After Tim recommended that I have Prince neutered at an early age, I went to talk to the veterinarian that he worked for.  The first thing Prince did upon meeting him was jump up in delight and hit him with his left front paw, leaving an enormous red welt down one of his cheeks.  I could see that the veterinarian was both annoyed and intimidated by my extremely large puppy, but he tried to keep a stiff upper lip.

"What you are dealing with is a potentially extremely dangerous dog," the veterinarian said.  "One day, he will more than likely attack you."

"But I'm his owner," I pointed out, thinking I had never heard of a German Shepherd that actually attacked his owner.  (Nipping was another matter entirely.)

"One day, he will attack you, even though he loves you, to punish you," he said.  "And with a dog this large, someone could potentially be seriously injured.  Then, you will be coming back here and I will have to put him to sleep."

"I'll think about it," I said, and went home, where I actually did think about it.  I had always intended to neuter Prince eventually, because I believe there are already too many dogs in the world that nobody wants.  Yet I wanted to wait until he was mature, and I knew, from past experience, regardless of what any veterinarian would tell me, that dogs neutered early do not develop the same way as dogs who are neutered later.  And I was, already, a little bit vain about my dog's looks.

I wasn't entirely to blame for this.  Every time I complained about his bad behavior to people, they would murmur in sympathy and then add, "But he's gorgeous!"  Which made me wonder if even good looking dogs (like good looking people) tend to be excused for their bad behavior more often.

In the end, I decided to wait.  Sooner or later, I thought, he'll grow out of this bad behavior, and I'll be glad I did.

What I should have known is that the apex of Prince's bad behavior was about to arrive, and I was going to have to deal with it in a manner that I never thought I would.