So we are just back from our 5 month vet visit as part of our puppy plan. It was raised again about neutering him. This was a different vet to last and she was really recommending for 6 months. I have read some bits to saying wait or never do it. Are vets out of date with current research? I am going to speak to our dog trainer at class on Thursday to see what her thoughts are too. What is the best way forward? All so confusing!
Hi @Thunder* Have you read the articles mentioned in the thread? https://thelabradorforum.com/threads/when-to-neuter.26096/#post-386386
Hi Thunder, You'll find some more information on this debate in this article: Pros and Cons of Neutering a Dog
If I was you I would find out everything you can sit down and make up your mind after. Look at the pros and cons and how your dog is don't be pushed into anything by the vets. I am going to wait until Willow has had her first or second season before I will talk to the vet about her being spayed.
Yes. Vets are not exposed to the MANY recent articles there are, detailing the drawbacks and negatives of neutering, during their training. In addition, vets often see dogs that suffer neglect or are bred by poor breeders and have to pick up the pieces in terms of the dog's health. This means they frequently form a negative opinion of breeding and breeders generally. They don't see (so much) the loads of healthy puppies from excellent breeders, who don't need frequent trips to the vet... Thirdly, we all know there are too many dogs in the world - and so vets think they are doing the right thing if they neuter as many of them as possible and prevent them from reproducing. BUT: There is a difference between what is best for the world as a whole and what is best for the INDIVIDUAL dog. Human population is the same: There are way too many people in the world. It would be much better for the world as a whole if it had less people in it. But obviously we are not going to remove the healthy sex organs of individuals to achieve that end - we can all see the fallacy of that and we would expect to see health consequences for those individuals, if we did. Exactly the same applies to dogs - there may be far too many dogs in the world, but that doesn't mean that removing sex organs from your own individual dog, is the best choice *for that dog* - as an individual. I don't think the reasoning is sound if we are sacrificing what is best for our individual dogs on the altar of what is best for the planet. And certainly not when those irresponsible people who allow their dogs to breed, are the ones who will NOT neuter - and those breedings will continue, whatever others do. Keeping a dog intact and breeding the dog, are two completely different things - and often they get collapsed together to the point that if you keep a dog intact people assume you are going to breed the dog. That's a sad state of affairs. My Weim was neutered at age 3yo, and was never bred. (I now believe that was too early, but I didn't know more at the time.) My Slovakian Rough Haired Pointer was neutered at age 6yo - and was never bred. For more information, you could join this FB group: https://facebook.com/groups/AgainstRoutineNeutering/ You can also read through this list of research on Avidog: https://www.avidog.com/research-on-the-effects-of-spaying-and-neutering/ And Puppy Culture have now produced a booklet with a comprehensive and readable summary showing why neutering is not a good choice for dogs the majority of the time: https://shoppuppyculture.com/collections/books-1/products/puppy-culture-spay-neuter-booklet It is easier to purchase this if you live in the US, as I'm not sure how the shipping to the UK would work (but they do ship to the UK).
My vet recommended that you don’t neuter unless there is a problem. My first dog died intact at 13. My second was neutered at 9 as we added a bitch to our household. Where we live in the UK it’s not something that is actively promoted. I guess though it does depend on where you live.
