I know many sites say that labs are fully grown around about 12 months and may continue growing until 18 months. I have been looking into other options such as chemical castration for Aspen but haven't found much. I will have to call around to vets in my state and Minnesota to see what they have for chemical castration options. I am just worried about when I should neuter him now because our fur-nephew has been diagnosed with hip dysplasia. He was neutered at 6 months and is very tall and lanky and had a massive growth spurt at about 10 months. He is 15 months now. They also used to take him on very long walks when he was probably 5-7 months old so that doesn't help either. Aspen has been growing consistently but like I have said in previous posts, his weight has not changed too much since 7/8 months. I have been very careful to make sure he doesn't exercise too much and isn't too fat. He seemed a little thick to me so I cut back his kibbles by 1/2 a cup. I am thinking if we do end up choosing to neuter him, it will be around 18 months. I don't want him to somehow get out of our fenced in yard and get a dog pregnant, because I don't want to be that irresponsible dog owner, but I also feel lazy that I know I won't be able to watch him all the time when he is in our yard. If we don't fix him, and if I am not able to watch him, I shouldn't leave him intact! If he isn't in our fenced in yard, but we are outside, he is typically on a leash. I am assuming if we do wait until he is 18 months to neuter (if we have to do the neuter and not chemical castration) then he should be okay joint-wise. But I also think that if we can get him to 18 months without any trouble then we could probably keep him intact...I am so conflicted. You guys know I am. This is like my 5th post about this. I guess a good question to ask is what precautions you take with your intact males to make sure they don't get into trouble.
I had Sam castrated at around 11 months old , following advice at the time . Now, if I could turn back time , I would not have rushed , let him reach full adulthood and see then if it was necessary . Ironically , although I say this , I am glad that I had him castrated as the type of Lymphoma he lost his life too , is probably hereditary , so unknowingly , I did the right thing rather than take an awful risk . If I were you , I would bide my time , supervise him as much as is possible and make the decision when or if its necessary and all in good time x
I feel your pain. I was so conflicted because it’s the norm to neuter where I live. And Snowie had to leave doggy daycare at 6 months - rule was all dogs had to be neutered by then. I cried that last day of doggy daycare! I then remained indecisive for another year. Then he had a seizure (epilepsy) and I didn’t want to introduce any stress to him, like being neutered. Six years on and he’s still intact. No plans to neuter. He’s in a very secure garden, no way he can get out. If there was a risk of escaping, I’d consider neutering, because he goes crazy for a bitch on heat and he’d likely get knocked over by a car if he escaped. Can you not secure your garden better? Out on walks I am very vigilant and put him on the leash immediately if we come across a bitch on heat, or even a spayed bitch that gives off a desirable scent (he can get very mounty around some spayed bitches). I think it does take more management having an intact male, but the medical evidence to support late and no neuter is overwhelming. Behaviorwise, we have no issues that he’s intact.
I haven't made any other than the sensible ones I have for my other dogs. 6 foot fencing around my garden. Also with dog thefts round my area I don't leave any dogs in the garden unsupervised. I've never had a dog get out in 20 years.i careful whether the are intact or not. I supervise and know my dogs well so I can prevent any problems. Ive never had any issues. Rory has not turned into a rampaging sex pest or really shown any interest in wandering. Maybe you need to just see how things go perhaps your worries are clouding the issue a little.
I realize that I have never had a male dog fixed, though I haven't a male for 30 years. Other than license fees being higher, I don't see much reason to have a male neutered, unless he has some serious behavior issues. We have had all of our females spayed, because we did not want to worry about unwanted pups, but that was mostly for our convenience.
@MF our yard is secure, it is chain link all around and Aspen is not one to dig. My only concern is the height! One section is probably only 4 feet and another section is about 4.5 feet. I thought it would be smarter to consider having a 6 ft+ fence if you were to keep an intact dog, but perhaps that's me being too protective? I don't know...
@SwampDonkey would you think that having a fence less than 6ft is too risky? We have never had issues with him trying to get out of our yard but I don't know what he is capable of IF he does want to get out!
Behaviorwise, we have no issues that he’s intact.[/QUOTE] Is dog theft a huge issue in the UK? It is not something that we normally worry about here. If someone wants a dog with no papers, the Humane society is always an option. Most of the dog "thefts" I read about are accidental.
I went through similar questions when Homer was young. I wasn't against getting him done but I also wanted to wait and see. Five years later he's still not done.
