Vet has just recommended leaving dog entire

[ijustwant8hours]

Is this normal? I always expected that he would be neutered...

She said that if there were no behavioural issues her advice was to leave them whole.

Thanks

He looked at me and his eyes said "er what's her problem? I mean she's OK and all that but cant a dog go for a walk in peace?"

We once had an elkhound who went to considerable lengths to remove himself from the vicinity of an in season bitch. He wasn't baffled, he was horrified. Not all entire males are into 'all that stuff'

OP did your vet mention testicular cancer (and less serious infections)? My step-brother had an entire male dog who got about 8 serious (as in needed to be hospitalised) testicular infections in his 7 year life. He wouldn't have had to suffer that much had he been neutered.

Also worth checking insurance - I'm sure some will (rightly or wrongly) charge more for entire dogs.

How old is the dog and what breed is he? Most people are under the impression that all dogs should be neutered anything after 6 -8 months, and ets generally support that because of the risk of unwanted puppies, but some vets (and certain breeders in particular) will recommend that you wait until the dog if over 2. Some breeds are slow to mature and contrary to popular opinion neutering them early doesn't 'calm them down', it does the opposite and messes with their hormones and their social maturity. (so my breeder told me anyway.)

You may wish to read this, full of references if you wish to follow up on the research.

www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

multipoodles (we both know poodles are the best!) has it had a very detrimental effect on your poodles coat? if it does how does effect it?

very bad - better neutered and no unwanted litters.

some Vets are real idiots.

neutering at an appropriate age has no effect on coat that i am aware of.

unwanted prregnancy on the other hand just ruins doggys hair though.

mulitpoodles that link did not factor in 'unwanted litter' anywhere!

I was going to leave mine, (good working lines for breeding), but decided not to in the end, I was advised for him to be reliably cocking his leg (sign of maturity) first, we rode out his humping every cuddly toy or blanket he could find for a month or so, but just before he was done he was cockin his leg on every blade of grass we passed and tracking bitches, (not helped by ndn bitch coming into season) for the sake of a small op (for a male anyway) it was worth it to illeviate the unwanted unsociable behaviours that my dog exhibited.

On a side note, I also know a number of entire males who don't exhibit these behaviours.

i would say the main benefits of spay/ neuter have nothing dirrectly to do with health -

1. if someone steals your dog with a view to breeding it (common) they may return if neutered 2)if you rehome your dog, it is of no use to a puppy farmer/ byb 3)no unwanted litterur
2. no seasons to deal with 5)in male dogs, less sex-driven behaviour

i have dealt with large entire dogs, they are especially buggerous.

As almost all bitches are spayed, your boy dog is never going to father unwanted puppies.
Our vets don't routinely castrate dogs, there's no need to. Puppies grow out of humping.
Neutering either sex can ruin the coats of spaniels and some other breeds.

I don't think humping has anything to do with neutering or hormones.

My 2 yr old entire lab has never humped anything, apart from his bed. We've only met one female in season, on a lead, and he was more interested in sniffing where she'd been walking than the dog herself.
He has a lengthy session with his bed every few weeks in the privacy of the utility room and comes out looking very relaxed
Neutered dogs, mostly smaller ones, often try to hump him and he just keeps moving away till they give up. Perhaps they feel threatened because he's a big dog and they're trying to assert themselves?

Multipoodles I was just going to link to that.

I don't understand why a responsible owner with no entire bitches themselves would feel the need to neuter for population control - control your dog and you won't have an accidental litter. There are health risks either way, but the health risks associated with neutering are harder to treat and less easy to spot until too late. I have a nearly 6 year old entire male, and he has never sired a litter at all, and never will, because I know where he is at all times. And that's with an entire female in the house - we've never even had a close call because I'm sensible. He's entire as when he had his undecended testicle removed our vet recommended leaving the other as he was going through a nervous patch and she said he needed all the testosterone he could get, and we could revisit removing the other later if necessary. Well it's never been necessary, he has no bad habits from being entire (he humps his toys now and again, but never other animals or people, never marks indoors). The fact he has developed a tendency to stop breathing under anaesthetic just confirmed my decision.

With future males I'd make the decision based on breed predisposition towards any of the health risks of neutering or of not neutering, individual dog's temperament, and household circumstance. If we did neuter it wouldn't be until maturity.

Entire /= going to breed.

Does that mean that any loose dog is always indicative of highly reckless owner?

Anyway, I wouldn't want the extra pressure. I'm not that perfect at anything. Intact dogs are more likely to try to run off to find a mate, too. So I see neutering as sensible risk reduction.

I was under impression that sex hormones change the brain permanently; by removing the gonads early those brain changes don't happen or only occur to lesser extent. Once those brain changes have happened, then they can't be undone. And most of them happen during first year of puberty. Seems like another reason to neuter before puberty.

But those brain changes are what's meant to happen, lljkk. I want a dog not a perpetual puppy. The sex hormones are designed as part of the whole body and brain system. I wouldn't remove them personally unless it was for the good of my dog, not to remove some inconvenience for me.

The reason dogs & cats like living with us humans is their permanently fixed juvenile mindset, no? They have that mindset bred into them even allowing for full gonads in many cases. I thought there was lots of research about that.

If our pets need to live successfully in feral colonies then I could see the advantages of intact gonads, but that's not the lifestyle most of us will be offering or wanting them to have.

Other considerations are that something like 70% of road traffic accidents are unneutered males- many will stray miles to get to a female in heat (this was how my gran's dog died )

Someone said nearly all bitches are spayed- not round here they are not, as nearly everyone seems to want to "take a litter off her"

I let my bitch have 1 season before neutering, and we had some poor dog sat in our garden in the rain for a week- he wouldn't go home (and he had a collar, so not a stray, but couldn't get hold of him to call his no-doubt worried owner) I'm never sure if it's actually less kind to leave them with all their instincts and urges and then never let them act on them.

I give my clients all the pros and cons and let them make their own decision, but my own dog was neutered, and any dog I have in future will be too.

Some dogs might be fine if neutered before puberty, I think it depends on the breed and perhaps the individual dog.
I only know about labs, I meet so many lab owners who say they had their dog castrated to calm him down and it didn't work. They're puppies for a long time and puppies are meant to be excitable, wanting to explore everything. Then they go through the hormonal teenage rebellion phase and eventually at around 2 or 3 yrs they settle down into a calm confident dog. Castration can interfere with this process, you might end up with permanent puppy behaviour or the dog could become fearful.
Also testosterone helps to maintain muscle mass, dogs tend to lose muscle when castrated and their body shape changes. Perhaps not that important for smaller dogs but relevant for larger breeds, such as labs as they're prone to joint problems and muscle supports joints.
If labs are castrated before they finish growing - which is around 2yrs - they can end up with longer and possibly weaker legs. Testosterone is needed to ensure closure of the growth plates at the right time.

Very interesting, I've not had a dog since I was 20. Today SILs entire chihuahua was here for a visit. It kept humping DPs new comedy Homer Simpson slippers (DCs bought them). The last time we saw him he was humping my arm (boak) he's 3 years old and she refuses to get him neutered as it might change him :S apparently he has a teddy to hump at home.

When I was growing up my neighbours collie used to try and hump us kids, that put me off male dogs.