Reluctant to castrate.......but?

[Rollo58]

Hi everyone,
Our chocolate roan with tan boy Archie is just 14 months old and entire.
Our breeder is against castration for health reasons and the fact the coat will become woolly and probably need clipping losing his lovely coloured coat.We were Advised to give him 12 months to see how he gets on.
The problem we have is two-fold.
Hi recall is shocking on the basis that he sniffs crazily and wants to playfully jump all over any dog or person he meets to the point of racing over to someone in the extreme distance.He isn’t getting the excercise off the lead he needs for this reason for fear of his safety.

The really major concern is that we have a neighbours bitch on heat and our poor lad has been demented for the last 3 days whining,panting pacing around the house wanting out constantly even after a long walk and clearly distressed.
I know the subject of castration is subjective and from what I’ve researched doesn’t change personality but it’s worrying and upsetting having to see him frustrated.
Are we being selfish putting him through this.?
Would he be less excitable if done.?
We are worried if he smells any bitch in season when out that will be him gone.
Is he too old at 14 months to consider the op?
I’ve read some vets advise not to castrate unless for a health related reason and others advise to do so because of prostate and other problems down the line.

Really confused and just want the best for our lovely boy.

Sorry for long post,thanks in advance.

[Mari]

He is still young, so recall can get better. Keep training and when his head is more mature he should get better at it 

I live in a country where castration is only done if there is a problem. So most dogs are intact here without any problems.

If a dog has issues and castration is considered, we usually do a trial with chemical castration first to see how it affects behaviour. This is a good idea because it is not permanent.

Some insecure dogs can get more behavioural problems with less testosterone, so we only consider castration in confident dogs. Unless there is a medical reason.

He is not too old for the surgery. But he is young enough that all this stressing and recall problems could get better when he matures.

I'm not against or for castration. It's just good to know there are options 

If you feel he does not get enough time off lead you can still tire him out with working his brain more. Nosework, obedience, party tricks, balancing on things in nature etc. Fun activities to be had with a long line 

Oh, and you are not selfish either way. There is no perfect answer. This is a case by case type of decision. So when your goal is to do what's best for your dog, you are doing it right by default in this type of choice 

[bizzylizzy]

I  absolutely agree with Mari. There was another thread on this just last week, so maybe have a look on there as well as quite a few of us commented there.

http://www.cockersonline.co.uk/discuss/index.php?topic=120712.0

Archie is still young and as long as you keep the training up, I‘m sure you can improve the recall but do think long and hard about castration unless there really is a pressing health issue. I still fret over whether my decision was justified but ofcourse its too late now.......
I‘m not sure where you stand on homeopathy or other alternative medicines, (I‘m  always a bit careful about suggesting them here  ) but there are treatments/globuli available to help dogs while bitches are on heat, which might interest you. 

[Rollo58]

Thank you Mari and bizzylizzy for your positive and encouraging replies.
It really is appreciated.