Hello, all!! My boy is only 9 weeks, so this is very premature....but as we've no plans to show or breed him, we wish to be responsible and neuter him. However, opinions on the ideal age vary rather a bit from what I see. Some folks say do it as early as possible. Some say 8-9 months of age. Some say wait till they're two years old since they reach full height around 12-18 months of age but may not reach their full "bulk" in terms of build till 2 years of age. I have also read that neutering too young results in delayed growth plate closure. All of this is making me lean toward the 2-year-old mark, but thought I'd seek your opinions.
Re: Age for neutering? I'm in the "wait and see" camp, and have no plans to castrate my dog until any such time as problems develop - and so far there have been none. He is not aggressive to other males dogs, doesn't mark in the house, doesn't guard and hasn't run off after bitches in heat (we've met 3 so far, all uneventful), or howled the house down because there is a bitch in heat nearby. I have excellent fences. If any of these things do become a problem, I'll revist my decision. I was influenced in this by the views of a London vet set out here: http://www.londonvetclinic.co.uk/advice.aspx?a=810&clientId=20138 particularly the view that male hormone can be beneficial as well as a nuisance, and universal castration of all male dogs is very influenced by cultural (eg in North America it tends to be frowned on not to castrate a male dog, in Sweden it's an unusual thing to do). I also read a study (I can look the reference up if you are interested) that claimed waiting had no impact on whether an undesirable behaviour was reduced or removed after castration. And I found the claims castration resulted in a healthier dog unconvincing. So I saw no reason to castrate my dog until I was prompted to do so. So I guess I think the later you can wait before behavioural or other problems prompt you, the better. The closure of the growth plates is a trivial thing in the long term, I think - castration does delay closure, but this doesn't really matter much. Unless your dog needs an operation and you have to wait for the growth plates to close. As in my case. : I'm very thankful I don't have to wait a minute longer than I do. Lots of other people have different views though!
Re: Age for neutering? With a male, the decision is less urgent I think. But here (Australia) it's the norm to neuter by 6 or 7 months of age. If I got another male I might wait a bit longer, but not much. For me, the reasons are: - it's seen as the socially responsible thing to do here (not saying it is, that's just the attitude that authorities have worked very hard to successfully cultivate) - I don't want to worry about my dog making a bitch pregnant - and.....this is silly....but......I just don't like the look of dog balls ;D Sorry. Please don't hate me ;D
Re: Age for neutering? It's ok Rachael they really aren't pretty it's true ;D My attitude is very similar to Julie's (although perhaps less well researched). Riley is a wet blanket and I didn't want to remove his testosterone at the risk of making him worse. Most people say it didn't affect their dogs character when they had it done though. I also watched for testosterone driven behaviours that could subsequently become learned behaviours and didn't see any, we met bitches on heat too. All that suggested we didn't need to get him done, we work hard on our recall and training. I would be open to neutering future dogs but I will take the same approach and work on a case by case basis.
Re: Age for neutering? I had my first Lab castrated at 11 months which I thought was too early. I had no plans to castrate my second one, but did finally at 20 months as he had (as have all my three males) a discharge from his penis and it was getting all over the walls and doors - yuk. I was also concerned if there was a bitch on heat in the area, he would attempt to go and find her, even though it would be extremely difficult to get out of the garden. I believe the later the better for castration.
Re: Age for neutering? I had Sam castrated when he was about 11 months old . The main reason being that , usually a very obedient dog who came when called , he followed a bitch on heat at the woods , she was on lead with her owner , Sam just followed out of sight until eventually , legging it like a crazy woman , I got him in sight and managed to get him back and on lead . His nature hasnt changed one little bit , apart from the fact that he now ignores bitches in season so for me , it was the right thing to do
Re: Age for neutering? [quote author=Oberon link=topic=4118.msg48548#msg48548 date=1390202248] - and.....this is silly....but......I just don't like the look of dog balls ;D Sorry. Please don't hate me ;D [/quote] that made me spit out my tea....lol. i'm with you there... not exactly a lovely thing to see dangling about, is it! i have had one other male lab (a beautiful yellow boy named surry)... we originally had plans to breed him, but the opportunity never presented itself so we never did have him castrated. however, he never showed any signs of the usual "aggression" issues or any other testosterone-driven problems - so it was not something we agonized over..... now that i think about it, i may well do the same with orion. so far, aside from the CHOMPING on our hands, arms, legs, etc., he shows a very sweet and loving spirit, so we will see how that develops. thank you all so much for weighing in, and julie, that article you posted was so useful! thank you!!!!
