So, the question – neuter Charlie, or not? I am so sure this has been done to death on the forum already, but there are lots of us new puppy owners about so perhaps the more experienced members won’t mind talking about it again? Or maybe you have your heads in your hands thinking "oh no, can't do that discussion again"! I start at a place where I’m not inclined to neuter Charlie. Mum had 3 intact males, all were beautifully behaved and lived long, healthy lives. The lab got out of her garden once, and a car swerved to avoid him, but now I’m lucky enough to have a 12ft wall on one side of my garden, and I’ve just installed a new 6ft fence, with anti-dig concrete at the bottom on the other. I have lots of experience of horses – there is no doubt whatsoever that castrating a male horse changes both character and physical development. So neutering Charlie, I think, must have SOME effect – and what’s it going to be? Vet says: health benefits (unspecified quantum of benefits, no mention of downsides) - do it, he says. (he also said "and don't read a load of rubbish about it on the internet"...hmmmm). Have read the articles on this site, they don’t give me an answer, but make me think I’m right to think hard about it. Of course, I've read a load of stuff on the internet - don't know what's rubbish, and what's not. I ask every owner of a male dog that I meet whether they have neutered their dog. I get 4 answers (in general 1) No, I’ve not had any behavour problems, and I’ll wait until I do before considering it again - I'll regret it if he has health problems though. 2) No, but he is not behaving very well, so I’m thinking about it. 3) Yes, there are health benefits and/or “I had dominance/behaviour problems”. 4) Yes, and I regret it – his character has changed and is more aggressive towards other dogs, particularly intact dogs. I think the answers are split about 50:50 no and yes. But of the “yeses” I’ve been most influenced by 4) – the people who regret neutering their dog. Of course, I’m suffering from conformation bias by listening the most to what accords with the view I already hold. Love to hear about people's decisions and dilemmas... if you can bear it for those of you who have been here and done it already!
Re: nuetering.... i think its something you have to decide your self,.......my jasper is booked into to have it done on the 26th july,....he will be 7 month he as no behaviour problems , only puppy behaviour ........we decided as soon as we got him that this would be the kindest thing for him......i have no knowledge of dogs jasper is my first dog my mind is made up
Re: nuetering.... Julie,I am so glad you have written this,I mentioned last week I was going to ask members what they thought and if they had the time to let me know how they reached their decision..... We are the same at the moment....we veer towards NOT doing it.....if that changes though we would really like to try and wait until he is fully mature.It is easy in the here and now to say this as we aren't experiencing any of the 'behavior issues' that neutering can have an effect on .....although from what I have read there is no guarantee that neutering does stop certain behavior.We are of the mind that its not broken so lets not try to fix it. If we dont,I anticipate worry over him trying to escape! He will never be able to get out onto the front of our house but we do have a golf driving range behind us with a low wall....oh the the joys!However,he is never just let out on his own in the garden we are always with him ....he's done a few curiosity forays over the wall but we've seen him go everytime so we'd be on it straight away........I also worry about the health implications of not having it done,but oh I would hate it if he changed,he's is so lovely. I wonder why Vets are so for it?I have been to 3 different vets and 2 out of the 3 just assumed we would have it done ......
Re: nuetering.... As with most decisions , there are pros and cons and I tend to think that it is up to the individual to make their own minds up about neutering . I have always had my dogs neutered, males and females and can say hand on heart that not one of them had a change of personality or character . Most Vets are very pro neutering , mainly to prevent unwanted pregnancy and diseases in bitches like Pyometra which can be dangerous . As long as you are armed with the information , then make your own mind up and do what you feel is right for your dog
Re: nuetering.... Thanks Kate - agree it's completely a decision for the individual owner, it would be awful if it wasn't - but I'm not finding it an easy decision, it is helpful to hear that some people have no problems at all as a result of neutering.
