Getting a male dog 'done'

[SeaGreen]

Can some of the lovely posters here please give me reasons why getting a male dog done is not a bad idea (from the dog's perspective)?

DH has a big problem with the fact that we got the dog done (when he was about 6 months old).

It was primarily I who wanted to get it done for a variety of reasons after doing quite a bit of research. Most of those were health reasons (e.g. reduced risk of testicular cancer at an advanced age). DH went along with it then but has since undergone a massive change of heart and bitterly regrets having gone along (some of it may be a 'male thing', however justified or unjustified). This has caused a great deal of bitterness and resentment between us. It didn't help that some time ago, at the vet's, the receptionist advised someone on the phone in front of us that there were no strong health or other grounds either way and so it was totally upto the owner to get it done.

If you believe (based on facts/ research) that neutering is completely unnecessary, please feel free to tell me so. Otherwise would appreciate any links or studies or info that you can give me on why neutering a male dog is not a bad thing for the dog.

Sure -

I think it's the responsible thing to do. Your dog need only escape out the garden/run away on a walk to father lots of puppies.

Well, the receptionist would never advise a client either way on a procedure. They would be completely out of line if they did, so ignore that.

As an ex vet nurse, I would always castrate any of my male dogs. A huge percentage of dogs hit by cars are entire males - hardly surprising as they can literally smell a bitch in season for miles. Plus all the cancer risks. Small risk from the general anaesthetic but I believe it is far outweighed by the benefits.

And it's a standing joke in the veterinary profession that it's always the man who is reluctant to have the dog castrated

oh my god that link is heartbreaking . couldn't finish it. must go and hug mine as antidote right now.
but if your dog has a much lower chance of say running away - close supervision all the time-(and you're not on a farm, such that he has the run of the place)- do you know any reasons that relate to the health of the dog itself?

cross posted.

so testicular cancer and the tendency to roam. yes these were the primary reasons, plus (possibly) a reduced sex drive/ aggression quotient. the last would probably have been the least of our problems given how my dog's turned out (calm, sweet tempered) but i confess another reason was the fact that it is much easier to find a carer when you are away (on work, visiting family) if your dog is done. ~(not that one goes around finding new carers each time- you find a good carer, you never go anywhere else unless you need to!)

it is SO difficult- and i don't think i will ever be able to - convince H that it was the right thing to do.
like i told him, the absence of testicular cancer is hardly something i can hold up, give that i have ensured it can never happen.

it wasn't a random send-the-dog-away-get-it-done type thing either- the vet let me watch the whole procedure (it was in another country, i don't think they would let me hhere, and that's fine too) and i made myself watch it- if i could make my dog undergo it, the least i could do was watch what i was making hhim undergo.
i didn't take the decision lightly. and i made sure we were on the same page.
so bloody difficult because i can't undo it. (and truth be told the reasons remain so why would i want to, even if i could have)

i have stopped being ultra defensive and on the back foot about it though.

and yes, if you don't have a pedigree dog and he ends up having pups of his own, why would you condemn so many puppies to the bleak possibility of never finding a home?!

Why does your DH have a problem with it? It seems strange to be upset about it now that it's done. Does he now wish you could breed him?

I tend to think it should be the default thing to do unless there's a particular reason not to, the main reason for doing it being to prevent unwanted pups, and also the reduced risk of some cancer as you said. And not having the excess of male hormones makes it easier for the dog to conform to what we consider 'good' dog behaviour (calm, not humping etc!).

think some owners see no bits and immediately assume he's a girl.
and then it's that darn male pride thing.
sod it all
what's that all about?
if i had a bitch i would have got her spayed. i don't think i'd have such existential angst about it, if it had had her welfare at the bottom of it.
i mean, it isn't akin to docking or cropping is it.

My dog still has 'bits' or looks like he does, he's just missing a few parts, not that that stops him from trying to hump the...well anything really

Buy a manly looking collar?

Tell dh if he's so worried he can always splash out on some testicular implants

And, as I've said every time I've posted this link, this is true

OMG that video has me crying like a baby.

I'll be having my babies pups done next year at approx 18 and 14 months old
I've had offers to use my dogs to breed but I won't do it.

And don't forget the matching earrings

I bet you anything your DH wouldn't have had an issue with neutering if you had had a bitch! Nearly all the guys in my surgery are practically in tears when dropping off/ picking up their dog, who has endured a fairly minor op, but are totally fine leaving their bitches for a full ovariohysterectomy, major abdominal surgery!!

I would never force/ cajole anyoone to get their dog neutered, but I did do my own. Reasons being

A huge percentage of road traffic accidents are unnneutered males (including my gran's old dog, who used to disappear on the wander for a few days at a time )

Hugely reduces risk of prostate problems (which are fairly common in older male dogs) and tumours around the anus which are hormone- induced.

