Yesterday, I was walking my two with another Labby friend, Alfie, when he (Alfie) shot off. I found him on the other side of a fence, sniffing frantically at the ground. He had gone under the fence, through a gap so narrow, he had to scootch through on his side, and really struggled to get back. I found out later that the bitch that lives there is in season at the moment. That explains Alfie's behaviour. Shadow showed absolutely no interest in getting to the other side of the fence, other than being a bit quizzical about what Alfie was doing there. I've since walked him past there twice, and there wasn't even a turn of his head in that direction. He's nearly 20 months old now, so I'd have thought by now he'd be running on normal hormones. I'm more than happy to have an entire boy who has no interest in girls, don't get me wrong, but I was wondering for those of you whose boys are interested (whether this is a "problem" or not), at what age did this develop?
Charlie is interested in bitches in season - if they are close. He just won't run off after them, and can be recalled away from them (unless he actually has his nose up a girl's bottom, then no, I have to go get him) and isn't any more obsessed by the scent as any other incredibly interesting smell (Charlie can track rabbit scent for hours if I let him). I'd say he had no interest at all up to a year, a bit of interest up to 2 years, and more interest from 2 years on.
My 10 year old castrated dog does become interested in some bitches and attempts to mate. Fortunately this is rare as we don't often see other dogs, he does favour blonds! My four year old shows no interest whatsoever.
Similar to Julie timewise...usual adolescent high jinks developing at 8/9 months. Benson was 16/17 months where we suspected hormones were really driving some behaviours such as intensity in sniffing, however more noticeably and problematic is roaming. He ended up once in someone's back garden, hugely embarrassing, the dog owner was far more understanding than I would have been! Benson doesn't have to be near a bitch to be distracted. You can see him nose to the air scenting madly with his mouth and tongue. That's when I go into panic mode. I suspect by 20 months you would have seen evidence of distraction by a bitch in season, whining to get out, sniffing (more than usual), frustration when a bitch has been scented or just bombing off! I was wondering is it usual to spay bitches in Andorra, do you have many unspayed bitches close by. It often seems like dogs are off lead most of the time.
I would have to ask my vet, but my instinct is that generally bitches are spayed and dogs are left intact. That said, there are at least two entire bitches nearby (the one we walked past, who is about 500m from our apartment block, and another who is in the block next door). The former is never walked (hugely sad) but spends a lot of time in the little garden outside her owner's apartment, which is right by the road we walk on. The latter is walked daily, even when in season. The last time we met her when she was in season, she was a terrible flirt with Shadow, and he played with her, but no differently than he would with any other playful female dog. The sled dogs are all left entire. There are a lot of sled-dog puppies every year. You're right, most dogs in my village are off lead all the time. Partly because most people live on a very quiet dead-end back road and so it's rare to come across a moving vehicle, and even when they are moving, it tends to be very slowly because the road is bendy and very narrow in places. Mainly, though, because people seem to hold different values to their pets as we do. Many dogs are let out of their apartments in the morning and evening and left to their own devices for a couple of hours. This varies depending on where you live. In the "big smoke" of the capital (which has a similar size population to Clifton in Bristol!), it would be very rare to see any dog off its lead, even in the parks.
