Aspen is going to be "old enough" to neuter before we know it but we are thinking about not neutering him. We have a fenced in backyard, we probably won't visit the dog park, (we have terrible dog parks where I live) he won't do puppy daycare, but we might do obedience classes. All the dogs we play with are male or fixed females, so there's a slim chance of him getting to a girl. We don't think he will have puppies, but that might change someday. I am just asking what your guy's experiences are with NOT neutering. I read a lot about the health effects on the Labrador Site and it honestly seems like not fixing him is a healthier option in the long run. We also live in the US, so it's not very common to see an entire male dog. I feel like our vet will push it on us to get him fixed, as he reminds me of the age for Aspen to get fixed every vet appointment. Our family seemed surprised when we said we might not fix him. What do you guys think? What were your personal choices for not neutering? Did any of you feel forced into neutering your dog even though you might not have wanted to?
Hi! I know my situation is slightly different to yours because we currently have four bitches, and have had six in recent years, none of whom have been neutered, and we have only bred from one. I don't plan on getting Mabel neutered regardless of whether we breed her or not, as a personal preference. All of our dogs are/will be working dogs and neutering them can cause them to gain a lot of weight which isn't ideal when they are romping fields for hours on end and the extra weight doesn't help in terms of pressure on the joints. Obviously if puppies are something you plan to avoid then you need to be careful. I think that vets place a lot of pressure on puppy owners to neuter but it's a personal choice, so I'd go with what you feel is right for you and your dog! Good luck! Lucy x
Shadow is entire and, unless he has uncontrollable sexual behaviours, I see no need to. I would be concerned it could make him more anxious, and he's already an anxious dog. He's met a few bitches in season, who have "flagged" at him, and he's been completely oblivious. He's now three years of age. I know some people have very strong views in favour of neutering, and that's largely dependent on where people live. Some vets assume it's what every owner is going to do, and it can be hard to challenge what your vet considers to be best. It's really not difficult to prevent unwanted puppies, if you're a responsible owner that doesn't let their dog roam. My reasons for choosing to neuter Shadow would be basically only if he was distressed or uncontrollable (and I was confident that training wouldn't help) if nearby bitches were in season. As for the weight gain, that's actually not something I would necessarily agree with; hormonal changes can of course affect the dog's metabolism, but dogs will only gain weight if they are fed too much. It's basic thermodynamics What they are fed may need to change, alongside how much, in order to allow the dog to feel satiated for the calorie intake he can afford, and to get adequate nutrition from it, but there is no reason why a neutered dog should have a weigh increase.
My situation is probably at lot like yours. Oban isn't neutered. Many of the dogs in our competitive obedience and rally classes were intact as more and more breeders want to show their dog is trainable and can DO something, not just be pretty for conformation. You aren't going let your dog run around loose willy nilly for fear of being hit by a car or lost or hurt whether he is neutered or not. We did run into a bit of the phenomenom in the link below at Puppy License to Misbehave. And this continued with some neutered males. Strange intact males might fight but Oban alerts to them so I can be prepared. Neutered males don't exist as far as my dog is concerned so they can sneak up on us. OUr worst scraps have been from neutered males. Nearly all the girly dogs like my boy, whether they are spayed or not. http://www.dogstardaily.com/training/dog-communication
My advice is to take on board all the relevant information , digest , read again and make an informed decision . He is your dog , so it is your decision alone , don't allow anyone to push or steer you .
Homer's not neutered for similar reasons to what other have said already. But there have been many times I've had to defend my decision and had to hold my ground and at one training club was out rightly bullied - we left. I am lucky we have our vet on our side and our dog sitter accepts him as he is.
My males are neutered as they had a preputial discharge and I couldn't stand the marks on the walls and doors. I think they are happier neutered, no pining to get to a bitch, they won't get testicular cancer. I didn't feel at all pressured to have them neutered, I did think of keeping the youngest entire but as mentioned, couldn't bear the mess. If dogs are castrated, best to do it when they have finished growing, my last one was done at 19 months. I also hope that they won't be stolen as they will be no use for breeding!
My Stanley's neutered but the only reason we did it was for daycare purposes. We probably wouldn't have bothered otherwise. He has stopped humping other dogs and marking as much on his walks since then. That has been the only behavioural changes we've noticed which we were very pleased about.
Where do you live? Is dogs getting stolen a big thing in other countries? I have not heard much about animals being stolen where I am from. That's so scary!
We didn't neuter my Newfoundland. He lived to 13 with no problems. He socialised well and was a dream in the home. My Malamute got to the old age of 9 with no problems until we got a bitch...he was rather over keen on her so he was done then. Up to that point no problems and he is a sociable boy and a delight at home. In the uk particularly I think here in Yorkshire it's not something encouraged by vets unless there are problems with sexualised behaviour. Day care and kennels don't insist either. You have to do what's right for your dog but if there are no problems I would be inclined to leave him entire . Emma
I live in England and unfortunately dogs are being stolen. I wouldn't now leave one of my dogs in a locked car while I trained the other.
