I have heard, and experienced that entire males can get picked on by castrated males. I don't know why exactly. When Benson had his Superlorin implant, this turned his testosterone off. He was not bothered by castrated males. Fast forward and the implant has worn off, and the same castrated dogs are responding to him differently, at times with a bit of bluster, or aggression. Now maybe I am not picking up subtle signals from Benson, entirely possible, which are responsible for the other dogs' more confrontational behaviour. (s'cuse the pun. ) I don't know why, it's interesting though, and just something I watch out for. Luckily Benson has become very good at staying close to me, and not approaching unfamiliar dogs.
I think you have to know your dog. It just so happens that my intact male doesn't get on with other intact males. He's generally fine with castrated males and has never had a problem with a bitch. So, I'm always a bit on edge around unfamiliar male dogs with him, and generally just try to avoid them meeting. My spayed bitch is ambivalent to most other dogs. She will put up with a small amount of pestering, then she will growl and snap. She doesn't get into fights, because that "get out of my face" is all it takes. This is generally with male dogs, because they're the ones who tend to pester her, but would act the same if an unfamiliar bitch jumped on her. Then there's Luna, who I've never heard growl, not even in play. She doesn't appear to know the meaning of the word "cross". I fear that may change at adolescence
Thank you -- he just bounces right back. Had a nice on-lead walk this evening along the promenade and a young Frenchie (bounced around like a puppy so I assume it was young) excitedly jumped all over his face and he happily put up with this. And on our walk this morning we passed the park, full of dogs (dog walker brings her carload of dogs to the park every day) and he was very happy to say hallo through the fence (I don't like to go in there with that dog walker, she has too many dogs to control). From how @snowbunny describes Luna, sounds like Snowie shares the same temperament genes -- Mr Happy Friendly. Never growled in play as a puppy, and only uttered a guttural/throaty sound when he was about 2 or 3 years old when a dog behaved badly towards him (I was shocked when I realised it was him!), never curls his lips, never bares his teeth, when he growls like that his lips are totally relaxed, although his body goes stiff and his hackles rise. But so infrequent, the dog has got to be really horrid towards him, like the one that bit him now. I noticed he has some hair missing on the side of his forehead (hardly noticeable), so am guessing the top teeth grazed him there and the bottom teeth scratched his ear where it bled.
