What Shall I Do?

[jilly]

Ronnie is 7mths now, and ive been thinking about 'having him done'...my OT see's no point in having it done.....say's im cruel, and how could i etc etc (think it's a man thing ha ha )We are not going to breed from him & when we get another cocker it will be a boy also. when i take him for walks his has started 'marking his scent' every couple of mins.. really dont know whats best to do..any advice would be appreciated...  

[Dog Mad]

I would really get him done now.  A friend of mine has a 15 year old collie who has recently had to be castrated as he got cancer.  It is much easier to prevent these types of cancer by having your dog done now than to expect a 15 yr old dog to go through it.

If you are planning on having another dog it will also help as there won't be as many hormones flying about, you know what men are like!  

[Sheryl]

Not sure (other more informed people here may say if this is right or wrong) but does castration not stop dogs wandering off to look for bitches in season?      

[Curtisio]

I started a similar string not long ago 'Testicles'. We were not thinking of having it done, and now we have definatley decided not to unless a retained testicle health issue occurs. There seemed to be a new theory that castration can increase the risk on prostate later in life. But do plenty of research before you decide.

[taniac]

Here's the interesting posting and article regarding castration from the 'Testicles' discussion topic: Castration in dogs

[Bellbellsmum]

I personally would only have him done if he needs calming down.  I had one of my dogs done because he was hyper and really needed calming down.  It was a last resort for us. but we left it until he was 2 years old and to be fair it made no difference.  

My friend had her king charles done for the same reason and he is now a wonderful family pet. hes 4 now and was 10 months when he was done.

 

[taniac]

Also forgot to say, I have 2 boys both uncastrated, one who is 2 and one 8 months.  My younger dog hasn't started scent marking yet, but I found that when Neo started to do this, then this was when he became properly toilet trained and the occassional accidents stopped.

I don't let Neo stop and scent mark everything when I have him on lead, he's only allowed to do it when I let him off for his free running.  I don't find the scent marking on it's own reason enough to have him castrated.

Having 2 uncastrated males in the house may cause issues, I left an 18 month gap before getting another dog to help with any dominance issues.  At this point in time things are fine.  If we start to get fighting I will then review the situation.  My eldest dog is very soft and we've not had any behavioural problems associated with him being intact.

[jilly]

Thank you for all your replys