Neutering question, and an Atlas update

[Brownis15]

I have been ill with this evil stomach flu for 4 days straight now, although it has really SUCKED, i havent had to go into work and have spent most of my time in bed on BPO. lol

Okay, now to the doggie stuff. 

So Atlas is now LOVING his toys and playing fetch like a champ! His toy drive has TRIPPLED and he is obsessed with his kong on a rope. It does suck that he cant have toys unless I am playing with him but it has payed off and he is now sitting, going down, everything just for a game of tug or fetch. The training in German is going fine, my papillons look at me like im crazy when i ask him to platz though, lol.

The thing that is irking me is that he cant be neutered till after the narcotic training at 15 months old. Now working for the Humane Society I am a HUGE believer in the benefits of altering an animal if they arent going to be used to be bred or shown. I know WHY he cant be neutered (drive etc), I'm just interested in feedback from those with unaltered males and their peronalities with other dogs, and other things.

Other than that, I am in love with him and am so impressed at how fast he learns. I cant wait to get him into daycare however, so he can learn some manners. 

[schelmischekitty]

if you can't get him neutered, just be careful.  we can't get diesel neutered just yet b/c he has some weight issues (he's a rescue from a BYB and was about 1/2 his ideal weight when we got him at 4 months, and is mentally instable still sometimes) and he's still as sweet as can be.  caine we're trying to find a pit bull friendly vet who we like before we get it done.  neither of them show any aggression, etc.  in fact, they're GREAT with everyone and everything that comes their way.  we do make sure to keep them well socialized, more so with them than our other dogs simply because the testosterone.  by the way, post more pics of your boy    if he can get on the team, and give to the community, i think it'd be worth the wait to not get him fixed just yet.

[Brownis15]

thanks! i'll post more pics soon!

[Moni]

Mojo, my aussie, was around 18months when he got neutered.  He was a monorchid (undescended testical) so the vets opted that we wait that long to see if it would drop after adolescence.  I must say that he was/is pushy, but he was a VERY dominant puppy, so I don't think that changed anything.  I also didn't really let him play with other dogs, not that he didn't get socialised, but he was my obedience dog and I wanted his attention on me, not other dogs.

Faust, my GSD, is a big pushover.  lol  He is probably one of the wussiest dogs ever.    I believe that he was neutered around a year old.  He has never been that interested in other dogs, so it was never an issue with him.

Tenchi, great dane, was done at 4 1/2 months because he lifted his leg on our couch.  lol  (Never again though!)  He is a very friendly dog, but can be a little pushy/dense when it comes to other dogs. He's not unfriendly, but a little more in your face then some dogs like.  I will never ever get a male neutered that young, or even before a year, again.  I believe that it had something to do with Tenchi's height, build and joint issues. 

I don't really understand the whole drive/neutering age thing, since Faust and Zeo have extremely high toy drive and were s/n in the midrange.  What do they have to do with each other?  Honestly asking since I never heard that.

Best of luck with Atlas, he sounds like he's coming along nicely.  He is definitely added to my kidnap list. 

[kathryn]

The neutering question and age was just a topic on the Malinois list that I'm on.  One of the things I just found out is that some police departments want the option to breed their dogs if they have really good drive.  I found that really odd because it would be better to just find another dog with high drives than to take your working dog out of work for breeding if it's a female.  Obviously not a problem with a male.  Another reason was that there is the belief that if they are intact they are more aggressive than if they are neutered.  Those were the reasons that were completely insane to me and stuck out in my head.