Not to want to castrate my new dog?

[Nataleejah]

He's 7yo, very well behaved, never agressive, very obedient. Previous owner did not neuter him, so why should i? Even though people in the park tell me off...

My castrated dog is not fat.

I have a male dog with balls. he is 6 in July, I have had him since he was a puppy, no problems so far.

I got my Labrador bitch from the local pound and was told to get her spayed after her first season (they had no way of telling if she had already been done or not). She was a bit thin when I picked her up but since having her spayed she has put on weight and I want to reduce that. She is fed pedigree vital but a few of you have referred to 'good quality kibble' so can I ask what you feed your dogs? Thanks

I wonder what behiour is the dog displaying to cause unsolicited coments in the park. I used to walk a neighbour's uncastrated dog and perhaps because he was older he didn't really show any sexual behaviour, apart from the odd mortifying errection.

I imagine for people to be passing comment that he is displaying some troubling behaviour in public. So YABU!

The OP appears to be conveniently ignoring bits of posts that s/he sees fit.

OP - do you let your dog off lead in any setting? Why are people getting annoyed at you? Do you have any control over your dog? By 'allowing your dog to be a dog' do you actually mean you allow him to dominate and mount other dogs when out?

A responsible owner (though they may choose to because of irresponsible owners) should not have to forgo walking their breeding bitch on the lead while she's on heat. It should be safe for them to do so but if a dog like yours mounts their bitch they'd have just 2 choices: allow it to happen and have it risk their livelihood; or intervene and risk being attacked by your dog. And before you say your dog isn't aggressive, they don't know that and unless you've had to pull your dog off a bitch in heat, neither do you.

Random you could ask in Doghouse, I'm not in the UK so don't know what's available To you.

My M&D's lab isn't castrated, and he's eight now and a soppy old thing. It isn't the same as with a cat wandering around freely!

HarrietSchulenberg

"Every time I see an unneutered mutt I think lowly of the owner. I think "can't be bothered", "status dog" or "plain ignorant".

Then you would have a very low opinion of me. I have an unneutered dog. He's actually a pup, at 9 months old, but being 27" to his shoulders you probably wouldn't realise that.

He hasn't been neutered on veterinary advice. Firstly because he had a very bad start, followed by serious health problems that have resulted in him being underdeveloped/immature for his age. Secondly because, as a result of his illness we were not able to socialise him fully and he is extremely fearful of other dogs. Thirdly because, as a large breed my vet advises that he should be skeletally mature before neutering and finally, because his genetic history makes him predisposed to osteosarcoma and having lost a dog to that less than twelve months ago, I will do anything in my power to prevent my pup suffering the same way.

He is a rescue and we had to sign a contract to say he would be neutered at 6 months old when we adopted him BUT thankfully the rescue concerned have the dog's best interests at heart and fully understand the need for delaying neutering in his case. They are happy for us to wait until our vet is happy for us to go ahead.

In the meantime, all you would see in the park is a woman walking a large unneutered male and your judgement would be far from justified.

Fwiw, I have another male who is neutered and have had neutered males before, but each case needs to be taken on it's merits and and surgery of any type should never be taken lightly. There is no one-size-fits-all answer to the question of neutering, it is something each owner needs to properly research and discuss with their vet before making a decision regarding their own dog.

Please read DandyDindie's post of 18:21:33 and educate yourself.

Jolleigh - you are right - the OP is ignoring any arguments that might teach her how irresponsible she is being. She doesn't care how bad a dog owner she is making herself appear.

I thought you kept a bitch in heat away from other dogs as much as possible.

Of course it is a valid choice. If the OP is confident that her dog will not run off and mate with others then all is well. She hasn't answered the question though of why people in the park are "telling her off". Not that I can see, anyway.

There is a perfect argument for saying why put a healthy and well behaved dog through major surgery that he does not medically need. I fully respect people who make that choice.

You just don't know though. Rescues are bursting with unwanted pups and dogs as it is.

My own experience was completely the opposite to the OP. I had a labrador dog who had no intention at all of being well behaved once his adolescence and testosterone kicked in, and he was very driven by it and humped everthing and everyone in sight, dog or human. Castration resolved most of it. Eventually, I also took on my cocker spaniel bitch. I had her spayed a few months after she came to us. I am glad they are both neutered because for me it solves many issues.

Isn't the rule of thumb that if you can't reliably stop a dog from interfering with another human or animal it should be on a lead?

Doesn't this cover all scenarios regardless of whether your dog is male or female, neutered or intact?

my dog has his bits still he only ever seems to hump other males and thats not often

I work in. A vets and neither of mine ar edge. They're both shy dogs, and haven't ever humoured. There's a very small risk of tspesticular cancer as they get older, but it's not something I'd personally do.