Re: nuetering.... We had our first boy neutered (or "desexed" as it is so romantically called here) at 6 months and Obi was already done when we got him - he was done at 6 months. Our first dog was not affected at all by being neutered, temperament-wise, and he also grew to be a big dog (though he was tall rather than wide). Can't say whether it affected Obi but he was put up for sale by his family less than 2 months after it was done so I doubt that it calmed him down much ;D From what I have read dogs that are neutered prior to reaching adult size tend to grow more slowly and over a longer period than dogs that are not neutered. That is not necessarily a bad thing in a larger breed. Here in Australia there is a very strong culture of neutering. It's seen as the responsible thing to do (not saying that it is the most responsible thing, just that that is how it is 'sold'). I guess that is the main reason why we have gone for neutered dogs - it's just what people do round here! But the other reason is that I do not want any dog of mine wandering after bitches and I don't want to be involved in causing any unwanted pregnancies. Our vet told us that male dogs that are not neutered have a high risk of prostate cancer, but I actually think it's the case that it's a little greyer than that on the health front for males (but that is based on what I have read on that internet thingy ).
Re: nuetering.... Hi, I had a good think about this one too...read up on evidence, spoke to and ran evidence past vets (lucky to have vets in family), and decided on balance I would get Brodick neutered. he was a big softy beforehand, a big softy after, no change in character/behaviour. he had started badgering females approaching/in season when we were out and about at about 7 months old, and had apparently spent an entire day following/badgering a young bitch who was coming into season without owners realising when he attended day care...no regrets and/or worries about this, but as others have said its a decision for the individual....he still humps the sofa mind you
Re: nuetering.... I have two neutered/spayed dogs and two entire dogs. Caddie was only a few weeks ago and so far it has made absolutely no change to her nature or appearance. Murffi was already neutered when he came to me. I was told that he had a retained testicle which was the reason for neutering him. Obviously I have no idea what he was like before neutering but I don't think it has made him any calmer. He couldn't possibly be any more excitable, full of energy and totally bonkers than he is now. ;D He must have been done at a fairly young age, he was about 14 months old when I got him. Size wise he is quite a big working cocker, just as big as my springers. It hasn't really affected his coat at all, I have seen much hairier cockers which are entire. Alice my springer girl is entire but I will have her spayed soon. Her seasons have never been a problem apart from grounding her during the shooting season, which is a real nuisance. Caddie's seasons were much more problematic. They would always be followed by a phantom pregnancy and she was very hormonal for a lot of the time. I had seriously considered to breed from her because all her health tests were good and also because she is simply the best dog I have ever had work and training wise. But as some of you know she developed a womb infection and had to be spayed. Ziggy the clumber spaniel is entire. He is the most chilled out, gentle and happy dog I know. He is fully health tested including the all important hip and elbow scores and he has been used as a stud dog. To have him castrated would actually be a crime against the breed of clumber spaniels. I am serious, there are so few clumbers left that each and every one counts to keep the gene pool as diverse as possible. Ziggy and Murffi are the first two male dogs I have ever had. I have always had bitches and I would always have them spayed for health reasons when they reached middle age. It never changed their characters, but it did change their coats, they went quite woolly. I think that is just a spaniel thing though.
Re: nuetering.... So helpful to hear different thoughts and experiences, many, many thanks for the replies.
Re: nuetering.... I had two male dogs, Billy and Bones, half brothers, who lived happily together, un-neutered, for 16 and 14 years respectively. They were both friendly, happy, unaggressive dogs, and not over-sexed, so I never felt the need to have either of them neutered. But I would have done, had there been any problems. I would be lying though if I didnt admit that they would sometimes disappear off into the blue yonder, if there was a bitch on heat in the vicinity. Especially if they were off the lead together. I learned by trial and error that if there was a bitch on heat, it was best to only let one of them off at a time! : Poppy has not been neutered either, and so far I am undecided with her. It depends on you, your dog, and your situation. I am not a huge fan though of spaying too early - it seems to me that bitches spayed before their first season tend to remain quite childish in their demeanour.
