Hello All Bruno would be 6 months old soon . We got a post from his Vet advising to book him in to get him desexed . We do not intend to breed him or anything but feel that 6 months is too small of an age for desexing . I wanted expert advise from you people as am sure you guys have been through this dilema . What would be the ideal age to desex him . Is it true that the head or skull slows to develop after desexing . I have a few labs whose head looks small on a big body , I might be wrong here may be they a cross , but have read about this online as well . Our concern mainly are head stucture not fully developing Becoming aggressive and territorial , Would be turn against our other Adult Lab X whose been desexed Running away looking for mates etc We thinking of doing it when hes between 8-12 moths of age. Is that the rite move ? Please Advise. Cheers Vish
Re: When to Desex Vish, there are links to a bunch of articles here discussing this that you might find helpful: http://www.thelabradorsite.com/neutering-your-labrador/ I know you live in Australia, where the norm is to desex at about 6 months (male and female). My boy was done at 7 months and the one before that at 6 months. The norm elsewhere (like in the UK) is to wait much longer or even not to desex at all. In contrast, it is much less common to see an undesexed pet dog in Australia. Most dogs are desexed. If you desex your dog at this age his head will not stay small relative to his body. If you have seen Labs with heads that look small relative to their bodies then my bet is that they were overweight dogs. Not because they were desexed. Desexing before 7 months has been shown to slow the rate of bone growth and extend the period of bone growth - the end result is that dogs can end up a bit taller than they would have if desexed later. But still in proportion (not with small heads!!). If you don't desex him till later then I doubt that he will become aggressive. But other, desexed dogs might be more inclined to be aggressive towards him, because his is an entire male and therefore more of a challenge to them. His behaviour towareds other dogs or people won't necessarily be any different though. He might become interested in escaping if he can detect a bitch on heat in the area. I don't think there is any problem with the plan to wait till between 8-12 months for a male. If I had another male dog I'd probably go for about 9-10 months (generally when they have done most of their growing as far as height goes).
Re: When to Desex Hello Racheal, Yes it is becoming a norm here now . I would like him to grow naturally for a while . I think i will go with ur suggestion of getting it done when he's 9-10 months old . Thanks Cheers Vish
Re: When to Desex You have a bit of time to think and make up your mind anyhow There is no 'deadline' that you have to worry about with a male (unlike with a female who will come into season which for some people can make the decision feel a bit more pressing).
Re: When to Desex It does vary in the UK. When I was growing up, my family never castrated dogs, they just didn't, and no-one else did either. So when I got a dog of my own it wasn't something I thought about doing, and I was surprised when my vet assumed I would just book Charlie in at around 6 months. I've decided to wait and see whether something prompts me to have this done, and I'm pretty comfortable that Charlie has got his growing done without being castrated (he is 14 months now). None of the dogs I've known - Charlie and the family dogs - were ever aggressive, marked in the house, got a bitch pregnant or anything like that. If I do start to have problems, I'd consider it though. My boy's nature is to be super, super gentle around other dogs (although very excitable, he is a total wimp) and there may be something in the fact that if other dogs react more to Charlie because he is intact, and most other dogs are castrated, there is an argument to go with the flow and it's easier to have a castrated dog in a world where all other dogs are castrated. I'd have to weigh that up against whether Charlie is better off intact due to his nature. So I think waiting long enough so you know what your dog will be like when he is grown is a sensible thing.
Re: When to Desex I had my boys done at 6 years - and that only because they started marking indoors due to next door getting a bitch and when it came on heat mine started marking everywhere. They were just fine after the op. Otherwise I don't really see a reason for having males neutered. But if I did I would wait 'till 2-3 years old and fully developed. I had Tatze spayed 3 months after her first season as she spends every Friday with entire males.
Re: When to Desex When I got Penny I always just assumed that I would get her neutered as soon as was possible - 6 months of age, because this is what I had been brought up with I've spent all my working life so far working with rescue dogs who are all neutered at six months or as soon as they come into the rescue. In that world it just isn't acceptable to wait. However things changed when we discovered that Penny had a condition called an inverted vulva which meant that she was prone to getting urinary infections all the time. The condition could be corrected by allowing a bitch to have a season as the swelling involved 'popped' everything back into place. This gave me more time to research the effects of neutering and come to my own decision about it. Obviously I had to let her have at least one season to cure this condition, but then after that when would I get her speyed? I decided to wait as long as possible to ensue all bone growth etc was done and decided to have her speyed 3 months after her first season (she would have been 14 months old sons good age to have it done). Again this decision was taken out of my hands when she came into season a second time, unexpectedly only 15 weeks after her first season. So now I have to wait til June when she will be 17 months old. I know you have a male and my experience isn't totally relevant as I have a female. But just thought I'd put my two cents in as to how i came to the decision to wait. Don't let anyone pressure you into doing it at a certain time - especially your vet. If you want to wait a few months it is perfectly acceptable to do so.
Re: When to Desex I had two male dogs (half-brothers) and never had them neutered. They were friendly and well-socialized, and hardly ever ( :) chased after bitches on heat. I just didn't see the need to have them neutered. But the situation is different for each dog and owner.
