Author Topic: Neutering  (Read 4661 times)

Offline rv581

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Neutering
« on: June 24, 2005, 09:25:37 am »
Hey, I am hearing a very wide variety of opinions on when to neuter a male, large-breed dog.

Some say you should wait more than a year:
http://www.showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/neutr.html

Some say you should do it earlier.

Could anyone elaborate on this?  Much thanks in advance!

Offline Kermit

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Re: Neutering
« Reply #1 on: June 24, 2005, 09:46:56 am »
This has been a hot topic in my life lately! I have a pup who is 16 weeks and people are recommending to me to do it within the next few weeks. Some people are even neutering at a younger age now, as young as 8 weeks, because the recovery time for young puppies is astounding! There is so little trauma when it is done earlier, and you get to skip all the hormonal annoyances of having a young intact male around! My little guy has started picking fights with my 4 year old neutered male, and I think neutering will really help solve that problem too. When a male is neutered before he's full grown he may end up a bit taller, but I haven't heard of them growing up less masculine, which some people might worry about. I have also read that in many people's opinion, there is no better pet than a neutered male. Another thing to consider is that the older and bigger he is when neutered, the more money it will cost for the surgery due to anesthesia use. Honestly, I was a vet tech and a dog neuter takes about 5 to 10 minutes and is a really easy procedure, seems very safe for a young dog considering all the benefits. That's my view, anyhow. The old standard where I used to work was 6 months.

Offline bonnieblink

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Re: Neutering
« Reply #2 on: June 24, 2005, 01:58:29 pm »
It depends on the breed, the individual dog, and you.

I breed and show Mastiffs.  Bloodlines vary, but in general, male Mastiffs and other giant breeds mature slowly.  I personally believe they develop better if not neutered too soon.  However, if there is ANY doubt that the owner can prevent any accidental breedings, I would prefer the pup be neutered around 6 months.

Also, if the dog begins to show any typical stud behavior such as marking territory or being obsessed with looking for girls and ignoring commands from his owner when other dogs are around, then neuter ASAP.  Males showing dominance issues should be neutered earlier too.

It can be quite a challenge to deal with a giant breed stud dog and unless you are showing and intend to breed (after health testing etc etc), neutering too soon is better than neutering too late.  The difference in development will probably only matter to someone showing and paying serious attention to muscle development etc.

As you might expect, most vets encourage neutering sooner rather than later.  As long as the dog is not acting obnoxious and you can eaily manage him and prevent unwanted breedings, I think it is fine to wait as long as 18 months with a giant breed.
Bonnie Blink
QuietWood Mastiffs, Spinoni Italiani and one silly Otterhound

Offline Carolyn

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Re: Neutering
« Reply #3 on: June 27, 2005, 11:18:51 am »
I waited till Apache was 1yr, so we could xray his hips at the same time, neutering was in his contract. I just had Kiya's hips xray'd, she was 1 in may & Im waiting for the OFA rating before any discission is made.
Carolyn
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Offline WhiteShepherdDog

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Re: Neutering
« Reply #4 on: June 27, 2005, 11:56:08 am »
Also, if the dog begins to show any typical stud behavior such as marking territory or being obsessed with looking for girls and ignoring commands from his owner when other dogs are around, then neuter ASAP.  Males showing dominance issues should be neutered earlier too.

May I offer a behaviorist perspective?
First, I totally agree that if a dog owner can not prevent accidental pregnancies or unwanted behaviors, then neutering is a good solution to consider.
However, if it is a behavior that is the problem, then I recommend addressing the behavior with a program of exercises to change the behavior.
Behaviors such as mentioned above can be modified with the right program for owner and intact dog.
Ignoring commands is a behavior that can be modified by building a relationship with your dog that makes you more interesting than any other dog!
Primary rewards (High value treats) can be paired with emotion, like tone of voice and smiling, to encourage the dog to pay attention to you regardless of the distraction.
If the dog thinks you are the "meal ticket" and the most fun, then your dog will find his way to you very quickly. Attention will be on you, if you have built a strong relationship with any dog, even an intact large breed dog!
"Dogginess", or more interest in other dogs than the owner, can be addressed by limiting time spent interacting with a second dog in the family.
Again, if the intact dog is accustomed to looking to you as the leader, he will take your leadership cues in distracting situations. If it is accustomed to looking at you as just a pack member and another dog or itself as leader, the dog (female, spayed neutered or otherwise) will not likely look to you for leadership cues in public or new situations.
BTW "leadership" to me means rewarding your dog when it dogs something right and removing something it wants when it does not pay attention to you. ie.) Time outs -removed from pack and fun.
Typical male behaviors like marking objects, scratching the ground, smelling the ground and licking lips are normal, hormonal responses.
It seems the appropriate response to behavioral problems for the pet owner, such as 'dominance issues", is to train, change or prevent the behavior.
It reminds me of the expression, "Don't throw the baby out with the bath water".
Undeniably, the best reason to neuter is to not contribute to the overpet population problem.
I have worked an intact GSD with an intact mastiff in agility who display normal male behaviors, but their attention is on the handler and the handler has control of the dog.
These dogs have trained to have a strong recall with distraction, sit/stay and have a word associated with timeout like Leave it.
NOTE: For any help changing behaviors, seek a professional who has experience in kindly and gently changing behavior-please!
Regards,
Martha in Texas

Offline bonnieblink

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Re: Neutering
« Reply #5 on: June 27, 2005, 08:12:54 pm »
I agree with your behavior perspective.  It is hard to address every issue in a forum like this.  With some Mastiffs, unless you are pretty experienced, a studdy dog can be really hard to deal with and once it starts, it only gets worse.  And usually it starts in homes where there all the humans aren't at the top of the pack order.  On the other hand, some are like gentle pussy cats all their lives, neutered or not and no matter the experience of their owners!
Bonnie Blink
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Offline mastiffmommy

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Re: Neutering
« Reply #6 on: June 28, 2005, 12:16:37 am »
I agree with most things said here, that it depends on the dog, the owner and the situation. In general though, for giant breeds, especially males some mature faster than others but if they get nutered before the hormones are "topped" they usually never get the muscle mass they would if they had had a chance to physically mature before nutered. Especially the tall legged breeds. But I think everywhere from 5-6 months and up to 18 months seem to be "normal" if there is such a thing as normal  :P every dog is uniqe.

Marit
what the lion is to a cat, the mastiff is to a dog