Re: nuetering.... We have left riley intact. He only had one testicle for a while and if the second one hadn't come down we'd have had him done. He's such a wet blanket we worried that removing his testosterone would make him nervous. He hasn't shown any undesirable behaviour but if he had we would also have had him done. He's two now and so far so good.
Re: nuetering.... Simba was neutered a couple weeks ago - he was 9 months at the time. To be honest, I really didn't research the pro and cons as, like in Obi's case, here in Canada the culture is very much pro-neuter, unless you have a show dog or a very specific reason for not neutering. Simba is the third male dog I've had, all of them neutered. However, now that I've seen more of the "con" arguments I do believe that I would still choose to neuter. Mainly because of the running away issues and dealing with a restless/howling dog whenever a bitch in heat is in the neighbourhood (may not happen, but still). Simba was getting a bit "hump" crazy before the neuter, I've only seen it a little bit post-neuter. But some say that humping isn't affected by neutering, so that's just a personal observation. Good luck on the decision making.... It's hard with these kind of "elective" procedures, isn't it? My biggest issue with the surgery was the Cone of Shame....almost reduced me to a nervous breakdown.... But you can see all my posts about that if you like.....
Re: nuetering.... Hi, I had Digby castrated last week-he's 10 months old. He still has the stitches in. I always thought I would get him done but wasn't sure when. From 7 months he became increasingly more "humpy", until at 9 months he seemed to be a big ball of rampant testosterone. He has never tried to hump another dog but was terrible with cushions, blankets, coats, me, my children, my children's friends .......it goes on. He's a confident overtly friendly young dog so I wasn't worried about that side of things. I had a long chat with my vet, who was really helpful and gave me the pros and cons. Under the circumstances it seemed the right thing to do for us all. He was still humping for a couple of days after the op (residual testosterone?), but he hasn't humped anything since. I really hope he doesn't change apart from that-he seems his usual self so far.
Re: nuetering.... i hope digby is well my mind is made up,.....he does not hump, its just a decision i have made,......i have a very good vet, who as explained everything just hope he is ok with the cone,
Re: nuetering.... Thanks to everyone - really, really helpful. I'm still thinking about this, and no doubt will be for a while - it's so helpful to have others' thoughts.
Re: nuetering.... Reflecting on the comments made, my attention was caught by the comments about how normal it is in some countries to neuter dogs - in Canada and Australia according to the helpful comments here. So off on my journey of discovery, and I come across this (on the dangerous Internet that is full of rubbish ) : http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2202336/ In Sweden, there are practically no stray dogs, and there is a long tradition not to neuter dogs. Until 1988 it was only allowed to neuter dogs for medical reasons. In the present study, the majority (99%) of the dogs was not neutered, which was even higher than the figures reported by [ref], who found 96% of males and 93% of females to be intact... Out of dogs between 1 and 3 years of age from the recently published study by [ref] 97% of the dogs were intact as compared to 99% in the present study... Although a statistically significant difference was noted [ ], both figures are much higher than in countries where it is traditional to castrate most dogs that are not intended for breeding. These figures differ markedly from a survey made in Australia, where 8% and 43% of the females and males were intact, respectively. Hmmm.... why such a difference in attitudes between countries?
Re: nuetering.... Hmm...interesting! I don't know - cultural traditions coming into play? It would be interesting to delve deeper into it. There's probably been a study done on it somewhere!
Re: nuetering.... I'll be honest Julie, we have got a discussion and review scheduled for the weekend following this thread...... We were both for not doing it mainly because we didn't want Dexter to have a general an aesthetic when he possibly didn't need it...and we didn't want to change his character.......reading everyone's thoughts there is a word that looms heavily with me .......Responsibility........I can't imagine the horror if he ran off and connected with a bitch in season..... I'm pitched all ways on this now,don't want to make a decision based on yet to be manifested behaviors ....but don't want to be locking the stable door after the horse has bolted!
Re: nuetering.... you make me laugh angela , ...... don't want to be locking the stable door after the horse has bolted!
