Any opinions on when to castrate?

[liath]

My JRT is 6 months old and we've never planned to breed from him so assumed we'd get him castrated.

I have to say at the moment I'm not in a huge rush as he's not especially humpy (yet) and very mild mannered for a JRT. Is there a "good" age to do this? The breeder said not to rush into it as he reckoned the dog will be better looking if not castrated too early .

Shurely this belongs to the 'politics' topic?

Better looking? He probably meant muscle tone and leaness. They have urges which burn calories when they have their testicles! If they aren't actually getting any, they are constantly on edge (relatively!), looking for it.

Get him done as soon as possible. There's enough inadvertent stray dogs in this world.

If they are castrated too early it can affect bone growth. Maybe ask your vet for advice? Mine said about the time they start to cock their legs is best - around 9 months.

Oooh, I'm interested in that point Port. I had assumed vets would not castrate until the dog was fully developed, therefore as soon as "possible". Do dogs get castrated earlier?

My current dog shows absolutely no inclination to hump at all so we haven't had him done. He is very laid back, doesn't seem on edge about anything. Is there actually any benefit to the dog in castration? My last dog was a terrible humper so we had him done, and his appetite for food certainly increased remarkably.

Grimma - I read ages ago it benefited bitches but not dogs. That was just one report though, and probably centred it's findings around one area - my dog developed prostate problems from having a whole load of testosterone - apparently. The prostate problems went after having him castrated - along with the howling if there was a bitch on heat in the area and the running off if there was a bitch on heat in the area given half a chance!

I know other entire dogs who have developed testicular cancer.

There's a chance of developing something on virtually any part of the body though!

I personally wouldn't have a dog neutered unless there was a specific reason to. If I were going to, I would prefer to wait until the dog was maure, for large breeds 2 years plus ish and smaller breeds maybe from a year onwards.

My reasons being is that neutering does affect bone growth because it effects the hormones which have an effect on the timing of the closure of the growth plates and the groth plates close later in neutered dogs, which results in taller, leggier dogs which can then affect things like hip dysplacia.

Also, there is some evidence to suggest neutering too early can increase the risk of some bone cancers and prostate cancers. (some evidence suggets it reduces the risk of prostate cancer, so it is not a cut and dry situation)

The main reason to neuter dogs (healthwise) is to avoid testicular cancer, which is fairly rare and if caught early one of the easier cancers to treat.

Unwanted breeding can be prevented by proper management.

All that said, most dogs, especially smaller breeds won't be noticably adversely affected by early neutering, and I do have a dog here that will be neutered around 6 months old. Mainly because he was a foster puppy we may be keeping, I have three entire girls and am currently and unexpectedly on bed rest during pregnancy and expecting an extremely premature baby. He would have been neutered at six months prior to rehoming anyway, to safeguard him, but now we are keeping him and I am unable to take care the dogs myself at the moment, he will still be done, just in case, as I don't trust the rest of my household. Not an ideal situation, but the best one in the current situation.

As my dog is a 4 year old dachshund I don't think there's much risk of tall legginess And both his balls are properly dropped, the last one was mono-orchid which was the other reason for having him done.

DD was suprised when we got this dog (at 10 months) to find he had 'bottom lumps' as she calls them -she knew some dogs did, but thought it was a breed characteristic. She wrote her former nanny a letter explaining that the new dog hadn't been 'newted', complete with pictures

GRIMMA be gratefulyour woofa is humping - our horse puppy was rather fond of humping my leg/me/children

he got done a few months ago

isnt humping

Blondes - I think we all know about Woofa!

In fact I'm suprised he's not on this thread yet with his perspective.

tis true - very suprised he isnt on here reminding us all of his experiences, but dont forget he has been poorly recently

Thanks a lot folks, I feel better about avoiding massive-- vet billsputting it off for a while. Midori, that all sounds worrying for you, I hope everything goes well and baby stays firmly put.

Hi- I'm a vet, and none of the studies I've read have supported the idea that castration (or indeed testosterone) affects bone growth. there was always a slight question mark when it came to giant breeds, but a JRT isn't really a giant breed!

Castration is a personal choice, and there are pro's and con's

Pro's-

won't chase after/ pine after bitches in heat. The biggest proportion of road traffic accidents in dogs are unneutered males, and there is a reason for that- when they are so focussed on the scent of a bitch they notice little else- not you calling them, not a pound of sausages, not an oncoming bus! I also personall feel it's a bit harsh to leave them with all those urges and instincts intact when you know they won't be allowed to act on them. I see lots of "lovesick" pooches, who go into pining mode when the bitch 4 doors up is in season, stop eating, try to escape, are generally miserable!

Won't develop testicular cancer (not uncommon in older male dogs) Will be very unlikely to develop prostate problems and prostate cancer (one of the first things we do in prostatitis/ prostate cancer is to castrate the dog, as the testosterone accelerates the condition) Also unlikely to develop anal adenomas (tumours around the anal ring- again we often perform castration at the same time as excising these masses, as they too are testosterone dependant)

reduced sexual behaviour (obviously- although my neutered-at-6mo 15 yr old dog still humps other male dogs!) and they tend to be involved in less dog-to-dog aggression, as they are perceived as less of a threat to other male dogs.

Con's-

Involves a general anaesthetic, obviously always a small, but non-negligeable, risk

More prone to weight gain (although when people try to tell me their dog is fat "because he is neutered", I point out that all the guide dogs for the blind are neutered and you will never meet a fat one! Yes, they may need a bit less food, but it's not impossible!

Whatever you decide, good luck! FWIW I rarely castrate a dog for behavioural reasons alone- I am usually more interested in the health benefits and warn people it will NOT "calm the dog down!"

Thanks Jooly, that's helpful. Although did I mention that he's actually a very rare Giant Jack Russell .