To neuter a male dog or not?

[Indecisiveismymiddlename]

I have a male dog who is purely a family pet (ie not shown or stud).

I don't know whether to neuter him or not. Currently he has no signs of aggression or fear, or wandering, or interest in girls.

I read that having them neutered can prevent some cancers and illness, but then read having them neutered can lead to higher risk of cancer and illness.

It can change coat and personality, it may not change either.

Please give me case for or against neutering and at what age. Pre adolescent, after adolescence, when older?

Eric hasn't been neutered,we thought about it when he was small and humping a cushion but throwing the cushion away stopped the humping and he's never humped since. Nowadays there is nothing about him that I'd want to change by getting him neutered, he's friendly with all dogs and people,he doesn't roam or even try to roam and whilst he seems to like bitches in general he never tries it on with them so it just seems unnecessary to me. He will stay intact unless he has a health issue that makes it necessary.

I would advise you to speak to your vet OP. If you're really interested in the pros and cons ask them if they could direct you to peer reviewed studies, many of which are only available in the veterinary medical publications. They should be happy to print them off for you to do your own research. Relying on a few anecdotal stories on here is not something I'd base that decision on.

I personally think whether you neuter or not (from everything I have read and been told by vets and breeders) that what is import is too wait until they are mature, so fully grown (for bone health ) and mentally mature.
Ours is un neutered ( used occasionally at stud - rare breed) but even if he wasn't I don't think I would automatically neuter a male dog. The only thing that is a pain is that I could never have a female dog - unless I got a fully grown rescue , already neutered- he is a complete pain in the Arse around a bitch in season......

We had our lab done at a very senior 12years due to cancer. He's a pedigree and in early days we'd considered breeding and then later as there were no humping/agression/recall problems it did not seem necessary. There were no changer to temprement pist neutering but he has always been laid back. We will get current puppy, lab x cocker done earlier as he is already boss of older dog but vet suggested 10 -12+ months vs earlier for quicker maturing dogs.

It so depends on the dog. Those who trumpet about the negative effects of neutering clearly did not have a sex-mad dog.

As I previously posted, I did read all the advice about not neutering, and was firmly in the "not for my dog" camp. But then reality kicked in and he had to be frogmarched into the vet's pronto. For dog it did stop - immediately - all his sexual behaviours. They may have been natural behaviours, but he is a family pet. I did feel guilty as I felt I had prevented him following his true vocation as a champion stud dog...

Anyway, as with dog and indeed children's behaviour, you can't preach until you've experienced something. My dog was housetrained in two days. After one wee on the floor on his first day here he has never had another accident. Not once. But I wouldn't dream of pontificating that every dog is like that. They are all individuals.

I wouldn't speak to the vet. They always just tell you to do it. I have male and female dogs. Neutering a female greatly reduces cancer risks. I don't see any reason to neuter a male unless something causes a problem. I recently neutered my 4 yr old because a local lady walks her bitches in season. It has ruined the coats of the male and female. (spaniels) I have a young male that I will avoid neutering if I can. I take a "if it ain't broke don't fix it" approach to male dogs. Just as others have said don't do it until he has reached full maturity if you do decide to.

My neutered dog has a lovely coat. He could be in a Silvikrin advert.

We didn't bother neutering our cocker until he began to show behavioural problems when I was pregnant, bizarrely enough. He became sullen, disobedient and snappy with me. The general advice was to get him done so we did. He was three. He instantly went back to his lovely self but for the rest of his life we struggled to keep his weight down, his lovely glossy coat was never the same and he peed for England. God he was a lovely dog though. Miss him all the time.

We currently have a year old lab and I wouldn't consider it yet. He's not old enough and so far we don't have any reason to put him through it. We'll have to see what he's like when he's matured.

Like rhoda I agonised over the decision to neuter my dog but the obsessive humping, territorial marking and most importantly the aggression towards him from other male dogs stopped immediately

I know that people who are anti-neutering frequently say that humping etc aren't sexual behaviours but in my dog's case I find it hard to believe there was anything other than a hormonal cause.

