Getting your dog fixed?

[Fishaholic2011]

My male lab is just about to turn 6 months. I have no intentions on using him as a stud. Are there any downfalls with having my dog neutered? What is the best age to do so?

[Scott K]

4 months old is best, but any time before a year is ok. They tend to be more mellow, but will still hunt like the best of them. If you catch them before he lifs his leg to pee, he wont mark his territory, or not as much. I hate hunting with non fixed males, a lot of times they start fights, try humping all the other dogs, and if you arent going to stud him, it isnt worth having to put up with it. Fix him as soon as possible.

Oh, the down fall, is when you realize you have the best dog you have ever had, and you cant breed him, and get an offspring

[nofishfisherman]

I've always heard right around 6 months old is a good time to do it. I've also heard waiting a year is better to allow for full growth/maturity before going in for the snip snip.

I took my vizsla in right at 6 months and had no issues. He doesn't lift his leg nor does he do any marking.

Really there is no down side to doing it if you have no plans to breed the dog.

[TylerS]

What's the rush? Let your dog mature a bit before removing his dog-hood. Hormones are a good thing, and are critical for maturation and development. I'd err on the side of waiting too long than too soon.

[cavalierowner]

I have always been an advocate of waiting until at least 1 year old before doing a spay/neuter and recommend that to my puppy buyers. I like to see the dog mature before the S/N. Here is a link to some of the pros and cons of early S/N by a well qualified person http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html At the end of the short paper he suggests 14 months.

[Ufatz]

Have had a lot of dogs. Only ONE male was left intact after 4-5 months. I have never seen a downside. They have all been enthusiastic hard working field dogs. They didn't/don't roam. Not prone to aggression (although most Labs aren't anyway of course) and wonderful loyal friends as well.

There are plenty of people breeding Labradors.....we don't need more of it by one time or casual breeders.

Do yourself, and the breed, a favor: spay at 3-6 months or sooner if the vet agrees (and most of them will).

[MuleShack]

I agree with Tyler and Cavalier,

Let the dog finish growing with his natural hormones intact and then have it done after 12-14 months.

The aggressiveness and marking are not all blamed on hormones.

If you let the dog become the dominant one in the house then that is what will happen.

Training plays a big part in behavior, so spend time working your dog with obedience and hunting training. A dog that gets no training or structure in its live is more apt to let the juices flow and just be an obnoxious dog. In my opinion, a lot of it is based on the owners.

[Jmnhunter]

i had the same question about a year or so ago, my breeder said 4 months , the vet said 6-12 months, and after doing more research on other breeders around the US, I opted for around the 1 year mark (after the testicles drop and like others stated, letting the dog mature, develop)

[jigging-matt]

Did my Britt at 4 months and he has done fine. He is six now, and still has all the energy of a pup. If it was supposed to mellow him, I would have hated to see him intact. I think it is up to you, anywhere from 4-12 months seem to be rocomended, just when you want to do it.

[TylerS]

Mellowing, reduced aggression, and any other aspects you've heard about neutering/spaying regarding a dog's intellect, drive or general mannerisms is hogwash.

Case in point: my buddy's lab (yes, one of those big, cuddly, run-of-the-mill retrievers) was neutered less than a year of age. Today at 3.5 years old, he's one of the orneriest, most vicious, aggressive dogs I've seen out hunting (besides a chessie we bumped into once -- yeesh). I won't let my dog near it, and haven't hunted with him in over a year. Now, I'm not insinuating that because he was neutered, he turned aggressive, or if that he wouldn't have been neutered, he'd be less aggressive. In fact, I think his poor socializing and general lack of training led him to this point. Totally the owner's fault, not necessarily the dog's.

So if you're looking toward the big snip as a magic bullet to preempt any and every possible future issues with your dog, you're going about it all wrong. Get the dog socialized early and often, train it for 15 minutes a day, and give it something to do. Keep things calm and consistent. Praise it when it does things right, scold it when it does thing wrong (if it does so blatantly).

If you treat a dog like a well oiled machine and care for it as such, you'll reap the benefits. If you use it like a broom and only take it out of the closet a couple times a year, frankly, you deserve what you get.

[Kyle]

DONT DO IT! I did it to my male golden retriever at 6 months. Saw a major decrease in drive, and increase in laziness. Don't EVER let anyone tell you you can't train your dog not to hump, pee, or run. You can train them to do almost anything. Dog's run when they haven't been allowed of leash enough. I walked my dog on country road where he could be off leash ever since he was 10 weeks old. I also walked him in the woods daily. He has absolutely no desire to run from me in any situation. In fact, he can't stand to be away from me lol. Peeing, and humping is easily trained out with the e-collar. It's called classical conditioning. It's all about consistency, and getting on it right from the start.

If your interested in hunting, don't get him fixed. I was told the same thing about waiting until he mature a little. Which is why I waited until 6 months. Either do it when they are super young, or don't do it at all. It made no difference for my dog in waiting for him to age a little. If anything it was more painful for him.

[Kyle]

Also,

It seems people say its "hog-wash" that a dog will lose drive after being fixed. It's all "hog-wash" until you see it first hand with your dog. I'm not saying this is what happens with all dogs, but you can't discredit other's experiences simply because they may be the minority. It's your dog, and it's up to you.

[Ufatz]

Please tell us again how long you've been at this dog training and how many dogs you have trained to stop humping and peeing by using a collar.

I have owned, trained and handled more than a dozen dogs, mostly Labs, over fifty years. Spaying has taken NOTHING from their hunting desire or stamina, nor has it changed their temperment much except to possibly make them more laid back.

But you do what you conclude is best. I mainly care about the dogs. Owners, not so much.

