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ive been advised to by friends and the vets asked if im having him done BUT no ones actually explained the reasons to have it done! does it make them fitter? live longer? etc are there and cons to having him done??
im very warry as the only animals ive owner up to now have been small furries who dont take ops very well and ive lost some on the operating table, i know the risk is less in dogs but id hate for any thing to happen to him because of an op he didnt need?
cheers
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I don't recall right now what type of dog Jack is, but unless he's very, very tiny, this is not just minor surgery, it's trivial surgery.
However, it is still surgery, and not every dog will experience anything involving anesthesia, even this, as a trivial event. So his current medical condition matters a lot. As far as health:
1. He won't get testicular cancer if he's neutered.
2. Something like 80% of the dogs hit by cars are unneutered males. And no, that's not entirely explained by their owners being less responsible. It's because containing an unneutered male when there's a female in heat within range of his nose is significantly more challenging.
A neutered male will be less likely to roam, less likely to get into fights, more easily trained not mark in the house, is generally likely to be less challenging on a whole range of sex-specific behaviors.
However, it's not a panacea for any of those things, and if you are sufficiently on top of training and being clear about the House Rules, most intact males can and will learn to behave like perfect gentlemen. You just have to remember never to simply trust training to make them ignore a female in heat.
I'm generally in favor of neutering male dogs, but it's not the open-and-shut case that it is with a healthy female that you're not planning to breed. I notice that your friends are advising you to do it, but, at least as I read what you wrote, your vet isn't, actually. He's just asking if it's something you intend to do. I'd talk to him seriously about whether it's something he recommends for Jack. Never mind what he'd recommend for other dogs with other owners.
If you do decide to do it, the ideal time would be right after he's tried marking a couple of times. Fully mature, but marking isn't yet an established habit.
thank you for that it makes few things a bit clearer, i was going to have a good natter with the vets last time we went to finish our jabs but i got a little bit ill when he brought out the micro chipping needle
going again monday for check up so will grab him then and have a good natter
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Hi, Emm has witten a few long posts on the subject ... I have to say I never realised what it could do to a dog - growth wise etc. Have a look and then make up your mind.
My boy was done at Battersea so I didn't get the choice with him and he was 3 1/2 yrs at the time - I do wonder what he would have been like intact, character wise ... now he's a bit of a lazy b***er!!
If he were mine *(and note. he's not and that makes a big difference, because I know I am happy handling an entire male, you might not be)...
I would wait until he was around 12/18 months, and IF he had no problems with nervousness or fearful behaviour, then I would discuss with my vet having him neutered.
The only things neutering will absolutely definately prevent are:
Testicular Cancer.
Getting a ***** pregnant.
Thats it. Nothing else is a guarantee, not the 'good' side effects or the 'bad' ones.
First off, testicular cancer isn't a case of 'your dog is going to die right now'... its one of the slowest growing cancers, and slowest spreading cancers - not all cancers are 'equal'. (Bone cancer, for instance, metastasizes very fast and usually by the time the owner knows the dog has bone cancer... the dog already has a secondary cancer.. usually lung cancer.).
With testicular cancer, unlike say bone cancer, you can SEE the tumour with your eyes, any lumps on testicles and down to the vets you go, have the vet assess it and probably have the dog neutered. End of problem pretty much!
So yes, testicular cancer is a worry, no I don't personally see it as a good enough reason to lop off testicles.
Getting a ***** pregnant - this is a bigger issue, if you had your own ***** then you can of course take steps should an accident occur, but if your dog runs off after someone elses *****, you may never be able to find them to warn them and advise they take preventative action.
You can of course train your dog not to run off, and it IS possible to teach a dog to recall even when they can smell a *****..... but its not easy!
If you have a ***** living next door who comes into season, this could upset an entire dog quite seriously, so thats another thing to take into consideration.
A final thing i think important with your breed is this... people do steal staffies and staffies who can reproduce are more valuable. If he has no nuts, tahts quite obvious and he is slightly safer.
I still wouldnt neuter PURELY to stop theives, but if you don't feel confident that you can teach a rock solid recall, and you live in a dodgy area, I'd take it into consideration.
Whatever you do decide, i do think its important to wait until he is mature which is highly unlikely to be before 12 months old.
I think the worst behavioural side effect of being neutered, is the potential and sudden drop in confidence, relating to the fairly sudden loss of testosterone production.
The best thing to do there is be aware it may happen and take action the very second you think he is more nervous than usual, so go back to treating him like a tiny pup and make every single situation fun and rewarding, avoid potentially unpleasant situations for the time being etc.
