When to neuter?

Helen1976

I'm just wondering what everyone's thoughts are on when is best to neuter a male dog? He's just gone 5 months now..should I get him done at 6 months or wait until a couple of months after that? Or does it matter?

Cherry Blossom

What breed is the dog, or how big is he?

Helen1976

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

What breed is the dog, or how big is he?

Golden Retriever

Cherry Blossom

Well there is evidence than neutering a male too early can stunt his growth and lead to higher risk of bone cancers later on in life, so I would wait until he was fully mature. For a dog that size this means 2 years old, however I'd only wait that long if you aren't having other problems from leaving him entire eg. marking in the house or you are in an area where there are a high number of unspayed bitches and it's causing him distress.

mymo

Depends on how you feel, some people prefer to leave larger dogs mature a little before neutering, let them finish growing a bit.
I assume he's not allowed roam, is in a well secured garden, no unspayed bitch around?
If so I would probably wait until around 12 months, unless there is any reason not to wait.
Speak to your vet about it if you are unsure.

AJ beat me to it!
Need to type faster.

Helen1976

Thanks to you both for replying. I definitely don't think I'll leave him until he's 2 although I know what you're saying about waiting until he's mature. We're in the country and the garden is secure, etc but you know what they say if there's a bitch in heat, he might jump the ditch to get to her!

Our other male dog is neutered.

The vet advised to neuter the Retriever on the dot of 6 months.

mymo

My vet usually advises that too, but knows me well and explained the pro's and cons and suggested I wait until my boy was mature.
Speak to the vet and explain any concerns, I personally would wait until he'd at least got the biggest part of his growth over.

Little Miss Lady

My Vet advised about the 18month mark for our family dog. Provided that he doesn't start running off and acting up in the meantime, there is no need for it any earlier.

suziwalsh

In my opinion once he has testicles that have dropped then they can be removered. In experience best behaviourally to do between 5-6 months old or wait until 10 months plus and not the middle months of 6-10 months.

Just my experiences with many retrievers. I see no advantage to wait until the dog is fully mature but then there are pros and cons to everything.

Also there are studies done to show that neutering young can infact increase growth - Bone length

i.e

(Implications of Early Neutering in the Dog & Cat
Preston Stubbs, DVM & Mark Bloomberg, DVM Seminars in Vet Med & Surgery, Small Animal, Volume 10, No 1 Feb 1995 Dept of Small Animal Clin Sci, Univ of Florida )

The Sweeper

adrenalinjunkie wrote: »

Well there is evidence than neutering a male too early can stunt his growth

It's actually the opposite.

The evidence points out that early neutered dogs become taller and more gangly than late neutered dogs.

Dogs get a wash of hormones in puberty that trigger various bodily changes. One of those changes is the gradual fusing of the growth plates on the long bones. Dogs that are neutered pre-puberty don't get the same hormonal wash, and so their long bones continue growing for longer and you get a taller dog. That in itself can be a problem in giant breeds.