Hi All, We are the owners of a very handsome (arn't they all) male black puppy called Merlin. He is nearly 5 months old and we are looking for advice about the best time to have him neutered. We have no intention of breeding with him, he is just a family pet. We have read conflicting advice on line so we thought we would seek the opinion of the Labrador experts. Our vet says it can be done at 5 1/2 months but that seems a little early to us. We would appreciate hearing about your experiences. Thanks, Chris.
Re: The "op". Hi Chris and welcome . It is a minefield to be honest, and personal choice has to come into it but I would tend to think that five and a half months is a little early . Dogs and bitches who are neutered too early can often remian babyish and also the growth plates can be affected, I say this carefully as it doesnt always apply ! My own Lab, now 18 months, began to show interest in bitches and I worried about him straying as he is very obedient and I didnt want to spoil this , I had him castrated at 10 months and he has been just fine .
Re: The "op". Hi Chris and welcome from me too. I don't know much about this but if it helps, Charlie our rescue Lab x Pointer was neutered at 7 months by the rescue centre and it's not affected his growth as he stands at 27" from the shoulder but he can't pee like a boy and has the most unusual way or peeing poor lad!!! What Kate said is correct about remaining babyish as Charlie at 2 years old still thinks he is a puppy and a rather big one at that!! ;D I would phone 3 or 4 of Vets and see what their opinions are. Good luck. Helen
Re: The "op". Hi Chris, and welcome to the forums. There is certainly a lot of conflicting information on neutering online. It is not an easy decision to make, and if you do decide to neuter, picking the right time is not straightforward either. Kate is right, early neutering has been shown to affect final height. It results in a taller dog, which aesthetically may not matter, but as I understand it, the jury is out as to whether or not this may predispose the dog to orthopaedic problems. I have tried to sum up the pros and cons in this article . And here is a more detailed assessment from Laura Sanborn Hope you find it helpful. Pippa
Re: The "op". That could be one of the reasons for Charlie's height apart from having Pointer in him too. I was always led to believe it resulted in a smaller dog and didn't know about the possible orthopaedic risks either. Thank you Pippa I learn something new every day on this forum. Thanks Helen
Re: The "op". Hi Chris And welcome from me too. Pippa's articles are very good, a really good summary of the millions of pages and articles I read when looking into castration - we'd always had bitches before. For what it's worth we decided that the risks of castration outweighed the benefits and our boy stayed entire. Kerryn
Re: The "op". We were the same as Kerryn, risks outweighed the benefits in our eyes but Riley is a soft lump and has met several bitches in heat on walks and showed no interest (so far). My biggest concern was him being on the receiving end of aggression because he was entire after a rather unpleasant encounter but we haven't had any further problems. Good luck with your decision
Re: The "op". I never had any of my boy labs 'fixed' either. I would have done so, had there been any issues such as aggression or over-the-top sexual fixation (which some male dogs do exhibit!). But things were always fine - though every now and then they would run away together, when they could smell a bitch in heat somewhere! It's just one of those things where you have to weigh up the pros and cons, take into consideration what your particular dog is like, and then decide what is right for you, your family, and your dog.
Re: The "op". Thanks to all who gave advice. Before I posted this thread, my only question was "when?". Now we have to decide whether to have him "done" or not. I think this will take some thought. Any more opinions would be appreciated. Thanks, Chris.
Re: The "op". Hi everyone, I started this thread some time ago, and the replies I got and after more research, I decided not to have my boy ``done``. However, at 11 months old he is still fixated on chasing after other dogs. He doesn't seem to chase them for ``romantic`` reasons, he just wants to play. I was wondering if having him ``done`` might stop this. Thanks again for any help. Chris.
