Neutering

Hello, I have 11 month old red lab, Benson. Very recently, we've decided that we won't neuter him. I actually made an appt with vet and cancelled it. I didn't get much support from Benson's vet when I told him about my decision. When I tell people that he's not neutered, I get the raise eyebrows... Why are people so surprised that my dog is intact???

 

Hello there and welcome to the forum from me and two 11-month old Labs, Willow (black bitch) and Shadow (yellow dog).

Where do you live? There are definitely different beliefs on the best thing to do depending on which country you're in.

I live in Andorra, and here it is very common to leave male dogs intact, and to spay bitches that aren't going to be bred.

I think in the UK it's still quite common for dogs to be routinely neutered if you don't plan from breeding from them, but more people are questioning the reasoning behind this as the evidence doesn't support some of the reasoning for doing it.

I have made the decision to keep Shadow entire, unless he becomes too sexually driven for me to handle, but the evidence is pointing to this not being the case. I am starting to wonder about my little boy

Ultimately, it's your decision, so don't worry what other people have to say about it. If your vet doesn't support that decision, though, it may be time to find another vet.

 

I'm with Snowbunny on this. My 14 month old will not be getting neutered. I made the decision early on as the jury is still out on the consequences of neutering.

My vet gave up on nagging me as I have had to make it abundantly clear, Cupar would not be getting neutered.
You do not need to give an explanation to a vet or anyone else. It is your decision no one else's.

I have made the decision that the only thing I require from a vet, is the treatment of my dogs when they're ill.

 

Hi and welcome to the forum. I have always had male dogs and I have never had any of them neutering. I have never had a problem with any of my dogs not being neutering. When the vet ask me if I was going to have Fred done I just said no,

 

I still meet with surprise that my two dogs aren't neutered but the people I spend most time with who take their dogs shooting it seems much more standard to have your dogs intact and there's very little issue between the dogs. In season bitches are left at home. The biggest tellings off my dog gets are from bitches not males with the exception of two large (neutered) male labs who saw Riley from miles off and came over and had a go. He gets distracted sometimes if there's a bitch in season about and his bum sniffing manners are appalling so sometimes I have to put his lead back on and remove him, he's met in season bitches who are out and about in public places but because he's pretty much under control I have an opportunity to pop his lead back on.....also I think he likes to flirt a bit so I can get in there first and take him away!

I'm far from convinced there's a medical case for neutering so for me it's really down to whether or not I'm happy in my ability to prevent any accidental matings.

 

My boy Pongo is 18 months and we don't intend to neuter him (unless, as snowbunny says, his behaviour becomes unmanageable). Right now he is going through a phase of being quite easily distracted by scents and 'going deaf' to his name, but that's not a huge deal and if that's the worst behaviour we get then I'm fine with that. He has run off from the garden just once, and again if that's all we get then it is no biggie.

I do get a few raised eyebrows, but generally people accept that I don't want to do it. The only real issue was with our doggy daycare centre, who have a rule that all males over 12 months should be neutered; we had to get a note from Pongo's breeder saying that his bloodline is valuable and that she'd like to breed from him in future, and that was sufficient to satisfy the daycare people to make an exception for him.

Welcome to the forum!

 

Charlie goes in and out of two different worlds - the gundog world where just about all males we meet are entire, and the pet dog world where just about every male we meet is neutered. So reactions vary hugely depending on where we are - in the same week I can listen to a conversation about how very unwise it might be to have a male dog neutered, and a conversation about how very unwise it might be to keep a male dog entire.

Well, Charlie's status as having his boy bits has caused me no trouble so far, although it has caused me extra expense in arranging individual care for him as it closes off some day care options.

I think the best one though was when I was told (at a pet training class) that Charlie pulling on his lead was a result of him being entire. Right. The fact that we were surrounded by neutered dogs also all pulling on their leads was brushed over as irrelevant.....

 

Being entire obviously makes a dog pull on his lead. Those round hairy things hanging down at the back are actually little jet packs, didn't you know?

 

Thank you everyone for words of encouragement!!! My dog is only 11 months old and absolutely no negative behavior. As one of you mentioned "jury is still out" on benefits of neutering, especially when it comes to male dogs.
My father was a veterinarian in Poland, where I originally come from, he passed away 20 years ago....but, as far as I can remember, his patients were mainly treated for worms, broken bones or bites from another dog. Unfortunately, with changing world there are more cancers, tumors or diabetes . We all have to deal wit these issues, people and animals alike. Bottom line, neutering my boy just feels wrong and I'm NOT doing it!

