirks was spraying, which he'd never done before. So we hauled him off to the vet to see if he had a UTI or any health issues. Vet said, "Neutering him will help with the spraying." "... but he is neutered." Nope. Not neutered. And, as the vet observed, they don't grow back. The second tuxedo cat was with us for several years after that. He got neutered in a hurry, though, because of the spraying.

I actually just did some reading and it looks like I was operating under an incorrect assumption about retained testicles. I'd always been told that horses with this issue had MORE testosterone than a normal stallion (which is why they are such a PITA to deal with) and this is apparently not true; they have less. I'd also assumed that would carry over to dogs, so I had my facts wrong all around. You know what they say about assuming? Yep. Vet seems to think he won't drop if he hasn't by now. If he does, and the vet's wrong, I'll be elated. Cheaper and less involved neuter. :-) He's getting fixed eventually, either way, but I'd prefer to wait until his growth plates close. No issues with weight. If anything, he's a bit underweight, but every time he starts to fill out he gains another vertical inch and you can see his ribs again. I'm not averse to a bigger dog, just a bit surprised by the size.

Hi! I'm new. :-) I have a 3 1/2 month old BC/Mcnabb cross (3/4 border collie) who looks like he's going to be a really BIG dog. He's 26 pounds and growing so fast I swear he gains a half inch in height every time I look away. He's really solid, too, with tons of bone -- he's going to be built like a tank when adult. Age is correct. No adult teeth yet, and I've had him since he was two months and he was very obviously a (large) baby then. Working lines. Both parents are working dogs from a ranch. I have no reason to believe he's not as described as far as the breeding goes -- he moves, acts, and looks like a smooth coated border collie, albeit one with floppy ears and a big nose. When he's got his eye on something, he's all border collie, even this young. He's also incredibly smart in almost spooky ways. (And I've had several stock dogs, including a BC/aussie and an aussie/heeler mix.) Willing and eager to please. Should be a good dog. He's bilateral cryptorchid. I expect I'll be paying for a "spay" rather than a "neuter" and had planned to do it in the fall, for reasons. I've noticed some unusually early boy-behavior (marking where other dogs have gone, mostly) which I expect is due to WAY TOO MUCH testosterone due to being cryptorchid. Could an excess of testosterone be causing his large size? Anyone know any studies on this or hard data? I'm tempted to neuter him super early anyway (maybe even before fall, rather, in the next few months), because of the cancer risk and his behavior. On the other hand, if the cause of his growth rate is NOT excess testosterone, I know neutering him early may encourage even more growth than he would have because neutered males get taller than intact ones, right? From a performance aspect, I'm worried about him growing too big. (Normally, I like to leave dogs intact until they're completely done growing and the growth plates are closed, but meh, it's six of one, half dozen of another on this guy.)