When did you get your male dog neutered?

[Dieu]

Evening all :) I have a 6 month old Shih Tzu pup. He was having some lovely puppy play with a female dog we met at the park this evening (they were both off lead as it was dark and freezing, so no-one else around). He is very much still in the puppy stage, with lots of running around and leaping about. He then started to hump her (my baby!!), but thankfully the owner wasn't concerned or annoyed, as her dog had been spayed. It got me thinking about how I should probably keep him on the lead at all times, and that I should start thinking about getting him neutered in due course. He hasn't done any humping at home, this was a first! Any advice? Thanks as always.

Mine was done at about 10 months ,he's a patterdale x and weighs about 13-14kg ( adult weight) , he was humping everything in sight from about 6/7 months .

I've got a pure patterdale we got him done at about 6 months. He was jumping everything and was mad as a box of frogs. He's still crackers just no humping!

Just to say, when do you get your dog done, I'd recommend contacting your local dogs home, I'm from Manchester and they do neutering for about a 1/3 of the price of a vets, suppose they don't want any accidental pups coming their way!!

Ours was 6 months old, the vet said they were small but they were there and she could take them off.

He doesn't lift his leg to pee which can be a side effect of early castration but I can deal with that, saves the embarrassment of him pissing on someones leg

I got my chihuahua cross jrt done at 10 months old.
Most vets will neuter from 6 months but after doing some research and speaking with my vet I decided to wait til he was 10 months old before getting him done.
Also you could ask your vet about any neutering schemes as I got my dogs neutering subsidised at my vets practice through the dogs trust it only cost me £35.

Our pup came to us at eight weeks already neutered (rescue policy). He still humped enthusiastically at around about that age! Not particularly female dogs, and not always the right way around but still fairly embarrassing. Female dogs (spayed and unspayed) quite often hump other dogs too.

Generally distraction is the best approach with dogs, using a treat or other reward.

We had our black Labrador booked in for as soon as he turned six months! DH had two young children who visited ours regularly and we didn't want the dog to become aggressive or display dominating behaviours, so we nipped it in the bud before it could even start. It's probably a good idea to do it this way, as these behaviours can continue even once they've had the snip as it becomes habitual.

Ours was done at coming up to ten months - he's not a big breed and the vet said his growth plates were pretty much fused by then. He was marking everywhere and humping everything in sight plus he was getting picked on a lot by other males. The humping and marking stopped immediately as did the bullying from other dogs - we live in a very densely 'doggy' area so he needs to get on with all sorts.

Ironically he now (at 2) hates other dogs humping him - it's the only thing he'll snap at another dog for..

My lab is booked in for this week. He is 4. He has never tried to dominate anything because dogs don't.

Ideally you want them to have finished growing (that's a different age for different breeds) because there's evidence emerging that early neutering causes joint problems, especially in large breed dogs and that the loss of testosterone can increase the likelihood of fear based aggression issues, so you want to wait for his growth plates to fuse and to have a pretty good idea that your dog isn't going to be fearful.

My DDog is almost 3, still entire and no problem. He went through a phase of humping cushions when he was 9-12 months (teenage!) and was interested when his best friend had her first season, so he is not sexless!
The dog trainer recommended that he was not neutered as he is a very gentle dog and neutering might change his personality. My Vet also considered it would be a mistake to neuter him for several reasons but if he becomes a target to other male dogs we might have to rethink.
He will not be used as a stud dog!

Six months is far too young to neuter a large breed like a lab. I got asked the question at the vets the other day. I took my nine month old lab in for a check up and the vet nurse asked me if I would consider having him neutered. I said not really, as there seems to be more suggestion these days that it's actually more detrimental to their long term health than not. She immediately said that I should reconsider as testicular cancer is extremely common in dogs. Well, sorry, but I've done a lot of reading on it and that's an old fashioned opinion. I think I'll ask around a few different vets when he's old enough.

Testicular cancer is also easy to detect and get rid of. I'm not going to suggest my husband has his nuts chopped off 'just in case', just that he checks them regularly.

It should be part of an intact dog's regular health check routines.

Humping is not a sexual act by young dogs and they do not need to be castrated because of it.

Humping is due to emotion so he could have been having fun with the other dog and this makes him hump. Female puppies hump as much as boy puppies.

I would never castrate at 6 months (unless there was a real medic reason - which are rare).

Thanks everyone

I won't get him neutered at this early age, but will keep him on the leash. He didn't used to hump at all when he was a bit younger, even in times of great excitement, so I'm not convinced it isn't sexual ... especially as he started leg cocking this week! Actually, tell a lie, I did catch him humping his cuddly toy a while back, but I thought that was a dominance thing?

Thanks again everyone for your replies - some interesting food for thought.

Is he still peeing in the house Dieu? I remember you saying from before.

Nope not dominance and not sexual.

why dogs hump

Ms, it is getting better, thanks for asking. Funnily enough, improvement has coincided with him starting to cock his leg outdoors. He now seems a bit more reluctant to pee inside. Will still happily poo anywhere though!

Thanks Cheerful, I found the article very interesting.