To neuter or not to neuter...

[quazi]

Hi all, we have a lab dog who is nearly eight months old. He is a great dog, very placid despite his breed and excellent with other dogs. My dh is keen to have him done, I'm not so sure. Any advice / experiences much appreciated!

[thegriffon]

vet recommended waiting till my lab was fully grown, ie around 18 months. Then advice changed to not neutering if everything OK, so he's 2 now, still entire and a lovely calm dog with no problems. Lots of discussion on recent thread

[quazi]

Thanks thegriffon, had a quick look for anything recent but didn't see that, thanks for linking!

[LtEveDallas]

Neuter, neuter, neuter.

Always neuter.

Neuter him now. Its better for him and its better for all the dogs dying in Pounds and Rescues.

Please neuter.

[Callisto]

I can't think of a single reason why you wouldn't neuter. Or why you would wait until 18 months/2 years or whenever.

As Eve says, just have a quick look at all of the unwanted dogs in rescues online and then ask yourself if you really want to be responsible for a litter of unwanted pups.

[thegriffon]

Callisto, there are health reasons not to castrate male dogs, perhaps more relevant for larger breeds. See link to previous discussion.

[LtEveDallas]

thegriffon,

The health risks are unproved and currently under investigation - there are no scientifically sound peer reviewed sources as yet.

Large breeds, especially Rotties and Greys have always had higher than average instances of bone cancers (I lost RottDog in Nov to bone cancer) and there is a train of thought that early neutering can add to the risk. However no studies have been going long enough as yet to confirm.

There is also a train of thought that unneutered males, and males neutered later in life are more suceptible to testicular cancers. Again, not yet scientifically sound or peer reviewed.

It is also noted that the most likely dog to be in a road accident is an entire male who has escaped seeking out an female on heat. My friends collie managed to leap a 6 foot fence to do just that, thankfully he was OK, unlike the Rottie he impregnated who had a terrible whelping experience.

In the case of OPs Labrador I would repeat neuter, neuter, neuter. There were 27 thousand labradors registered last year...no need for any more.

[tabulahrasa]

Like I said on the other thread, I'm leaving my boy until he's finished growing...there could be a slight risk that neutering before the joint plates have finished growing an cause joint issues...he's a large breed dog who might already have a joint problem (we're currently waiting to hear back from an orthopedic specialist).

But, he's only walked on lead (because of the limping) and can't get out of my garden and I'm also prepared to whip off his pompoms at short notice if it proves necessary for any reason before he's finished growing.

[TantrumsAndBalloons]

Please neuter.

Look at all the unwanted dogs in rescue as a result of not neutering.

My brothers dog went through the front window to get at a bitch on heat outside. Through the actual window.

We have a dog at the rescue where I volunteer that dislocated his owners shoulder twice trying to get at a bitch in heat whilst on a lead. On the second occasion he managed to get away, ran into the road after her, was hit by a slow moving car and has broken legs.

Please neuter the dog. I cannot think of one single reason not to.

[Scuttlebutter]

Another one here who thinks the benefits of neutering outweigh the risks, although like most other posters with large breed dogs, I'm very mindful of the risks of neutering too early (which is a slightly different argument).

There may be a slightly increased risk of cancer, but against that I'd weigh the much more likely risks of escaping to get at a bitch, the RTAs mentioned above, and the risk of theft. Labs are puppy farmed extensively in Wales and ROI, along with "doodles" and a good lab male who is fully loaded would be very valuable. The risk of death in a pound is also very real. In Wales for instance around 10% of dogs who enter the stray dog system are PTS by Councils, but this figure masks some horrendous variations with some Councils killing around 16% of all dogs. And sadly Labs do end up as strays sometimes.

Extensive spay/neuter programmes have repeatedly been proven by academic studies to reduce shelter populations, both in the USA and here, and have led to steady reductions in the numbers of stray dogs in the system and particularly the numbers killed by Councils. Supporting spay/neuter programmes in overseas countries is one of the most cost effective ways of helping animal welfare, much more so than paying hundreds to import one single animal.

[tabulahrasa]

Oh and that's not my advice as to what you should do, just what I'm doing and why...I've had pets for nearly 25 years that were mine and not just my parents, the only ones that stayed unneutered were rodents or fish, lol.

I was at one point with this puppy planning on having him done before now in fact (he's just turned 6 months) but because he's been lame for just over a month and two sets of x-rays haven't shed any light on why he is lame - I'm being overly paranoid about it. Which is why I'm currently leaving it.

[ChickensHaveNoEyebrows]

I neutered my cocker/springer at 6 months. He recovered very quickly and has no interest in the laydeees. My vet said it was fine to neuter at that age. I neutered him to make sure he didn't create more mini versions of himself, and also to make him less attractive to thieves.

