Can anyone please tell me the pros and cons of neutering a male dog?

[ConfusedofCardigan]

I know this has been done before but advice and opinions change fast so just hoping for some up to date help.

Our lovely dog is due to have his bits off very soon and DH and I are now getting very conflicting advice from different quarters!

I just want to do the best for our dog and now I don't seem to know what that is.

He is 18 months old as we'd left it this long so he could benefit from his growth hormones. Please help us decide as I am very confused now (see name change).

[TallulahBetty]

Surely there are no cons?

[BiteyShark]

I think it is a personal opinion looking online etc.

Pros seem to be reduction of sexual type behaviour such as humping, wandering looking for bitches etc. Obvious one is no breeding.

Cons appear to be very much age related as a study of larger breeds show risk of joint/bone issues if done too early.

Fyi: I have just had my dog neutered at 10.5 months old. I had a very frank discussion with my vet on two occasions and we discussed all the pros and cons including the current research. One issue they do see is obesity but that appears to be because people don't reduce the food amount which is often needed after neutering.

[BiteyShark]

Sorry missed another big con. If your dog shows fear of dogs and people then neutering may not be recommended as they need their testosterone to give they confidence. Without it they may be so fearful it may show as aggression.

[japanesegarden]

What breed is he? This makes a big difference (am a vet).

[Hoppinggreen]

We have a Golden Retriever and neutered at 15 months. He did get a bit of an infection so took longer to heal than he should but I think that was largely DH fault for constantly taking the cone of shame off because the dog " looked sad"
For us it was absolutely the right decision. He no longer humps people, DD can happily have friends home without the dog launching at them - it was always very obvious who had their period!!!
Doggy daycare say that he is no longer a " sex pest" and instead of humping other dogs and then getting snapped at he now plays with them happily. The staff say it's also safe to cuddle him without getting humped in return. He is generally calmer and better behaved
There have been no downsides for us at all

[Veterinari]

There may be breed specific differences.

Generally neutering:
Decreases risk of prostatic hyperplasia (benign) but increases risks of prostatic and other cancers
Removes risk of testicular cancer
May increase risks of joint pathologies
May decrease risk of confident male-male aggression
May increase risk of fearful aggression

[BiteyShark]

Oh on a personal level, I am glad I took 2 weeks at home as we have had severe diarrhoea following the OP and a large amount of swelling in his scrotum which I hadn't expected. We are day 8 now post OP and he has destroyed two cones and goes crazy in his medical suit so there is no way I could have left him for any length of time without supervision.

[JW13]

Jumping on the thread as we have a similar dilemma at the moment. Our dachshund is 10 and vet has recommended he is neutered to avoid prostate problems in later life. He's a rescue and his previous owners didn't take him to the vet at all for his first 6 years before we took him, let alone think about neutering him.

He shows no sexual behaviour and is scared of other dogs/people. I'm not sure how he'd cope spending a period of time in the vets with other animals! These factors combined with his age are making me hesitant about going ahead! But I don't want him to suffer in the future.....

[Eolian]

Watching with interest. I have an unneutered male pointer, nearly 3 years old. He doesn't hump anything and is generally well-behaved.

The only issue is that he can occasionally be a bit aggressive with other youngish unneutered males, particularly if they are a similar size to him. He also has a tendency to be skinny - it's hard keeping weight on him even though we feed well over the recommended amount.

Not sure if the aggression is confident or fearful though. And is 3yrs too late to bother neutering anyway? Sorry for hijack!

[BiteyShark]

JW13 does your vet know about his fear of dogs/people. Mine asked about any behavioural issues specifically those type.

[Ylvamoon]

Personally, I am against neutering, doing it for health reasons is false economy as like with us, you just don't know what is around the corner. I have an entire male (and 2 girls) and don't have any problems. He is 5, knows what its all about ... I
I think, training and socialization are key to a well balanced dog. (... I see neutering as a form of mutilation.)

[ConfusedofCardigan]

Hello apologies - I had to run to a meeting this morning, many thanks for the replies.

He is a terrier. A key behavioural issue is that although a sweetheart with regular visitors to the house, he barks, barks and barks some more at anyone unknown who visits. This means that having people round is a bit of a nightmare as he may bark at them till they leave!

We have tried lots of positive training / counter conditioning etc (had a trainer in too) - he gets treated in the moment he's quiet, but he obligingly takes the treat and then starts barking again.

I still don't know if this is territorial, or fear of unknown people. He is absolutely fine with unknown people outside the house (and dogs - he loves them), so I'm guessing it's territorial. But when does territorial-ness become fear..?

Am worried about neutering making this problem possibly worse, as we would like to be able to have visitors again at some point!

If it would help the problem though, that would be delightful.

Health pros and cons wise - the evidence some seem mixed. As a non veterinary person, I'm not sure how to weigh up those pros and cons!

[ConfusedofCardigan]

Veterinari - given those pros and cons, which side of the fence would you come down on, with your dog?

(I know this answer may depend on the dog...!)

[ConfusedofCardigan]

JW13 don't apologise - am interested to see what people say about yours too.

[JW13]

Thanks @ConfusedofCardigan!

@BiteyShark The vets do know what he is like although they have also witnessed him turn into a crazy werewolf when he has his nails clipped (his only sign of aggression we've witnessed). Last time he poo'd in one of their hands ! Bizarrely he is completely fine with injections/needles.

I'm just really confused about what to do given his age and personality!

[JW13]

PS @ConfusedofCardigan mine also barks and barks at unknown visitors. He's a great guard dog (until people see his size). He's not so bad once the visitor is settled/sitting down etc but then he goes mad barking when they try to leave. I always blamed that on his previous owners as they didn't socialise him with other people, let alone dogs. But I wonder whether neutering might help that.

[ConfusedofCardigan]

JW13 we had him from a pup and went to great lengths to socialise him, so I really don't know why he's like that. We even made sure he met people with beards, glasses, blonde hair, dark hair etc etc. All before the socialisation 'window' of 16 weeks closes.

I guess what our dogs do have in common is that they're both terriers...

[SparklingRaspberry]

I would never get any dog done unless it was a matter of saving their life

Yes spaying/neutering may decrease the risk of certain reproductive organ cancers but it increases the chances of even more cancers elsewhere in the body as well as many other health problems.

I don't see the point in it. If you have a female dog - simply keep her away from male dogs. It's not impossible I don't care who you are. Walk her at quiet times or whatever.

If you have a male dog I just don't see the point? He's only going to hump if given the opportunity - and that's down to the owner to stop. Again, it's not hard.

[SparklingRaspberry]

Neutering a male dog does NOT remove the risk of testicular cancer!

In fact there have been many studies over the years which proves the opposite

[ThroughThickAndThin01]

We didn't. I hated the idea of chopping bits off our friend . Did at 5 because he was an aggressive bastard with other dogs. It did calm him down.

[ConfusedofCardigan]

Sparkling I have just read the recent study about golden retrievers and am now even more confused. For them at least, it doesn't look great. Read another study too about GSDs, though that was about the effects of doing it before they're one.

[Veterinari]

Neutering a male dog does NOT remove the risk of testicular cancer!

In fact there have been many studies over the years which proves the opposite

Could you please link to some of those studies showing the increased prevalence of cancer in an organ the dog no longer has, please Sparklingraspberry

[ConfusedofCardigan]

See Through - that now makes me think...will it help with the territorialness? But I just don't know!

[Mellington]

After neutering there was a huge decrease in the dog fellating himself.

Seriously.

[Orangebird69]

Ylvamoon, are your bitches neutered?