Does this mean he is ready for the snip?

[mckenzie]

Our gorgeous puppy is nearly 6 months old, he's been lifting his leg to wee for the last few weeks and is regularly humping his pillow .

Are these signs that we need to take him to the vets?

TIA

The breeder we got our dog from said that ideally you shouldn't have them done until they are 2 years old (!) but certainly not until they are fully grown, because interfering with their hormones can cause problems with their growth and development.

The humping can also be a behavioural thing rather than a hormonal thing and neutering may not make any difference.

www.2ndchance.info/cruciatelongtermneuter.htm

There is not a great deal of evidence supporting routine castration of dogs.

far too young.

Eric was a devil for humping his cushion in fact if you said "Hat" he'd hump to order I dumped the cushion and he's not humped since and he's 15 months old now. Try removing the cushion and see how you go.

Thanks for the replies.
I'm really happy to wait. He's a tibetan terrier so medium size.

Leave it for a bit, it can interfere with growth otherwise.

Try and distract him from the humping. I can't imagine cocking a leg has anything to do with being ready to be castrated. My dog still doesn't cock his leg and he is 3.

Maybe I dreamt it but I thought I was told that cocking the leg is a sign that he's reaching certain milestones development wise.

There are pros and cons for neutering and believe me spend an hour reading them and you'll be left with your head spinning.

I have a Scottish terrier, not castrated yet. It's a source of much discussion in our house with me leaning toward and dh leaning against. He's 18 months, doesn't hump, has no behavioural issues and is a lovely little dog. We had the discussion with the vet who gave us the usual health reasons but we still just can't reach a decision.
If i'm honest my only reason for wanting him done is to make him less of a target for theft.