[DaSwede]

What's the rush? Let your dog mature a bit before removing his dog-hood. Hormones are a good thing, and are critical for maturation and development. I'd err on the side of waiting too long than too soon.

I agree, and probably am on the opposite end of the spectrum as most people. I don't fix my dogs until about 2 years. If I wanted a female, I would have gotten one. I want a male to look like a male. The only reason I fix my males is for the health issues that can arise from leaving them intact. Just my opinion.

[Todd Caswell]

I personally don't like the physical appearence of a clipped male, most of the time they lose muscle tone. My males have always been intact they don't mark, mainly because they aren't allowed to, theres a big differencr between peeing and marking. And mine don't roam again because there not allowed to. If you have intentions of letting the dog roam then by all means get the dog fixed but wait untill it's at least a year old so it can physically mature. Almost all 95+%of the FT dogs I see are left intact and I hear of very few health issues. There is little evidence out there that proves nuetering will benifit the dog.

[ClownColor]

I remember reading, with females, you decrease the risk of breast cancer by quite a bit if u wait til after 6 months...

[MuleShack]

Please tell us again how long you've been at this dog training and how many dogs you have trained to stop humping and peeing by using a collar.

I have owned, trained and handled more than a dozen dogs, mostly Labs, over fifty years. Spaying has taken NOTHING from their hunting desire or stamina, nor has it changed their temperment much except to possibly make them more laid back.

But you do what you conclude is best. I mainly care about the dogs. Owners, not so much.

How would you know this if you neuter them at 5 months?

Are you saying your dogs are still marking and humping after they are neutered at 5 months or you cant train them not to do it?

[MuleShack]

Obviously you cant put all dogs in the same bowl and make an assessment. There will be lazy dogs and there will be dogs that have all kinds of drive regardless if they have their marbles or not...same with the human counterparts. Not everyone will be the same.

A dogs will do what he is allowed to do, it is up to the owners to provide the direction. Whether that is with a leash, ecollor or verbal command it can be done. If not, then the dog runs the house.

Labs are a breed that can get lazy if they don't have an exercise regimen or training routine, especially if they are allowed to eat too much. (just an observation from being around a dog daycare/boarding facility and seeing all kinds of dogs)

[nofishfisherman]

Every breed and every dog is different. All you have here is a bunch on contradictory anecdotal evidence based on individual dogs. When I was making the decision to fix my vizsla I got the same opinions. Some said to fix around 6 months, others a year or later, and others said never do it.

Well never doing it wasn't an option for me. I weighed the opinions of the vets and the breeder and made the decision to fix around 6 months. If I were you I'd probably talk to a vet or two who is experienced with hunting breeds and understands what you want out of your dog. Use their expertise as your guide. They will certainly be a better resource than a bunch of us giving you individual stories about our dogs.

[BLACKJACK]

I remember reading, with females, you decrease the risk of breast cancer by quite a bit if u wait til after 6 months...

Don't believe everything you read. I had two females that ended up with breast cancer, the first one, I never had fixed and it killed her, the second one caught it at the age of seven and after an expensive surgery, she lived until 13. My last two females I had fixed at 6 months as per the vets recommendation. Leaving them intact, with the hormones flowing and ebbing is what gives them the breast cancer.

[nofishfisherman]

I remember reading, with females, you decrease the risk of breast cancer by quite a bit if u wait til after 6 months...

I believe it is the other way around. You can reduce the risk of certain cancer in females by getting them fixed before 6 months. For males I don't believe there is any reduction in cancer risk based on when you get them fixed.

[Ufatz]

Mr. M'shack I don't understand part of your post. I offered some information based on experience involving Labradors. Have had another 8-9 dogs of other species. Almost all have been spayed. Have never had a disease or health problem and that may or may NOT be due to spaying. All the info was one persons experience. All dogs done before six months. All dogs hunted with vigor, determination and drive. None of the dogs was ever "trained to not hump or pee" since my personal feeling is that no dog should be punished ("trained") to not pee when it wants/needs to. Within reason why not let the dog do what dogs do? I don't mean you have to stand around for half an hour while the dog pees, but usually if you give him a sharp command he/she will quit and get in the truck or whatever.

No need to be too hard on any dog for something natural.

I mean, how would you like it if first thing in the moring you want to take a leak and somebody zaps you in the aserisk with a couple volts??!!! LOL.

Be gentle. Be patient.Be firm. Spay and neuter. Be happy.

[Todd Caswell]

Quote:

None of the dogs was ever "trained to not hump or pee" since my personal feeling is that no dog should be punished ("trained") to not pee when it wants/needs to. Within reason why not let the dog do what dogs do? I don't mean you have to stand around for half an hour while the dog pees, but usually if you give him a sharp command he/she will quit and get in the truck or whatever.

No need to be too hard on any dog for something natural.

I mean, how would you like it if first thing in the moring you want to take a leak and somebody zaps you in the aserisk with a couple volts??!!! LOL.

Be gentle. Be patient.Be firm. Spay and neuter. Be happy.

MY dogs get plenty of time to air when they get off the truck to work, thats there time to "PEE". Not when there on there way to a mark, running a blind or returning whith a bird or bummper, Thats " MARKING" and they can do that on there own time not mine.

[TylerS]

I think Ufatz misunderstood you. In truth, I did too initially. But you're absolutely right: there's a time to mark, and a time to obey.

I can't tell you how many dogs I've seen at a test that have stopped to do their business 10 feet back from a retrieve. Makes the handler look mighty foolish with the entire gallery waiting to see if the dog drops the duck.

But solid training should nip that in the bud right away.

[ClownColor]

Quote:

I believe it is the other way around. You can reduce the risk of certain cancer in females by getting them fixed before 6 months. For males I don't believe there is any reduction in cancer risk based on when you get them fixed.

You're right...thanks for clarifing that. It's been a while.