Actually having re read some of them today.... in trying to avoid doing the hoovering... I think the drop in testerone affected my boy, as thinking back he was in kennels then "B", then went through the op, was in a stressy place and then off to me.. and god knows what he thought was going to happen next.... it's all clear to me now!!
Hopefully I think he now knows he's staying.....
I really must stop messing and avoiding the housework!!
luckly i dont live close to other dogs so no problem of a ***** in heat or in a rough area really.
recall is ok but im not fully confident that if some thing really caught his attention i could get him back but thats some thing i can work on, same as ensuring im a strong handler for him.
the vets said he does them for around 5mths but that seems way to young for any thing like that hes not even grown up by then
its some thing i will have to keep thinking about and weight up the pros and cons but hes not having anything done any time soon
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I agree with Em, the only reason I had Joe done was because he was so stressed humping everything he could. He came from a bad home so by neutering him, the stress went. Normally I wouldn't have had him done.
What would bother me with a Staffy, as sometimes the growth plates don't close when they should and the dog gets taller than they should, with a Staffy, he could be mistaken for a Pit Bull and their papers don't seem to be taken into account if someone claims they are a Pit Bull. I would wait until he was fully grown.
he has already started humping his fav teddy is that always a stress related thing?? i always just assumed dogs did that
was thinking about it this morning actually chopping them off at 5mths would be like chopping a boys bits off befor hes even bought his first top shelf mag or had his first dirty dream ok i have random thoughts at 7 in the morning when were out for a walk!
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Growth plates are what allows your dog to grow bigger and when they are as tall as they are going to get, they close so they can't grow anymore.
Yes, humping is normal for dogs but Joe had been abused and I suspect this was how he coped with what had happened to him by humping. There is a big difference in the way Joe was humping and the normal humping of a dog. Poor little boy, he didn't know what it was to relax, he does now
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Im very anti people being told to neuter without being told all the details. I did it and have spent a long time dealing with the 'fall out', had I known to expect a drop in testosterone and thus a sudden lack of confidence, I would have handled things very differently.
If Jack is happy to hump his big teddy when he needs to, then thats great. If he didnt it would still be possible to teach him to do so, as opposed to humping a leg or cushions etc.
Rocky still humps, as a neutered boy of 7 years old.. in fact he will still do EVERYTHING should a ***** give him the 'ok'!
When Abby moved in here, she was in season and Rocky, poor lad, he was beside himself! She however was very definatley of the opinion that if he as much as touched her.... she was going to remove his head.
We got through that introduction (far from ideal, Abby was just handed over on the doorstep and I was on my own with two other dogs and several hours of no one else being home to help), by me allowing Rocky to hump MY leg whilst looking at Abby, instead of desperately trying to hump her and getting bitten.
Not ideal but we survived and because I allowed rocky to release his frustration/confusion/need to do something to cope in a less potentially dangerous way, everything was fine (except my leg!).
So whilst some people might say 'oh no you mustnt let a dog have a humpy toy'... boy I wish rocky had had one that day!
Re growth plates... the other problem with them and neutering is this...
Each leg has more than one bone in it, and they all have growth plates. These dont close up all at the same time, and for limbs with two bones say forearms, if one closes and the other doesnt, one bone carries on growing longer and you get a twisting effect!
Clearly, that isnt good and there is some evidence to suggest that dogs neutered very early are more likely to suffer from bone/joint/ligament problems such as cruciate ligament injuries and hip dysplasia.
You are right actually with your thought about castrating a young boy before he's had his first mucky dream... time was we DID do taht to young boys who sang, they were the castrati and sang the soprano parts in the operas (before women were involved in such things).
Notably, castrati had BIG problems wtih confidence, behavioural issues, and .... super long limbs, long legs and arms.
Also, we don't just perform hysterectomies on women and then boot them out of hospital.. it takes a lot to be allowed a hysterectomy in the first place, because the mental and physical side effects are KNOWN to not be good... and then afterwards theres all manner of care and drugs involved.
Im definately not saying we should never neuter, we should - where it is in the best interests of the dog!
he has already started humping his fav teddy is that always a stress related thing?? i always just assumed dogs did that Embarassed
Some just like their humpy toys, and if it's not stress-related in his case, please don't let it get to you, because even if you do neuter him, it won't necessarily change that. If he sticks to his humpy toy, or can easily be redirected to it when he tries humping on something inappropriate, that's good thing.