I have friends whose male dogs aren't sex fiends who have happily been left entire because they've never caused problems

Maybe we could have worked on training out the humping and marking, but it would have been tricky with the DC and their friends around but I can't see how else I could have stopped him from being a target for other dogs

Apart from the unwanted behaviours which stopped immediately there have been no other changes - he's the lovely, gentle, playful dog he was before but still with loads of energy and va-voom. His coat is glossy, he's not put on an ounce of weight and he's supremely athletic

In an ideal world I wouldn't have had him neutered but I am really glad I did

I have been back and forward over having my golden retriever neutered.
I was sure I'd have him done but then I saw the research which said to wait till at least 18 months and when he was 18 months I had a very refluxy newborn and neutering was the last thing on my mind.

He's 4 now and still entire. He does mark on walks (a lot) and is a bit over confident (has to be kept on lead as he loves other dogs and people). But he doesn't hump and takes no notice when the neighbours dog is in heat (despite all the other males gathering).

So at the moment he's staying entire because I can't think of a good reason to neuter.

There are only 2 guarantees with neutering. You are guaranteed not to get an unwanted pregnancy, and you are guaranteed not to get testicular cancer or infections.

Everything else is hit and miss. You can actually get male dogs an injection to temporarily sterilise them, I believe it lasts a few months. Some very dog savvy friends of mine say this often gives and idea of what effect actual neutering may have. Not always though.

Also bare in mind that behaviours become learned in dogs. Even if you could be guaranteed that neutering would cure X behaviour, chances are some training would be need to overcome habits.

Does that make sense? I have baby brain and not so sure!

This thread has given me a lot of food for thought.

We have a 9 week old cocker. Previously we had a golden retriever - sadly had to be pts at 11. Retriever was castrated at approx 9 months iirc. This was on advice of vet...during the op they discovered an undescended testicle which had not previously been picked up.

I always had a theory that our retriever may have had a hormonal imbalance. Reasons such as he NEVER cocked his leg, and his urine stained the grass - something several people told me is a female dog issue.(?) Never tried to hump female dogs - ever. Did try it on with most males. This is post-castration btw. Other over-fussy behaviours, way beyond retriever friendliness, difficult to describe you had to be there, iyswim.

DH used to say its just his personality, I am now wondering if it was more to do with (early) castration. Apparently our cocker has an undescended testicle - unlike retriever, this was picked up at his first jab so vet will monitor it. Coincidentally, at the grand old age of 9 weeks, he was humping my friends leg last night...she has a female dog, which I assume is the reason !

My vet has told me to have my dog neutered at 6 months (next week) but reading this I'm having doubts. He's a small (6kg) mixed breed, supposedly chihuahua x shih tzu but there's terrier in there.

He cocks his leg every few metres and marks in my mam and sisters house who both have dogs. He humps everything - legs, toys, other dogs especially when he's excited. He's not aggressive and is generally very well behaved but this last couple of days he has decided to ignore me! As he's a small breed do I need to wait and go against my vets advice?

Any dog wee will stain the grass. It's a high concentration of a nitrogen, like pouring a cup of bleach on the grass. But bitches do tend to deposit it in one place more, whereas dogs tend to spray it about.

For my friends Tibetian Terrier it was absolutely the right thing to do, I walk him at least 3 times a week with my own dog (bitch at the time unspayed (we were waiting on first season and her being mature), even when she was nowhere near season he wouldn't leave her alone she was getting dressed with his attention, now they are both done they are bavk to the best of friends.

He would run away and not be called back which had stopped too.

He's much happier now I think.

My first Labrador was 2 years old before I had him neutered - following the advice of people on a public forum. He is still a wanderer and humps everything in sight. My second Labrador was neutered at 9 months. He doesn't wander, doesn't hump and his previous growly nature has disappeared. My second dog is much more even tempered and easier to handle than the first. I wish I had listened to the vet and not taken on board advise from internet strangers with my first.