 

Hi my old Newfie died intact at 13 years with never a moment of bother being entire. My current old Malamute was entire until age 9 when we introduced Meg to the household and he got rather amorous, so bless him was castrated at 9. My vet will not castrate unless they display sexualised behaviour. He wont do it routinely. He is a good old Yorkshire Dales sensible vet .

 

Hi

I had mixed responces but my vet was very supportive, when I decided not to neuter Rory. He said if theres not a problem it does not need fixing.
My breeder asked me not to neuter until he was about 15 mnths as it would help with his bone growth and maturity. He's no nearly 2 and I'm glad I didn't. He's a lot more mature and sorted than a lot of puppies who he played with who are the same age. He seems calmer and more self assured.
That does not mean that I wouldn't castrate but I would just see how the dogs behave before I cut them off. They need their little boy bits for other things than sex. I'm convinced my older dog would not have got his auto immune problem if I had left him entire. Unfortunaltely at the time I was a new dog owner and I was convinced by the "cut em off" lobby to neuter him at 8 months.
I have done lots of reading around the subject and am now not neutering unless I have too. I do find it disturbing that very young puppies are being neutered now, and they physical and mental development is being impaired.
Besides I hate hurting my dogs it nearly killed me when I had Doug castrated I felt like I had betrayed him, totally irational I know but I did.
S

 

I am in the camp of unless there is a real medical or behavioural/social need not to neuter male dogs. My opinion is borne partly out of reading some of the data out that suggests possibly a causal association between certain cancers and early neutering, plus a preference to allow a dog to mature naturally both physically and mentally. Hormones effect not just sexual drive but have a huge impact of development. Labradors take up to 2 years to mature. Again some evidence pointing towards the effects on behaviour if dogs are neutered early, meaning they stay in a sort of perpetual pre-adolescent maturity. These suggestions were enough for me to consider not neutering, or delaying castration.

Saying all that at just after a year, now our Benson was always a bit off a late developer, maybe due to his showline genes He is not quick of the mark, despite hours and hours of training. Compared to his working line cousins he is very slow with a low drive for working and very easily distracted, however has the most laid back wonderful nature, rock solid in terms of dog manners,steady, no nervous aggression,, etc...BUT he just became almost unmanageable at times. Pulling, almost frenzied, recall almost impossible, stay close...forget it..and yes he ran off a few times. Sometimes walks were quite unpleasant. Completely distracted.

At 20 months old we opted for a suprelorin implant, to help understand if actually castration would have any impact on his behaviour or did we just have the dog we have. The implant appears to have had a significant impact, and removed that frenzied, distracted element on our walks. His character hasn't changed one bit, actually more trainable, the important fact is that I am back to enjoying walks with him again, I am sure he is happier too.

So for me, every dog is different, we have the dogs we do, some dogs are far more affected by hormones than others, whether genetics/breeding has an impact I don't know. I tend to think our Benson is at the extreme end of the spectrum when it comes to hormonal effect on behaviour.

 

My 3 year old boy is not neutered. I've had to stand my ground on a number of occasions. I had a locum vet want to whip off my boys balls at a six month check up.
Then when he was about a year old at agility the trainer insisted that I have him done and that all lab males are dominant and should be neutered. I continued with the agility foe a while longer as we usually had another trainer but then the lady shouted at me saying if he was her dog she'd take him to the vet today to be done This was all because he peed on the tunnel which was my fault because I was running late and he hadn't had a chance to walk around the field before starting the class. I walked away and never went back. Sad because he enjoyed the agility but I wasn't going to be bullied.

Yes as we go along the road to the park every tree needs marking and I do have to watch him when he sniffs other dogs to make sure he's not getting too friendly with the girls. About once a week he'll have a 'special moment' with his bedding.

He's three and I still have an open mind but it's my choice and my responsibility.

 

Just to add..... when we first got Pongo we just assumed we would eventually neuter him (inexperienced puppy parents!). It was our vet who advised us against it - in his opinion all the latest reputable evidence is that dogs should NOT be neutered until fully grown (more than 18 months) - unless it is absolutely necessary. Particularly for breeds like labradors who have vulnerable joints. Something to do with the importance of normal hormones in the growth process, and protecting growth plates.