best age for pup to be castrated?

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hannah87

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I have a jack russell x chuiwaha (sp?) pup. he is almost 5 months old now and we plan on having him castrated. Our vet said he does it from 5 and half - 6 months onwards. A friend said to me that this is far too young and we should wait till he is a year old.
I have no idea as ive never had a male dog before! any opinions on the best age?
 
I was told 6 months by my vet for my lad so thats when we had him done, he's now 14 months and haven't a problem with down there
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Vets' views vary. OH is of the opinion that cats can be done young, because kittenish behaviour is cute. Puppyish behaviour is less fun in a full grown adult dog (bigger breeds anyway) so it is better to wait until they are fully grown.
 
6months!
If you wait much longer the sexual maturity (and thereby activity) will start to show (humping etc, dominance issues blah blahblah)
and also you have fewer health issues the earlier you get them castrated, the longer yyou leave anything whole the greater your chance of reproductive tract infections and problems later on in life!
 
Looks like one of those things were even the experts disagree. Our dog is entire, at 2 and a bit, originally because OH wanted him to be grown up before they came off, then under pressure from a friend who wanted a puppy from him, with the proviso that if he started humping, he'd get cut. A friends speyed female lab humps more often than our entire male and will hump our dog, and he doesn't normally hump back (unless she's been sleeping in a bed with a bitch in season)
 
I would have said depends on the breed - tiny dogs I'd maybe leave till they are fully grown at about a year old as the smaller the animal the bigger the risk under anesthetic, in a larger breed of dog I've always had mine neutered at 6 months old. Humping is a not just a sign of wanting to do the deed but is also a sign of dominance so neutering a dominant dog will not necessarily stop that behavior but will obviously stop unwanted puppies and health problems later in life!!
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QR: Id wait until a year. I know if you have bitches done too early it can cause problems such as incontinence (sp?) etc. We left both of our dogs entire until one was 4 and the other 2 they started fighting as the pup got older so we had them both done.

We didnt have any problems up until that time, with humping agression etc etc.

Also my aunt had her dog done around 7 months i think and it completely ruined him, he was the most misserable dog ever after he had the snip.
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Having a bitch speyed full stop has risks of incontinence no just being done too early (in theory there is no too early time to take stuff out of a bitch! just anaesthetic risks at early ages)

StaceyJed - thats awful that your aunts boy was depressed after being snipped!!! But its very rare for that to happen! (sorry it happened to you though, couldn't have been nice!
 
I was discussing this with the trainer at puppy class last night and he advises leaving it unless 'manly' behaviour starts to become a problem. It's so hard knowing what to do for the best!
 
i think different people have different opinions, some people feel its more important for development to occur with bits still in tact.

Where as I think most vets view it from a health etc point of view and say 6months.....

Depends what your opinion is
 
I work as a receptionist in 2 vet surgeries and have a 4 month old male puppy myself so have been asking lots of opinions! He is a ridgeback x springer so will be a big boy and general concensus was to leave it to a year old when he is fully mature as ideally he needs his testosterone to grow fully, being snipped too young could ruin his adult body shape as he won't bulk out properly. Has anyone else been advised this?? I have heard it from 3 vets, doesn't make it right though. They did say if he shows alot of bad behaviours, i.e. constant humping, then I could get him done earlier and it wouldn't damage him, just later would be better! Hope that all makes sense! Must get some pics of him up soon, he's mega cute!
 
You know, I never get this "Neutering changed my dogs behaviour/personality thing", I have owned alot of dogs in my life and no less than ten at a time and I have never ever noticed, aggression, depression after neutering. e,t,c
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and including the rescues, this year we have neutered over 400 dogs, in the whole time my mam has ran rescue literally thousands. (it baffles me) the behaviour change thing that is
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I would say from 6 months for a small breed dog or when the plumbs are developed enough to be taken away or frisky behaviour begins to become a little to pronounced
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And a little longer for a large breed dog, up to the year mark as not to interfere with growth to much.
You will get a difference in opinion, and u can only make your own mind up really.
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And as from a behavioural point of view, I must say the majority of dominance, aggression I deal with is un neutered males, to which I advise plumbs off
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Also as Lucy suggests incontinence can be cmmon in bitches spayed at a later date and also in un neutered large breed bitches later in life.
 
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