Hunting dog + neutering =??

[Joji]

Okay hunting dog folks (or any other knowledgeable soul), dish out some of your experience ... my neighbor has an unneutered male German pointer. He says neutering the boy will ruin the dog's hunting ability. I say hogwash ... who's right?

[Rachel]

I was actually just reading today about if neutering will ruin the dog's drive.  Most people say that is hogwash and that testosterone has no effect on a dog's drive. Then another person said that it is best to neuter before any testosterone related behaviors are habituated.  But I have no experiance in this so I have no idea...

[newflvr]

My brother in law has two labs that he uses for hunting all the time and the older one was neutered at about three years.  That dog's instinct is still intact although the rest of him isn't!

[Anky]

I called Araby's breeder on this.  He says it's bull.  Hunting ability has nothing to do with the dogs "Innards", but with the drive and love that the dog has for it.  Thousands spent on training is wasted if the dog doesn't really love doing it.  All of Araby's brothers are fixed and they're all great hunting dogs.  One is on the field trial circuit but I forget what his registered name is.  It's BS.  Men look for any and all excuses to avoid a dog getting neutered because they can't help but put themselves in that position.  They don't want half their brain getting whacked off.

Ang

[Icerotti]

I have not heard of anything like that. Many dogs hunt that are fixed.

http://www.all-creatures.org/aip/nl-26dec2003-paw.html

[ZooCrew]

Being from the midwest, where hunting is very popular, I can tell you that is complete crap.  I would think most hunters would want their dogs fixed as it makes them more focused on hunting, and less on females.

There are very few hunting dogs I know of that aren't fixed, and the ones that aren't are breeding stock.

[Joji]

Thanks to all for sharing your "neuter know-how."  I thought my neighbor was rationale was weird but since I don't have hunting dogs, who am I to say. I guess I'll never understand the male protectiveness toward his - and his dog's - jewels.