Am I doing right thing getting my dog neutered?

[meandmygirl1]

That's it really. He's booked in on Thursday and I am having a wobble. He cheerfully humps everything and the dog walker has said he won't take a telling and docile dogs are getting sick of his behaviour. He's a 14 month lab and I love him dearly. I don't want his daft personality to change.

I have had all my dogs neutered. Never changed their personalities dramatically at all. Less humping of furniture and a bit less hyper is about it. Defo recommend.

I don’t know about dogs but I imagine if it is hindering his ability to make friends with other dogs then I would do it. He’s going to get much more out of life having little doggy pals to play with. As for personality, I’ve only ever had cats and none of them have ever lost their cheek or daftness after he snip.

Mine didn’t change personality, he just stopped bonking everything. Would I do it again, I don’t know.
Our other dogs were not neutered and had no joint issues, I had him fixed quite young though. At least yours is a bit older.

Neutering won’t stop humping. I wouldn’t neuter a large dog that early.

It's the right thing and it won't change who he is. Youre not doing it ridiculously early either. He'll be grand.

Unless your dog has extreme behavioural issues (aggression, reactivity or nervousness) or you plan on showing or breeding him then you 100% get him snipped.

But it won’t stop the humping and 14 months is pretty young for a big breed.

We didn’t. And I’m still very pleased we didn’t. He matured, stopped humping and is a confident boy around other dogs. The studies show that aggression can increase when neutering. And in large dogs early neutering can lead to joint issues in later life.

The only issue is that neutered males of about his size can take against him. They can be aggressive towards him. I’m not going to chop off his balls because other owners did and ended up with male-aggressive dogs.

Do some reading if you’re having second thoughts.

I wouldn’t at this age, I have a golden retriever and we tried chemical castration first, I think we did 3 cycles then went for full castration last December, he was 3 he’s now 4, def better in terms of humping etc

There is an implant dogs can get, lasts 6 months, but it's an ideal way to judge how his temperament may change with neutering.

It will not stop the behaviour you have stated.

He is too young to neuter.

Many health benefits of keeping a dog entire.

Many dogs show completely different reactions to the implant and then full castration.

You could chemically castrate him and see. That way it's not permanent and you will get an idea of any changes

From a quick google, the ideal range for neutering a Labrador depends on which site you look at. I found studies saying 1-2 years, some sites say 9-15 months, some say after 18 months. This appears to vary across vet sites, Labrador specialist sites, and just in general. These sites all discuss potential cancer risks, joint risks, etc.

His personality is going to change with time/age anyway. If you're worried this will change it, you'll see these age-related changes and assume that's why. Or the inverse could happen.

If you're not ready, you're not ready. I personally prefer to spay my girls before their first season as they're little dogs and it decreases their cancer risks. The one I didn't spay until after her first season passed last New Years at 13. Her sister (different litter) will be turning 14 next May. So I could decide that waiting for her first season was detrimental OR more likely, just happens that way sometimes.

It's really not recommended to neuter dogs anymore, if you Google research papers. It can cause a lot of issues..

We did it at around 16 months, Golden retriever.
Nobody wanted to play with him at daycare and he was a pest around any of DDs friends who were on their period.
Definitely the right decision for us all

Thank you everyone. On balance it looks like I am making the right decision for him.

I had my dog neutered 6 months ago at 2yo and he hasn't humped a thing since. It was a fairly well established habit and he humped anything that stood still prior to neutering! It's not changed his personality at all, although he's a bit more timid.

We nearly didn’t get our lab retriever castrated but did in the end at around 18 months. Every few months he would get restless, pace the floor, not settle, keep
going out to our gate and whine even when he’d been out for a long walk, the last time he did it he even went off his food which he hadn’t done before or since. We put it down to him catching the scent of a bitch on heat and it got him quite distressed he couldn’t get to her. We got him neutered and it stopped just like that. I spoke to someone who had experienced the same with their dog. We did get our 2nd dog neutered at around 2 years old although he never went through what our first dog did.
But personality wise I wouldn’t say it was detrimental to either of them or really changed them. Our first dog will still sometimes try and hump our younger dog during play and he would do it to my friends dog too whereas my younger dog never has been a humper, even as a puppy. You’ll probably find your dog will still hump but at least hopefully not as much but I don’t think he’ll change personality

14 months is not too young for a lab.

@Prettydisgustingactually at that age a lab isn’t fully grown. They need the hormones to develop. I would wait until at least 2 personally. But it still wouldn’t help humping.

My bitch was spayed at 2 over the summer (she is a small breed) after two seasons and two phantoms and it has in no way affected her personality. She is still lively and happy and a lot more level in her behaviour in a good way. We don't experience the ups and downs we did in her confidence which was hindering her progress on things like learning to be alone and her interractions with other dogs.

I would say 14 months is a bit young for a male lab. I would leave it a bit. Humping isn't usually sexual in nature - it can have many different causes and often in young dogs it is over arousal.

I would suggest trying the implant first.

It can be for large dogs.

The growth plates on the bones need to be sealed before neutering. If you do it whilst they are still open, you are looking at joint issues later in life... hormones instigate this.

I would talk to your vet rather than going on your dog walker's advice. We had our lab neutered early at 1yo due to humping and general bad behaviour.... it didn't change anything. He only calmed down with training and time.

Ours immediately stopped humping!

I had mine neutered but he was a bit older at 3yo, it didn't change his personality other than make him calmer around other dogs.

It also had the added bonus that he didn't completely lose the plot if he smelt a bitch in heat. Previously he'd get very agitated and unsettled for ages if he smelt one on a walk.

The only time he reacts now is with unneutered male dogs.

My dd works with dogs and said the unneutered boys are the ones that cause the most issues as other dogs don't tend to like them.