[Booboostoo]

Please neuter him. Aside from all the other very good reasons to do so, if he does develop any behavioural issues such as dog aggression, territory guarding, etc. associated with entire dogs, it will by then be too late and you will have to deal with a problem rather than avoiding one. His character as an adult dog will not be the same as his character now, especially if he is kept entire.

[wriggletto]

I have a large breed dog, and had him neutered at 18 months, when he'd finished growing, for all the reasons above - to prevent any unwanted pups, to stop him running off after bitches in heat, and to make him less attractive to pedigree dog thieves. I cried all the way back from the vets, but he still loves everyone just as much as he did before. He just never humps them

[Nigglenaggle]

I am going to differ from the crowd and say if you are a responsible owner in control of your dog, you don't need to have him neutered. There are health benefits of course, but only two conditions that can't be fixed by neutering him if he gets them, both are rare: prostatic abscesses and prostate cancer. Prostatic abscesses are more common in entire dogs, prostate cancer in neutered dogs. There are some dogs which need to be neutered because they are dominant, or chase the ladies and jump through windows or similar. Or hump innappropriately...

Actually many cases of aggression are nervous aggression and many behaviourists feel they are made worse by neutering.

The situation is completely different for bitches, who are likely to become seriously ill in mid to old age if left entire.

[Nigglenaggle]

Should read 'but of the conditions associated with male dogs, only two can't be fixed by neutering him if he gets them'

[quazi]

Thanks all, lots of food for thought here.

[TwoFacedCows]

My dogs are not neutered. They are 5 & 6. I am responsible and put my dogs on a lead if we see another dog, until i am sure it is a girl or a neutered male. Or even another unneutered male who they get on with.

Both of my dogs have excellent recall and there have been many times that dogs will then come up to my (on leads) dogs and start a fight, because the owner has not got his/ her unneutered dog under control.

My dogs are very well behaved, but they will occasionally meet a neutered male, and they confuse him with a 'hot' female and try to get up to all manner of fun!

[multipoodles]

Nigglenaggle excellent sensible post. LIKE very much. All this nueter nueter business gives vets income then behaviourists mope up the aftermath. Sex hormones are responsible for much more than sex, growth and maturity and especially confidence are affected by neutering.

OP before making any hasty decisions read this

www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

From the article..

On the positive side, neutering male dogs

? eliminates the small risk (probably

[higgle]

This week Many Tears have had a litter of the most beautiful setter/golden retriever cross puppies and their lovely mother on the site - rescued from the pound where they were all due to be PTS. There was a also a greyhound family - Mother, Father and pups saved by West of England GR before Christmas in the same situation. I didn't count the puppies but that must be around 10 new homes needed just for those two litters. I know there are always difficult issues to resolve when it is your dog but while the homing situation is as it is really important all dogs are neutered.

[GobblersSparklyExplodingKnob]

My behaviourist and trainer (highly qualified, well known, well repected/published) is very against automatic neutering purely for the bahavioural problems it can cause. I know many, many, many people with entire males including myself, none to my knowledge have ever accidently fathered a litter.

My last dog was neutered at 14 months and it ruined him, he went from a relatively confident (with hindsight, very slightly nervous) happy go lucky boy, into a dog agressive, nervy, unpredictable nightmare. I would never neuter a male dog without very good reason.

[Scuttlebutter]

A look at the Dogslost website is sobering reading, and should be part of your research. You will see masses of responsible owners desperate for the return of much loved pets.

And yet again, it seems to be open season on vets Seeing, what most vets charge for neutering, I really can't believe that it is a particularly profitable operation (unlike breeding litters of pups for sale as untaxed income).

[LtEveDallas]

Multipoodles - that article is 5 years old. Do you have any current, scientifically proven, peer reviewed studies to back up your post?

[LtEveDallas]

Seeing, what most vets charge for neutering, I really can't believe that it is a particularly profitable operation (unlike breeding litters of pups for sale as untaxed income)

Yes Scuttlebutter, my Vets (unfortunately the most expensive in my area - but I do think the best) charge £50 for a male castration and £70 for female spaying. Hardly going to make millions from that now are they? Whereas the 'back of an envelope stuck in the post office window has [sic] 'Jackapoos' for sale for "ONLY £250 EACH - 6 AVAILABLE"

[multipoodles]

Of course nuetering isn't expensive, it's all the other lifetime diseases that vets will treat that are the big money! Vets, like doctors don't make money on healthy patients!

[LtEveDallas]

it's all the other lifetime diseases that vets will treat that are the big money

That some dogs will get with or without neutering.... so what on earth is your point?