To neuter or not to neuter

luckyfrank

First off let me say i have always being anti neutering, we hear all the time about letting pet animals being allowed to be as natural as they can be and i agree with that, neutering doesnt happen naturally, my 5 month husky pup last week or so has become sexualy active, one time he tried to dry hump me and i thought feck this, i want to give him longer and hope that this is just puberty for him what do you guys think, nueter is very very last option

snollup

Personally I would think that unless you plan on breeding you should get him neutered. It really does not have any negative effects on them, well mine at least.

luckyfrank

snollup wrote: »

Personally I would think that unless you plan on breeding you should get him neutered. It really does not have any negative effects on them, well mine at least.

just reading the wiki on neutering doesnt make one feel great, for females maybe but males seem to have alot of side affects

Sigma Force

Wiki isn't the most reliable and that's complete rubbish as well no offence. Most dogs are groggy and a little sore but that's it and only for a day or two. They are given a long acting pain killer and if owners are worried they can get another pain killer at the vets the following day either by injection or the vet might give the owner a pain killer to give the animal at home when the long acting one has worn off.

Neutering males is a very simple and quick operation. Any operation even teeth cleaning there's a risk just like with humans but it's not a big risk. Animals are spaye/neutered all the time with no problems. Some dogs take a day or two longer to recover esp. if a dog is a bit of a drama queen.

But compared to us humans who would take weeks it only takes them days and in fact most feel so well on the third day or so you have to work at keeping them quiet for a few more days until the stitches are out.

There are a lot of things we have our pets do that's not natural like confining them to gardens, putting collars on them, teaching them tricks, feeding them regular meals in a bowl..neutering is the responsible thing to do and I bet once he starts peeing up against the walls in the house you'll have a change of heart lol.

If worried or need more info have a wee chat to your vet and they can explain the whole procedure to you. It's really not a big deal to the dog they don't feel any different afterwards only a bit sulky coz they generally don't like going to the vets or being left. Imo it certainly doesn't change their personality. Some people think it does because they have their dog neutered around the age when they start becoming 'teenagers' and a bit more bolshy.

tk123

Neutering isn't a guaranteed 'fix' for humping so if this is the only reason you maybe need to do some more thinking. A few neutered dogs in the group in our park are non-stop humpers :rolleyes: Also at 5 months you still have a few months to go before you should get him neutered if you decide that's what you want to do - some vets say 6 months is the right time but neutering this early in larger breed dogs can cause bone/joint problems.

toadfly

I have had my three done and wouldnt have it any other way. Its much harder on the females, they were a lot better the next morning but when I got my male done he was running around the same evening was hard keeping him quiet. Its very routine and they are fine within a few days. Cant exercise them for about 2 weeks until they heal and I find that the worst part trying to keep them entertained and not destroying the house.

luckyfrank

tk123 wrote: »

Neutering isn't a guaranteed 'fix' for humping so if this is the only reason you maybe need to do some more thinking. A few neutered dogs in the group in our park are non-stop humpers :rolleyes: Also at 5 months you still have a few months to go before you should get him neutered if you decide that's what you want to do - some vets say 6 months is the right time but neutering this early in larger breed dogs can cause bone/joint problems.

yeah its just the humping, are you saying neutring isnt related to humping
?

mickmcl09

I started a thread similar to this a few months back around last September. Lots of posts in favour and not in favour. My Sammie had got out (but not since) and I was looking for an opinion. At the time I decided to hold off on making a decision on it on the condition that he didn't get out again.

The humping thing, they all try it out. I found that gently but firmly you 'hand off' the dog from your leg with the instruction 'off', I use the same instruction if they want to jump up on me and it's not invited. They were humping each other as well for a while, same instruction used and they've stopped doing it.

To neuter or not to neuter arguments - IMO they cancel each other out.
For me it boiled down to whether or not I could keep him contained within our own property.

Don't neuter simply because right now you think you won't want to breed him, you might change your mind in 4 years time, who knows.

I'd only consider neutering if I felt there was a strong chance he'd get out to the neighbours prize pug or any other girly dog for that matter (without permission )

**Vai**

The humping is most likely your pup dominating you. Hes not an idiot, he can see that you arent a female dog. Neutering may or may not stop that but you should always neuter your animals anyway. If you want husky pups in the future there are plenty available in pounds around the country. And please dont believe everything you read on wiki about the subject. Ask a vet, any good vet will tell you the pros and cons.

Discodog

**Vai** wrote: »

Ask a vet, any good vet will tell you the pros and cons.