Obviously negates the risk of testicular cancer

Tend to get less aggressive response from other dogs

I don't worry too much about behaviour, although if a dog is showing extreme sexual behaviour, def worth a go, if only for health reasons

As for all the people who say "it changes their personality"- all you are doing is taking away the main source of testosterone production. If you hated your dog's personality before testosterone was produced at puberty (ie if you disliked your dog as a puppy) then you might have an issue with personality change

Another one I get is that "they get fat" Yes, sometimes they are more interested in food once they are neutered, and you may need to watch their diet more carefully, but ALL the guide dogs for the blind are neutered (for obvious reasons!) and I challenge you to see any big fat ones waddelling down the road!

We had the worst thing happenour young dog of 14 months died while being spayed. The anaesthetic was the problemthere seemed to be some brain problem that nobody would have known about before the op, and that the pre-tests wouldn't have alerted the vet to (we didn't have them on this occasion, though always did when our older dogs were operated on as they point to problems with the liver and heart which older dogs are more prone to having).

It was a freak tragedy. Our other dogs had done very well with the same vet operating on them over 14 years (even the one who was 13 and had a dodgy heart and had a tumour removed).

BUT, despite all this we will probably have our latest puppy spayed. I will be biting my nails when she goes in but I know it's the best thing to do--for lots of good reason.

o-kay.. so .. a small investigation.. when they 'did' him did they tie up his tube or did they remove the scrotal sacs?
they did the latter for mine, and if that's not normal (he's my first 'done' dog) then that may have been because it was not done here. and i am genuinely at the vet.

manly looking collar - that's an idea i guess!! i use a semi choke - please no gasps of horror- not because i like to torture him but because a normal collar has slipped off more than once and i am petrified of putting a collar too tight (yes i know the two finger rule but i'd rather not test the hypothesis on a road). the semi choke can't come off simply because it doesn't get looser if there's a tug.

[comes back to point- sorry, have been all over the place there]

at neuticles!!!

Bella, while you are here, how early can a pup get pregnant?

Don't panic. I do not plan on breeding my poor litle puppy. My eejit sister thinks it would be 'cute' if "her puppy and my puppy had little baby puppies" and does not plan on nuetering her pup

How soon do I need to worry and watch her dog like a hawk around my puppy, who is to be spayed shortly after her first season?

thanks jooly i think the prostate problem thing is a very good reason.

seagreen- the usual procedure is to remove the testicles, but leave the scrotal sac, which gradually shrinks over the years.

Have had a few clients come and tell me "they have grown back" a few days later , not realising that we leave the scrotal sac intact!

thanks jooly so they did deviate from standard procedure- there's just an incision scar (now grown over) - they didn't leave the sacs.

Well I've had two dogs in succession,(the same breed).The first dog wasn't neutered-I didn't know much about it and it wasn't done as frequently then (22 years ago).The second and current dog has been neutered,and I would always have a dog done now,for much the same reasons as I would neuter a male cat-they won't cause any unwanted offspring,they are less likely to stray,and they are easier to integrate with others. Actually both my dogs have been friendly and not aggressive,but the neutered dog has got into less fights,partly because other dogs are less threatened by him and so less likely to be aggressive towards him. We have a friend whose dog was killed by a car,running out of the park after a bitch on heat .It was really horrible,truly horrible,and while any dog can run off,anything that makes it less likely is a good thing.I also think that a neutered dog is a bit more relaxed,as are neutered cats,but I don't do it for that reason,the others are enough.

seagreen- are you sure they took away the scrotal skin sacs? I only ask because it's a far bigger op to do complete scrotal ablation, tend to only do that if there is testicular cancer and sacs are adhered to testicles. Normally we "pop" the testicles up and do it through a single incision above the scrotal sac ( can you tell DH doesn't sleep easy in his bed at night ?)

I'm pretty sure that my dog's aggression towards other males would have been much worse if I hadn't neutered him: he was on a trajectory of increasing aggression until neutered at 11 months. And his behaviour to females is drastically altered: he no longer harrasses them, just interacts in a relaxed way. So he can have more freedom on walks than if unneutered (though he is still not reliable with mmany other males -- perhaps I should have neutered him younger, before any habits of aggression developed.)

The greater freedopm on walks,the absence of constant frustration and reduced sexual agression must be beneficial for him?

And of course there is the huge benefit of knowing there won't be puppies from him.

OTOH, my previous dog, also neutered, was utterly unchanged behaviourally by neutering, so I think the only benefit in his case was the certainty of no pups (and the reduced cancer risk).

DMC - depends on the dog, and the breed, but earliest is about 5 months. Smaller breeds tend to have their first season earlier than bigger breeds. Keep an eye on her vulva - the first sign you'll probably see is some swelling there. Remember that she'll be at her most fertile once the discharge stops, so you'll need to watch her for at least 3 weeks. HTH