To Neuter or not ?

[SkyeandOllie]

Ollie will remain entire,  we have no issues with him humping,  agression etc.  Jess on the other hand is being spayed in april,  More health benefits for a girl and less worry/hastle

[lindseyp]

Just my opinion Charlene & not questioning anyones choice at having their dog neutered but he still a little young if their thinking of having it done in the near future     Personally I would allow the dog to mature naturally before cutting of his hormones & wait to see if any of the concerns they have actually develop     Some vets are far too quick to lop em off or whip them out but those hormones are there for a reason & not just for sexual maturity IMO.
If for medical reasons or he does present with the concerns you have, then of course reevaluate then but it does seem quite extreme to undergo the OP so young 'just in case' he humps etc 
Not an easy decision is it & there's no going back once it's done - that's why I feel it needs very careful consideration 

PS would love to see pics of the little man & see how he's grown 

[c19unn]

They have only ever had bitches (King Charles's) and so always got the bitches Spayed however this is their first Male and their are going by the vets recommendation (6 months) so he will be done in like 2 weeks or something - I agree that i thought it was really young and said id have waited til he was at least a year but i have only owned dog for 7 month so what do i know in their eyes - have advised them of forum advice and i know that you had mentioned that before lindsey when the vet advised i should get them both neutered. But they have decided to go with vets advice   Its their choice and their dog so i cant say anything .....

With Diesel i was not going to neuter him as per prev post dont fix whats not broken - Apart from with Riley he has never shown any aggression at all towards any dog   but all other dogs he has met has been either in their enviroment or outside on walks - Riley was the first dog brought into the house and was a very strong willed little soul.
I just wondered if there was any health benefits as i have always said i wouldnt neuter but then wondered if there was any health benefits that i might be depriving him of if i didnt
But now i think ill defo just leave him ! If he had retained testicles or anything like that i would just go ahead when he was at least a year or that but as he has no issues and i guess like someone said  .... black taz it was - it may have a negative affect on him - and i am not risking that and i am also not sure what it was that caused his aggreassion - although i do believe that it was the fact that abnother dog was in his home as he has never had another dog in the enviroment but its safer for me not to take the risk

Thanks for all the advice He shall be staying entire then

[LurcherGirl]

Here is a good article about the pros and cons: http://www.medhelp.org/user_journals/show/144600/EVIDENCE-BASED-APPROACH-TO-NEUTER-SURGERY-AND-INTRODUCTION-TO-EVIDENCE-BASED-MEDICAL-PRACTICE

My American cocker was neutered at 14 months old. I wish I had him done earlier as his aggression towards other dogs started at around 8 months old. Although it got better after being neutered (and being put on thyroid medication), some of the learnt behaviour remains.

Before he was neutered, he started off by humping me, then eventually other people, then female dogs and eventually every dog he met and would let him. When he was neutered, this stopped completely - and I am the only one left that gets humped once in a while when he is over-excited.   So yes, that can work really well in that case and will probably with most dogs if there is a problem in that respect.

Jesse's recall also started going out of the window from around 8 months old despite a lot of training. Once neutered, he recalled just fine again almost overnight.  

I know of several dogs in my classes that were distracted by everything going on around them before being neutered, once done they have no problem focusing on a task at hand.

So yes, there can be quite significant behavioural improvements, but that's by no means a guarantee and therefore shouldn't be the only reason to have it done, though it can be a contributory reason.

In some rare cases, aggression can be increased in more insecure dogs so if a dog is very nervous as it can have adverse behavioural effects. It is also important to remember that aggression can sometimes be temporarily increased after neutering due to the sharp drop in hormones, but if handled correctly, they usually return to normal behaviour after a time.

All my dogs are neutered regardless whether they are male or female, rescue or not. With my dogs I haven't seen any adverse effects in any of mine (5 so far) and I haven't so far seen any adverse effects with early neutering either (before maturity: Skye was neutered at 5 months, Flash - my saluki - at around 6 months and my lurcher Dylan at around 1 year).  

My American cocker's coat probably got thicker, but it is by no means unmanageable, though it probably lost some of its shine on his shorter back coat. Skye is 7 months post spay and so far, her coat is still as glossy and smooth as ever, hopefully it'll stay that way.  

[Uli]

I understand and respect that people may have different opinions whether to have their dogs neutered or not. Paula is my fifth ECS bitch already, I got my first one in 1975 and have always stuck to this wonderful breed. None of my dogs has ever been spayed. Paula is 3 years old, last week I found a trace of pus in her hair. Since she had her last season in December it was very likely to be a pyometra, so we went to the vet the next morning, ready to have Paula spayed if necessary. After a thorough examination and an ultrasound it turned out to be a vaginitis. Paula got an AB injection and is on tablets for 10 days, then we' ll have another ultrasound. I would only have my dogs neutered if there was a medical reason for it. I am German and live in Essen, a city with a population of 584.000 people. We only use a lead perhaps once a week. Even when Paula is in season she will follow me within a range of a metre. We have never experienced any problems with hypersexual dogs. Maybe we're just very lucky...