For all you Spinger guys or gals?

[walleyes12]

I am in search of some advice. I have a 6 mo old pure bred English Springer, I am debating between neutering or not neutering. I have no intent of breeding him as of now. My main concern is him gaining weight, is there any truth to that or not? My second question, will he loose his drive to hunt?

There are no other female dogs around, so I am not concerned about him running off, or should I be? Any advice would be greatly appreciate, I have never seen a dog of this caliber before, and I don't want to mess with it if I don't have too.

[potknot]

We had our springer neutered. He didnt seem to be so hyper after. and didnt not seem to gain a ton of weight. I do not regret getting it done. And still hunts birds just fine

I am in search of some advice. I have a 6 mo old pure bred English Springer, I am debating between neutering or not neutering. I have no intent of breeding him as of now. My main concern is him gaining weight, is there any truth to that or not? My second question, will he loose his drive to hunt?

There are no other female dogs around, so I am not concerned about him running off, or should I be? Any advice would be greatly appreciate, I have never seen a dog of this caliber before, and I don't want to mess with it if I don't have too.

[Gus]

I have 2 English springers, both neutered 1 14years old and 1 2 years. No weight gain on either. One of them was a purebred of good bloodlines and was an incredible hunter. The neutering never effected his drive one bit. I would do it again if I had to do it over.

The second dog came as a free dog from questionable and unknown bloodlines. He's worth about what I paid for him. He's not a hunter, and I don't think he ever will be. I did have him neutered but that was more to satisfy the wife and to curb and roaming problems. I knew he wasn't a born hunter before the neutering so I really can't say that the neutering changed him, only that he certainly didn't gain any hunting drive from it. He's just a very submissive dog. He's good with kids though.

In the end it is up to you, however personally I believe I will continue to neuter my males.

[MinnesotaMongo]

I neutered Maynard early - and he's not fat at all. In fact, we were calling him "Bangladeshi Bhuddo" before I switched diets to Canidae. He has TONS of energy and LOVES to hunt - runs all day if he can.

If you aren't going to breed - do it. No need having him get off the urge to hunt if he smells a female in heat.

[walleyes12]

Thanks for the input everyone, I really appreciate it! Anyone other opinions?

[JConrad]

I am very involved with training field bred English Springer's at one of the top keenels in the state... Having you dog neutered is the right thing to do if you do not plan on breeding... It will not affect the dogs desire to hunt.

[jigging-matt]

I neutered my Britt very early and he is not fat at all. Not really sure if it slowed him down much, if it did I'm not sure I could have handle him even more hyper than he is now. I would do it.

[Neighbor_guy]

My springer is gone now... 5 years and I still miss him... Anyways, If I could go back in time, I would have nutered him. Just to keep him home. Man did he run.

I just had my Lab spayed last week. She is not a runner, but hope this helps with the hunting. Now I dont have to worry about every dog in town comming for a visit or taking after her in the field.

[stretch]

even though i don't have a britt, i have a female yellow lab. i got her spayed last summer and her hunting drive never changed! about 4-5 weeks afer her surgery she was in south dakota with me chasing phesants for 3 days straight. i did notice that she did put on some weight over the winter cause she hasn't been running hard but all i did was cut back on her food a little bit. now she is back to her normal weight. also she is a outside dog full time. hope this helps.

[grousehunter]

I would wait until around 18 months to 2 years of age to let the dog fully mature. For a male there are no real health benefits to do it earlier. I have heard that the dog will not fill out with the same muscle mass and may have ligament problems if nuetered before they reach maturity. I have also heard that they may not have the same drive, but it seems that may be more opinion/hear say after reading other replys. I do plan on waiting until my chessie pup is fully mature to get him neutered though. Just figured I would through the other side of it out there.

Blake

[SP180]

I have a 9y/o male that was neutered when i got him at a a little over 1. He wasn't a hunter when i got him and i doubt he was prior to his neutering. He is a big dog at 65lbs, but up until the past year he has only been muscle.

I just had my female spade this year. She turns 1 next month and has not lost a step. Hunting skills are still questionable since she is still learning. She seems to have great natural instincts, but more to come after pheasant season.

Have you dog fixed. It will decrease some of the negative attitude and not affect hunting.

[JConrad]

Blake, I agree with you on waiting until the dog is mature... Studies have shown that this is the right thing to do.. The dogs growth will then not be impacted... My girl is 17 months old and I am waiting until she is at least 2 yrs old to have her spayed... My breeder also recommends this and he has 40+ years of experience and his daughter is also a vet....

[Jimmy from Cottage Grove]

Joel I agree with you also. Sophie had told me the same thing. I will be getting Jasmine spayed sometime in the spring at around 1 1/2. How is belle? or bella doing? I can't wait to get Jasmine out on her first hunt next weekend for the duck opener. She is doing very well. I can't believe how far she has come along, since I have gotten her home.

[JConrad]

Hello Jimmy..... great to hear Jasmine is doing well for you.. She is a really nice dog!!! Getting her out on wild brids will bring the best out of her...

Belle is doing great.... Still running her 4 to 5 times a week... Have been really working hard on steadying her up on the fall so that she will be ready for her NAVHDA Utility test next year. Also lots of water work/retrieves...

I like you am getting pretty excited about the upcoming hunting season... I will be guiding in SD with Pine Shadows this fall... Belle will be with me so she should get into lots of pheasants. I also plan on hunting by myself and with my sons in both SD and MN... Should be a good year.

Keep me posted on how she does in the field and water...

Have a great fall!!!

[walleyes12]

Thanks again for the input guys, I came to the conclusion to wait till hes mature then get him neutered. I really appreciate the advice guys!

[MinnesotaMongo]

I still have a feeling that it's based on old wives tales - I have a hunch that hormone levels among young neutered and older neutered dogs are the same.

For me - I'm glad my Springer isn't whizzing on everything like all the other male dogs I train with. You had better not leave anything laying around at training - it's going to get sprinkled....

[WaveWacker]

He'll be just fine. If he's around other male/un-neutered dogs, there will be less of a tendency to get into a growling match.