OP, what will you do if your dog does get a bitch pregnant?

Will you go halves on the cost of a termination?
If not termination will you rehome the pups? Go halves on the cost of the pregnancy/birth/weaning/rehoming? Go halves if the female needs an emergency c section and aftercare?

If no, then get your dog neutered.

I'm just in from my local Rescue. We have 27 dogs in at present. 5 of those dogs are long termers. One is a mutt with her 6 new pups. My friend (and rescue owner) is currently wrestling with her conscience over the long termers and whether it would be kinder to PTS. She's full you see, and overflowing, and the pups are going to need to be moved soon.

Accidental matings are the bane of a Rescues life. Please neuter your dog.

Dogs in heat should be walked in early mornings and kept away from entire males. Often, entire males have no idea what to do anyway!

I'd take advice from the vet, OP, rather than MN.

Medically there is no reason to castrate. Dr Chris Zink has done some work on this and finds that the incidence of certain diseases is increased in dogs that are neutered/spayed. You can download information from her website at www.caninesports.com.

There is a risk of pyometra to unspayed females but there is no medical need for neutering a male.

As long as you will be responsible for him at ALL times, then I wouldn't.

That said, all my dogs are rescues and they come already fixed, for obvious and completely understandable reasons.

The most up to date research would suggest that the OP's opinion is quite valid, provided he's kept under close control and is not roaming the place impregnating bitches or being deliberately used at stud.

It's completely different for bitches for whom the health benefits of neutering far outweigh the negatives.

Whether or not a bitch is walked early enough in the morning, dog owners are still responsible for their dog's actions. Either it is in control or it isn't.

Katnipp - yes, you keep,your bitch in heat away from entire dogs as much as possible - but from stories on here, it seems as if a randy dog will go to some lengths to get at a bitch in heat even if she's shut up in her own garden, or if she's on the lead, it can happen very fast, maybe too fast for the bitch's owner to stop it. So it's not just the bitch's owner's responsibility.

If the OP isn't planning to let her dog breed, there is no good reason to let him keep his balls. Of course, as he is going to be living such a 'natural' life, that will, of course, include shagging breeding, won't it, Nataleejah - in which case you have to make sure he can't create more puppies to end up in rescues.

I bet you won't answer me, Nataleejah - how would you feel if your dog's pups end up being killed because the rescues are all too full already, due to irresponsible dog owners who don't spay or neuter their dogs? Would you hold them, look into their eyes, and see the life die out as the vet injects the drug that kills them? What would you say to comfort the vets and rescue workers who have to do this to healthy dogs, because of owners like you?

You won't answer this. But maybe you will think about it. Dead puppies or dogs, bred by irresponsible owners. How natural is that?

No OP you are not being unreasonable and please don't pay any attention to the person who said they think lowly of owners of intact dogs.

Castration of a dog doesn't prevent prostate cancer and it can be detrimental to their personality development to castrate them at an early age.

If you / previous owner didn't feel the need to have it done there's no reason to subject your dog to a procedure and GA that isn't necessary because of some people in a park.

And to the person who thinks lowly of owners who have intact dogs, my vet doesn't like to surgically neuter dogs for the developmental reason I listed above, they prefer to use chemical castration with surgery as a last resort. Perhaps consider that before judging others.

And all those unwanted dogs bred by the irresponsible owners who don't neuter or spay - they are acceptable collateral damage, I suppose, Jaeme?

yes, you keep,your bitch in heat away from entire dogs as much as possible - but from stories on here, it seems as if a randy dog will go to some lengths to get at a bitch in heat even if she's shut up in her own garden

My friend and neighbour has just had a rotten time of her bitches season because of two entire males on our estate. The Husky that tried to get to her bitch has actually broken her gate and she is currently trying to get the owner of the dog to pay up (and he keeps saying no), whilst now now being able to safely leave her dog in her own garden.

She was also confronted by a very angry collie when trying to leave her house with her bitch, that was then bitten by the bitch who didn't want to be mounted. Cue collies owners giving my friend grief for their dogs injury.

(Oh bitch wasn't neutered because it has a hooded vulva and the vet advised to wait until she was a year old. The vets here routinely spay and neuter before first season/at 6 months with no issues and on recommendation, maybe because they are the 'go to' vet for the Rescue, and they do it for free. They are fantastic vets)

I am not sure why you are asking you have made up your mind and just arguing with people let him keep his bollocks if you want him to be all man dog, my castrated dog has a lovely shiny coat and isnt over weight,