Re: Age for neutering? Well, I think Charlie's plums are very pretty! And they are milk chocolate coloured! ;D ;D ;D I half (but not properly) investigated vasectomy instead of castration: http://www.petmd.com/blogs/dailyvet/2009/October/02-4770 Might bother the ladies, instead of getting them into trouble, and still keep the male hormones... Not sure many vets are onside with this yet.... :
Re: Age for neutering? Previous to Poppy I had two male dogs, a big black lab and a lab/spaniel cross. I never had either of them castrated, as they were both well-socialized, unaggressive dogs, who did not appear over-sexed! I just never really saw the need. There was one downside to having two male uncastrated dogs though, and that was that if there was a bitch in heat in the area, they would egg each other on to run away. As long as I had one on the lead, the other would stay with us. But woe betide if they were both free and caught the delicious scent… They would give each other a sneaky look, nonchalantly stroll a bit further away from me, and then a bit further still… and then they would leg it and sometimes be gone for hours. So I quickly learned that as soon as they started giving off signals that there might be a bitch in heat around (sniffing more than usual; taking a bit more time than usual to come back when called), I would put at least one of them on the lead. Problem sorted! On the other hand, our next-door neighbours have a lovely, beautiful, big young Golden Retriever. Very nice dog - very large, very bouncy and boisterous, and very, very highly sexed. Always trying to hump poor Poppy, whether or not she was on heat at the time. She likes him; but she actually snapped at him once after he knocked her to the ground and tried to have his wicked way! He's huge - probably weighs about 40 kilos. I was so relieved when they decided to have him castrated… Now peace reigns and we can go for walks with them again! Personally, I wouldn't be in a rush to have a male dog castrated. Like Julie, I think 'wait and see' is sensible. Some dogs do better with all their bits - some frankly are better off without them. :
Re: Age for neutering? Hello there, I was in the ' wait and see 'category too.why?we hadn't seen any behaviour to cause us any concern,until......he went after a beagle bitch on heat,while still attached to his lead....and me.....I'm nearly 3 times his weight and he was only 9/10 months but he dragged me along on my knees like I was a minor inconvenience ;D ( I know Jacqui is wetting herself laughing again!) I swear there was tracks in the grass where I'd tried uselessly to dig in and get some kind of grip!having experienced the force and determination and knowing that I couldn't responsibly control that we made the decision to go ahead with the proviso of waiting until he was fully mature.Our hands were forced at 13 months when he needed a tail amputation op and we felt we should take advantage of the GA....so we went ahead.no personality changes in him at all,if anything,slightly more affectionate towards us,he'll come and cuddle up where he used to be happy to lie away from us,he will still sniff bitches in and out of season but only on a cursory fashion and the yellow discharge that Stacia spoke of has gone as well . Bfn Angela
Re: Age for neutering? [quote author=Dexter link=topic=4118.msg48655#msg48655 date=1390236182] .....he went after a beagle bitch on heat,while still attached to his lead....and me.....I'm nearly 3 times his weight and he was only 9/10 months but he dragged me along on my knees like I was a minor inconvenience ;D ( I know Jacqui is wetting herself laughing again!) I swear there was tracks in the grass where I'd tried uselessly to dig in and get some kind of grip! Angela [/quote] Moi?? ;D ;D
Re: Age for neutering? ".....he went after a beagle bitch on heat,while still attached to his lead....and me.....I'm nearly 3 times his weight and he was only 9/10 months but he dragged me along on my knees like I was a minor inconvenience ;D ( I know Jacqui is wetting herself laughing again!) I swear there was tracks in the grass where I'd tried uselessly to dig in and get some kind of grip!" Sorry to hijack this thread but this had me laughing out loud. I had a similar experience when Tarka was about 9 months old and in her duck-chasing phase. The scene - a very frosty day, Tarka on a harness and longline. The ducks started quacking in the river, Tarka shot off after them, I gave a very firm "No" command which was completely ignored. I slipped as she tore after the ducks and found myself surfing on the frozen grass at great speed on my backside. I only managed to get some purchase with my boots when she dragged me into the river and my boots caught on the bedrock. Soaked to the waist, I staggered out of the river to the sound of loud hoots of laughter from some passing runners who had no shame in stopping, watching and laughing hysterically....
Re: Age for neutering? [quote author=Lochan link=topic=4118.msg48682#msg48682 date=1390241619] Soaked to the waist, I staggered out of the river to the sound of loud hoots of laughter from some passing runners who had no shame in stopping, watching and laughing hysterically.... [/quote] ( ;D ;D ;D ;D )
Re: Age for neutering? [quote author=Lochan link=topic=4118.msg48682#msg48682 date=1390241619] Sorry to hijack this thread but this had me laughing out loud. I had a similar experience when Tarka was about 9 months old and in her duck-chasing phase. The scene - a very frosty day, Tarka on a harness and longline. The ducks started quacking in the river, Tarka shot off after them, I gave a very firm "No" command which was completely ignored. I slipped as she tore after the ducks and found myself surfing on the frozen grass at great speed on my backside. I only managed to get some purchase with my boots when she dragged me into the river and my boots caught on the bedrock. Soaked to the waist, I staggered out of the river to the sound of loud hoots of laughter from some passing runners who had no shame in stopping, watching and laughing hysterically.... [/quote] Well that gave me the best laugh I have had in ages - sorry Lochan ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D ;D I am very happy to report that even my Charlie hasn't done that to me and it's not often I get to say that ;D xxx [size=8pt]Edited to fix quote (Oberon)[/size]
Re: Age for neutering? oh mercy! i am CRACKING UP at both stories!!!!! LOVE IT LOVE IT LOVE IT.... my husband is eyeballing me as if i've lost my mind as i am staring at the laptop laughing hysterically..... ;D
Re: Age for neutering? .... and thank you ALL for the stellar input! it's really quite a lot of excellent points to consider, and i think we are now leaning toward the wait-and-see approach which worked fine for us with our first lab boy..... really appreciate it!
Re: Age for neutering? Morning Moderators, I think Angela and Lochan's very funny stories should be split into another thread if they don't mind that is. So lovely of them to post them and give us all a giggle too. Thanks ladies xxx
Re: Age for neutering? [quote author=charlie link=topic=4118.msg48838#msg48838 date=1390303620] Morning Moderators, I think Angela and Lochan's very funny stories should be split into another thread if they don't mind that is. So lovely of them to post them and give us all a giggle too. Thanks ladies xxx [/quote] a splendid idea, i think... we ought to have a new board/thread for funny lab stories!!!!
