Neutering my dog

lucylu19

Hi..
I've a 4 year old male bichon and I'm thinking of getting him neutered but unsure. I thought is was the responsible thing to do as a dog owner if you are not going to breed. But when I rang the vet yesterday to ask about it, she asked me why to do I want to get it done.
So now I'm not so sure.. our little man can be a divil.. he runs off as soon as he gets a chance and you spend ages chasing him, he also is tries to hump visitors and now our 1 year old male Lab. And I thought that this might stop if he got neutered.
He also barks at nothing some days... he is quite sensitive to noise and hates halloween and is always marking his territory.. some times in the house!!

I know neutering will not solve these issues.
I am just looking for advice on neutering, to help me make my decision.

Toulouse

Personally I do think it is the responsible thing to do if you are not going to breed your dog.

I think your vets attitude speaks volumes and if it were me I would be finding another practice. Any decent vet will know that there is a massive problem with over-breeding in Ireland and alot of that comes from 'accidental litters'

If he is getting out and away from you then I would advise getting him done as if he smells a female in heat he'll go like a shot and also if he falls into the wrong hands, given his breed he could very possibly end up on a puppy farm. It's not a huge operation for a male. Mine was back to normal the next day!

Neutering should help with the humping and the marking in the house. As for the yappiness, I think it's just the breed, I know a girl whose bichon is exactly the same when it comes to any kind of noise.

Here's a couple of links to help you make up your mind

http://www.paws.ie/kindestcut.html
http://www.caravetgroup.com/Neutering_Spaying_and_Castration/Default.389.html

toadfly

Yes I agree with the above poster, you should get him done.

I got a five year old Yorkie from the pound in February. He was going mad marking and humping EVERYTHING. We gave him a few weeks to settle in with us and then got him done. He slept on the way home (1 hr drive) and once he was home he was back to his normal self. Its much easier on males although my female was running around as normal the next day.

He never marks now, never humps and it didnt change his personality at all. All good!

lucylu19

thanks for your replies. Your comments are making me think that my original thoughts were right.
The Vet was not my normal Vet.. I'm going to ring them today. I just wanted to find out about the procedure and recovery etc so I rang another local vet yesterday. She started to suggest a behaviourist that they have in the vets instead but our Bichon is very set in his ways... he'll only do something if he feels like it.. very spoilt but I think that's their breed.

lorebringer

Neutering can curb a lot of problems, but will often not be the only method to deal with them. Because he is 4, he will have developed habits over the years that may have started with a compulsion due to hormones and has developed into something he just does out of habit. Some training will be needed to stop his habits but neutering will definitely help, and may even eliminate some of them (humping and marking come to mind).

Personally, I neuter everything that I don't intend to breed as young as is possible (generally, around the 6 month mark) and well done to you for deciding to neuter. There are way too many unwanted dogs in this country without there being (even more!) accidental litters. Plus, with the health benefits (elimination of testicular cancer and such) I don't see a reason not to neuter - apart from responsible breeding or showing. Neutering a male is quit minor in the scheme of things and they usually aren't aware anything has happened a day or two later - keeping him quiet until the stitches come out will be the biggest challenge! In my opinion, the positives of neutering far outweigh the negatives and I really don't see any reason to leave them intact.

If you are not happy with your vet and their attitude, changing practices may be a good option. Even ringing around to ask about prices and aftercare would not hurt and if you find a practice that you would be more confident doing the surgery there is no problem with you going with them instead of your current vet.

Toulouse

Well done you, you were right in your thinking.

As you probably didn't get a whole pile of information that you asked for from the vet I'll just give you the general gist.

The dog must fast the night before the op. You'll drop him into the surgery the next morning usually and you'll be able to pick him up that night.

When you pick him up a nurse should go through an aftercare sheet with you. Keep him quiet and warm as most likely he'll be still groggy from the effects of the anesthetic.

Give him a light bland meal when you get him home, I've tried chicken and rice or scrambled egg. Don't stuff him as he will have had nothing since the night before. They can also be quite thirsty after so make sure you have clean water available to him.

Only bring him out to the toilet on a lead and no strenuous exercise for the first 7 days or so.

Don't let him lick his stitches and if you can't keep your eye on him then make sure he has his elizabethan collar on him. Also lift him up and down off the furniture. Stitches come out after 10 days and that's that!

lucylu19

Just to let you know I've made up my mind.. so he's booked in on monday with my normal vet - who coincidently didn't ask why I was getting it done and cost €40 less than the other vet!
Just hope the little fella will be fine... feel a bit sorry for him.:(

toadfly

Thats great, he will be fine. You wont believe how normal he will be after. Literally my fellow slept all the way home and then was running around not a bother on him!

Let us know how he gets on.