Actually most of them don't. I hate these neutering threads because I understand the whole ethos & Ireland would be a far better place if every unwanted puppy wasn't born. But I have researched neutering & I feel that I have a duty to post my genuine opinion rather than what my conscience says I should post.

Vets are incredibly one sided on this issue & it is understandable because no one wants to dilute the message that neutering is best. They will explain that neutering reduces the risk of testicular cancer (logical as they are removed) but not tell you that it might, the jury is out, increase the risk of other cancers that are harder to detect & potentially more dangerous.

Neutering is often suggested as cure all for a lot of behaviours. But we need to bear in mind that Vets are not behaviourists or trainers. I have known cases where the dog has been neutered to stop humping & the behaviour continues.

So if it were my dog I wouldn't neuter but I could be 100% certain that my dog will never become a father. Can you ? Also if I were going to neuter it wouldn't be until the dog was 18 months old. But I don't agree with your "keeping things natural view" in fact this is the excuse given by a lot of people who don't neuter & let their dogs roam.

None of the above applies to females as pretty much all the evidence/research supports neutering at 6 months.

Wibbs

One question on this point? If neutering males is a mostly contraceptive exercise as seems to be the main push of this current meme why isn't canine vasectomy not on the table? If we're working the first do no harm principle a vasectomy is a lot less invasive than castration no matter how you look at it.

On the vet knows best front? Yes of course they're incredibly well trained professionals but they have their memes too. Try debating the value of yearly and multiple viral vaccination protocols with one and see how far you get. Few enough even see what the issue is. The average person will live to near 80 and get maybe ten vaccinations in their whole lifetime, yet the average dog who lives to 10 gets 4 or 5 a year? Makes no real scientific sense, but vets plug into it. As do the insurance companies who insist upon it. Quite a number of vets also push dog food brands in their clinics. Some of which are pretty crap(and I'm no pure RAW food hipster). So yes vet knows a lot, but not always whats best over time, so research and trust your own counsel more than you may.

Discodog

Wibbs wrote: »

One question on this point? If neutering males is a mostly contraceptive exercise as seems to be the main push of this current meme why isn't canine vasectomy not on the table? If we're working the first do no harm principle a vasectomy is a lot less invasive than castration no matter how you look at it.

I believe that Canine vasectomy & ovariectomy, rather than hysterectomy will become the norm in years to come. The Veterinary profession are pretty outdated because the Vet schools teach standard practice & procedures. So it can take a long time for any new procedure to get accepted & taught. Vets don't get the research time so, once in practice, they spend most of their time on routine procedures.

I also suspect that Vets castrate to "cure" humping, dog to dog aggression, straying etc. All issues that may be behavioural rather than hormonal. My own Vet is pretty open minded but even she assumed that I was going to neuter my youngster. She was surprised when I said that I wasn't planning to & warned me that "he will start humping" - he hasn't yet. She also joked that men never want to neuter male dogs !

Keyhole vasectomy & ovariectomy would be quick simple procedures with no stitches & fast recovery times. The only downside is the cost of equipment. The vasectomy is gaining popularity in the States but it is still pretty unusual.

http://www.petmd.com/blogs/fullyvetted/2010/april/ligations_vasectomies

Wibbs

Discodog wrote: »

She also joked that men never want to neuter male dogs !

And I notice that some of the ladies seem gung ho for the practice No really, I have noted a definite tendency when walking my dog quite a number are all raised eyebrows all the way to bordering on horrified when I point out he's a he(when they insist on calling him she ) and are then informed he's INTACT!! :eek:

EDIT I've always had intact males and I never had a "humper". Well one when he was young got a bit previous for about a month, but that got nipped in the bud.

kylith

The problem with vasectomy is that it doesn't stop the desire or ability to mate. Males will still roam after and pester bitches, with all the risks that that entails.

Wibbs

I've had four intact male dogs in my life and have never found this to be an issue. That said they were always under my control/supervised. Plus and please correct me if I'm wrong here spayed bitches don't go into heat so given the amount of them about this is even less an issue since my first dog nearly 40 years ago when spaying/neutering was at significantly lower numbers.

Discodog

I have had 7 entire males to date & I have never encountered any problems. These days a lot of females are spayed & a season only lasts for a short time. Because I rescued my little guy he found himself sharing a house with a female in season. It turned out to be a lot easier than I expected & she made it clear that she would remove his nose if he put anything near her rear :eek:.

Wibbs wrote: »

And I notice that some of the ladies seem gung ho for the practice

My Vets are an all female practice. Three female Vets & four nurses .