Re: When to Desex I think you have it spot on Karen , " The situation is different for every owner and dog " At least , with all the knowledge available , we can make informed decisions rather than just do as we are told
Re: When to Desex Thank you all for the response . I definitely want to wait for sometime . Not sure how long , I really wouldn't mind not having him de-sexed . But if it saves both me n him from trouble i think its worth it . I shall see how he grows up . Hes usually very good , all he needs is food , food , food , cuddles , walks and playtime Cheers Vish
Re: When to Desex I have owned 5 male dogs during my lifetime, not one was castrated and I never had a problem. Whilst I am sure that there are good veterinary reasons to neuter a dog, I would not routinely inflict such a procedure on any dog just for the convenience of the owner. You would not do it to humans why do it to dogs? Roger
Re: When to Desex I have had 2 dogs and neither have been castrated. My vet said there was no need as they were never sexually driven dogs and really that is all it helps. They both lived together for 4 years with no problems. I am now left with one intact male and a new little girl. My girl will be spayed after her first season. I asked my vet how to manage them together at that time as I don't fancy a bunch of Maladors (Malamute/lab cross just made that name! ) he said send him on a doggy holiday !!! I thought my vet might suggest castrate him, but he still wont
Re: When to Desex I had the same - an elderly intact male lab with a young female who came into season. Bones went to stay with a friend for a couple of weeks - he had a great time being spoiled rotten, and I didn't have to have either him or Poppy neutered.
Re: When to Desex Even I am not in favour , I just got this topic up as this seems to be a norm nowadays here , We didn't have our dog in India neutered either But that was because he was half a dog . The vet said it would be difficult n would not be good for him etc , we never bothered really . Here our council charges us more if the dog isn't neutered , Almost thrice compared to a neutered dog . I shall be how it goes . Cheers Vish
Hey guys, is it weird that my vet is telling me to desex my boy at 4 months old? That to me sounds extremely young?
Personally I'm not a fan of early desexing - I like my dogs to develop naturally & then I make decision. There were some studies on Golden Retriever that showed that early spay / castration has got more negative than positive outcome. http://news.ucdavis.edu/search/news_detail.lasso?id=10498 Most of my parents dogs (they only had males) were castrated being about 18 months old. My Barney was castrated being 3 & it was only because we decided to have Shelby. Obviously Shelby isn't "done" as she's been bred & she'll surely have at least one more litter. When we decide not to breed her again she'll be spayed. Time will show how it will be with Ellie. If she's successful on shows & healthy we might breed her as well so her spay might be postponed .
Vets in different countries have different norms about when desexing should happen. So whether four months is considered young or not kind of depends on where you live. I'd just talk the reasoning through with your vet
I agree the standards may be different depending on the country. Vets in the US still encourage desexing at around 6 months, but newer studies suggest waiting until they are 12-18 months after their bones are more fully developed. My biggest reason for waiting with Myles (he is 6 months now and I plan to wait until at least 18 months, if ever), is to give him the best chance at protecting against hip dysplasia. Even though both of his parents have hips rated "Excellent", I still want to take every measure possible to make sure I give him the best chance. Here is an article my breeder sent: http://www.akcchf.org/news-events/news/health-implications-in-early.html Sounds like you are already headed down the path of waiting, but just wanted you to have more information.
As other have said, different countries - and then individual vets - have very different ideas on the ideal time to have it done, and whether it should be done at all. With my Shadow (nine and a half months), I'm waiting to see how he develops inasmuch as if him keeping his little furry nuts causes any issues. He's quite a jumpy dog and I've read that castrating a nervous dog can have negative consequences as their testosterone levels drop, making them more fearful and therefore more likely to have fear aggression. I have decided I will only have it done if absolutely necessary. Which basically means if he has too strong a reaction to in-season bitches on a regular basis and can't be trained out of it. Luckily, it's pretty standard here for bitches to be spayed and dogs to remain entire, so it shouldn't be too much of an issue, unless an entire bitch happens to moves in next door! If you use a dog walker or doggy day care etc, some providers insist on desexed dogs, so that could be another consideration for you.
It's impossible to get a straight answer on this - two different vets at the same practice I go to hold different opinions. Luckily, they are both straightforward about why they think what they do and are prepared to explain their views. And don't argue with me when I say I don't want to have my dog castrated. So far, I'm happy with that decision (he is 2 years 3 months now). I would not have a dog castrated before he was a year old. Charlie's growth plates closed at 11 months and I'd wait for that to happen at least. After that, it would depend on the dog and how he seemed to be getting on. I did experience castrated males being aggressive to Charlie between about the ages of 9 months and 20 months. Then, this reduced. I think this was because Charlie had a very high testosterone level as a teenager. He also gained confidence as he matured and was better able to "handle" himself around other dogs, which also helped. He is a wimp generally, and will not stand his ground with another dog unless he feels that he has no choice but as he grew up a bit I think he was better able to hide this! Rather than give off "I'm a big wimp" signals. I haven't had problems with in-season bitches, he is interested but not dreadfully distracted - it's harder to get him to come away from a football than it is an in-season bitch. I think this will vary hugely dog to do though!