Is dog theft a huge issue in the UK? It is not something that we normally worry about here. If someone wants a dog with no papers, the Humane society is always an option. Most of the dog "thefts" I read about are accidental.[/QUOTE] Unfortunately , dog theft is rife at the moment in the UK , and especially the gundog breeds in rural areas . I have a six foot fence plus a side gate who is also six foot , and padlocked from the inside , better safe than sorry .
Rory can jump like a stag a 6ft fence is essential for him. I would think that 6ft would be needed for most dogs which are lab sized.
Gundog and dog theft is huge in my area. I know a lab who got taken but they got him back and a labradoddle who has never been found. They were all taken from garden. There has also been people who have been threatened at knife point for their dogs in this area. I don't have any signs advertising a Labrador lives here etc either. I keep them locked in too even if I'm in the garden with them. Some get sold on and some go to puppy farms to breed and breed and breed. Oh and they cut the chip out or try too.
Why does your dog have to be outside unsupervised? Half the year, we don't even have a garden so the dogs only ever go outside when I'm with them. It does them no harm at all. In the summer, they have the option to be outside without me (only when I'm home) just because the door is wide open, but they tend to just go out to wee and then come back in to where I am to spend the day with me.
In my area dog theft is usually whippet/lurcher types or bait dogs awful! We have about a 6/7 foot fence around our garden and we're enclosed by other houses. In the summer I leave the back door open when I'm around for Stanley to come in & out as he pleases but to be honest he's usually still found chilling on the couch. We got Stanley neutered when he turned 1. It was for day care/dog walking purposes. Behavioural issues weren't taken into account but I did notice after his humping pretty much instantly stopped and his marking drastically dropped. I don't know if it hadn't been for the care requirements if we would have got it done. But so far, I'm happy with my decision and Stanley is a happy healthy lad
I am not for neutering. Leão was intact and had no issues with bitches. Gaston I am keeping whole male too, that's the plan. As I said, I am not for it. Unless for animals in shelters.
Rory is 4 and hes never humped anything in the house, and only once outside the house. I never let him start but I had secret weapon. Doug didn't like it, he would look at Rory with utter distain if even looked a bit frisky. It was a testicle shrivelling look, it left Rory in no doubt that humping was for losers. It was so funny, Doug was some dog and Rory tried to copy him so he had his good opinion .
We had our last Lab neutered at 7 months when he was found to have hip dysplasia, though I was planning to have him done at about 10 months anyway. I know from our vet that the thinking about neutering has changed from a health point of view since that time, but I cannot imagine not getting Caspar neutered. Even if you think your dog has good recall/general training he will be uncontrollable around a bitch in heat (when mostly grown) if the mood takes him, and pulling me over won't be too much of a challenge. Our last dog weighed around 36kg and I am expecting this one to be similar. Obviously I don't know what he will be like when he gets hormones, but he already humps his toys at 13 weeks. I am told that a dog changes forever once he has had a bitch. Perhaps others can confirm? My main reason for wanting him done, though is that he will not be able to go to our dog boarder otherwise. She could take him while he still a pup but not after 6 months, meaning no more holidays abroad. We do not have family nearby that could help out. I do not want to put him in concrete kennels under any circumstances. I realise that we are all from different parts of the world, so our experiences will be different. On the subject of dog theft there have been worrying reports from our area, and our local community Facebook page acts as a warning system.
Merlin is my fourth male lab; I have never had one neutered and don't intend to now. I suppose intact males may be a little trickier than neutered dogs in some ways, but the benefits to me have never been convincing enough to go down the route of surgical castration, particularly with the health risks taken into consideration. Of course, there are male dogs with a huge sex drive who become very upset if there is a bitch in heat around, and if that were the case I would reconsider, but as things stand Merlin will be keeping all his bits . Just as an aside - I do a lot of Gundog training, and the male dogs all learn to work alongside bitches in heat - not when they are in their fertile phase, but at the beginning and end of a season. All the male dogs know that they are there to work, and the bitches don't want anything to do with them either, since they are not in their receptive stage.
To be honest I have had both and not seen a great deal different in behaviour whether they are castrated or not.
There was someone picking their older lab up at the vets last time I’d popped in, he’d been in to be castrated because he had a testicular tumour. So if you leave males entire you need to check their bits are both the same size regularly and if they change get them off
