Hi Karen - sorry - I should have specified that my limited experience is only with my own local area shelters (Regensburg and Munich). The shelters there do not neuter unless there are serious medical reasons to do so (apparently there is an actual law against it - see below). Maybe it's different in different municipalities or states? Dog laws in Germany do seem to vary greatly from state to state. From the Munich shelter website: Warum sind nicht alle Hunde kastriert? Da man lt. Tierschutzgesetz (Nach ยง 6 Abs. 1) Hunde nicht ohne medizinische Indikation kastrieren lassen darf.
Yep! Stanley's are always out and he likes laying on his back legs akimbo to show you them. I said to OH them things are getting huge and I've never seen him look so proud. Typical man
Ah Emily, but that refers to removal of body parts from animals, which is generally not allowed except in particular cases, as for instance, in order to prevent uncontrolled pregnancy. See below:
Since I have an intact dog, I find it odd when I see boy dogs with no bits! Snowie's are quite compact, not dangly at all. But if he only so much as sniffs a bitch in heat, he's done for. Even if it's a bitch that was on heat three months ago, he still gets interested. Or a bitch that has just been spayed and was on heat before her spay. He gets his nose right in there and will remain glued to the bitch and try to mount her unless I leash him up (must be his harness, he will pull out of his collar) and walk him away. And treats don't do it; he loses all interest in food.
No worries, Karen, I gladly concede that I'm a newbie in this area! I was just going off of the Munich shelter FAQ about why all their dogs in the shelter aren't neutered and thought it was interesting how different countries view the whole spay/neuter question. Coming from an American point of view, I was always taught that responsible dog owners always spayed/neutered as early as possible and that it only had 100% positive health and behavioural effects. I subsequently learned that there are lots of differing views on this and that in fact my own dog most certainly had ill effects from his very early (8 weeks old) neuter that was imposed on me by the rescue group as a condition of his adoption. For that reason I'm pretty vocal here whenever someone asks about spay/neuter, just because I feel pretty strongly that people should at least be aware of multiple viewpoints before making a decision.
FWIW, Our newest female, Cooper, weighs 85# and stands 25" at the withers so you can't predict size based on sex. Males are supposed to be a bit bigger on the average, but every dog is different.