My boy is not neutered. I adopted him at 7 months and was going to have him neutered at 12 months, but decided to wait because he was very fearful of new places, and didn't want him to have such a bad experience until he was more confident. In the end, I decided not to neuter because it might be better for his health, and I am worried that it might make him nervous because he is not always confident. He doesn't hump people and is fine with other uncastrated dogs. He does hump other dogs - either out of stress/excitement or, what I think must be a sexual behaviour, with bitches that aren't neutered but also not in season. The humping isn't a huge problem, it probably only happens once a month, and we meet dogs every day. I haven't been able to train any sort of recall in this situation, so I just go and get him and take him away from the other dog. The only problem is that he gets very stressed when there are bitches in season. I live in a city without a car or garden, so we have to go out 4 times a day so he's constantly reminded and can't relax! At some point we'll be moving to a place with a garden and will buy a car, so I will be able to take him to quieter places for walks if there is a bitch in season. If our current living situation would stay the same, I'd consider neutering him. If you do have behavioural problems, you can get a Suprelorin implant - temporary chemical castration which reduces testosterone levels. It lasts for either 6 months or 12 months, and you can see what the effect of castration would be.
@alschwahn can you get Superlorin in the States? Think it is still not available in Canada. Our trainers encouraged folks with bitches in heat to bring them to class. They would participate if they were in the class anyway, if not too far along, or stay in a crate. She told us for sure a bitch in heat would be at a trial and we might as well learn how our own dog would react and how to handle it early. Note, ALL dogs might react to a bitch in heat and become unruly; dogs and bitches, neutered or not.
Suprelorin is in the US I think, but from a quick Google search it looks like it is only used on ferrets...odd, haha! And that is a good idea. I feel as though most of the people I know who are dog owners have fixed dogs so it may be hard for me to see how Aspen behaves around females in heat. Then again, seeming I know such few people I might not have to worry about how he reacts.
Alfie is not neutered and I'm happy to leave him intact.I have noticed that a lot of people with neutered dogs seem to use this as a reason for their dogs to go for Alfie. They look at him and just say 'Oh it's because he isn't done' as if this is totally acceptable. It's only as Alfie has got older (17 months) that I realise that this isn't always the case. Yesterday we met a man who had his male intact Pointer on a lead (Alfie was off lead) and he was absolutely fine with him, they sniffed each other quite happily. I suppose that these people have to have a reason for the unpleasant behaviour of their dogs but I wish they wouldn't try to blame my dogs testicules!
Suprelorin is used to slow the advance of adrenal disease in ferrets, rather than as a chemical castration. One of my own ferrets had the implant.
Last vet appointment was 4 days ago, vet keeps bringing up neutering. Guess I will have to tell him that we are not planning on neutering because we won't be letting Aspen roam and we see no health benefits of it. If the vet insists on neutering, we will seek a different vet.
I think that it is up to your personal preference, and obviously, your dogs best health interests as to whether you spay/neuter or not. Personally I am pro-neuter/spay simply because in the country where I live dogs roam and are not always managed responsibly so it is not aimed at individual owners, more as a prevention of unwanted pups. But on a personal note one of the dogs I am currently in training class with is not neutered. And is a large hunk of a dog (not a lab). He tows his owner around and absolutely harrasses Harley. I have to keep moving away from them and it really isn't fair. Just because my female dog is spayed does not mean she (or I) want her to be constantly mounted or attempted to be mounted. I can see she is uncomfortable so I have clearly made my feelings clear to the owner but it falls on deaf ears. So it means that when we arrive, leave and train I have to be super vigilant to make sure they are not within 20 m of us because he just drags her over to us. I understand that we are all in training class to train, but it is a clicker tricks class, not a strictly obedience class so I am getting fed up with this behaviour. And I have clearly said "Please can we stay away from each other because my dog is clearly unhappy with being mounted" and next thing I know, there they are... So long story short, if dogs are entire I wish that owners won't assume that because other dogs are spayed that their dogs don't need to be "well mannered". Please don't think I am aiming this at you in a personal or attacking way, your post has just given me the oppurtunity to vent a little. Vent over.
Merlin is my fourth male dog; I have never had any of them neutered, nor seen any reason to. The closest we got was when Bones developed prostate issues - but a suprelorin implant helped him and we did not need to have the neutering done. I have no intention of having Merlin neutered, unless there is some medical issue, of course. All my boys up to now we're well-behaved and socialized.
I didn't neuter my one male dog, and it never seemed to cause a problem. Don't expect neutering to stop mounting behavior, since many neutered males will still hump other dogs.
