Castration advice

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TWMD

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What are people's thoughts on castration?

I have a lovely little 1 year old boy who is sweet natured, not dominant and has never shown any aggression, and also not much interest in females (seen him hump very half heartedly maybe 2 or 3 times). He regularly socialises with other entire males who are much more dominant than him and he gets along fine, backs down straight away if they start bossing him around, never fights or growls etc. He's not timid or nervous, he's generally just a lovely lovely dog to have around, I really cannot fault his temperament so I really don't want to put him through an operation unless it is absolutely necessary.

However, no dog walkers or sitters near me will take an entire male, I've tried every single one I can find. At the moment it's not really an issue, mine and my partners work patterns have meant that we are always around anyway to walk him and the one holiday we've been on our dog stayed with my parents, but I guess I'm just worried about running into problems in the future as we will need these services at some point.

What are people's thoughts?
 
I wouldn't cut bits off him if you don't have to, to be honest I wouldn't think much of a dog sitter or walker who wouldn't take an entire male, it just smacks to me that they are either inexperienced, are taking on too many animals to cope with or do not have the capacity to keep or exercise dogs separately. JMO opinion of course. Would you consider kennelling him? Or what about someone who will come to the house to sit?
 
I have two 3yo uncastrated dogs and no dog walker/dog sitter will take them either. so we manage and when we can't, they go into kennels. People have told me its (ie not taking entires) is due to council licensing-I have no idea if its true but I am not neutering to nice dogs for no good reason :)
 
I neither castrate nor spay without a very good reason. We don't have unplanned pregnancies, even when keeping dogs and bitches together and have only had one (out of very many Labs) case of mammary tumour. Council regs err so much on the side of caution, in very many matters, that I am amazed that we don't need a licence to leave home.
 
I have dog walked and boarded dogs and never had an issue, I only God walk dogs known to each other or very well known to me and if I have felt they will be suited together-introductions are made with a second person present and I would only walk 2 dogs at a time or with my dog, I would only let off lead when I was on private fences ground only I had access to.
Can you look for someone who will spend time at yours with him or road walk him on lead?
I would only castrate if really needed.
What area are you in someone may be able to suggest a Walker
 
I have to admit it wouldn’t bother me in the least to have a dog castrated, simply because mine are all rescues so I’ve only had neutered dogs/bitches for the past 17 years 😊 Even before that my two whippets were also spayed, one as an emergency after pyrometra.

I did have a lurcher from a pup who was never castrated, he was as soft as anything and was never annoying with bitches as they were all spayed. I had to re-home him at 6 years old and the rescue insisted he was castrated then, he was absolutely fine and it wasn’t a problem at all
 
My view is, if it ain't broke then don't try and fix it!

My boys aren't castrated.

Also, what breed/size is he? I know lots of vets will castrate at 6 months (let's not mention those in USA that do the deed at 8 weeks), but in my view no dog is physically mature until at least 12 months and in many breeds not until 24 months. My breed is then not socially mature until 3 years. Consequently, I would never consider castrating one of mine until at least 3 years of age...and then only if he was a balanced well behaved individual and I was driven down that route for medical reasons.
 
8 weeks??!!! That is awful!!!! Sorry I should have put caveats about age on - I completely agree with GG’s suggestions on ages - mine are always older (3/4 years old) when they come off the track so it isn’t an issue
 
MotherOfChickens said:
I have two 3yo uncastrated dogs and no dog walker/dog sitter will take them either. so we manage and when we can't, they go into kennels. People have told me its (ie not taking entires) is due to council licensing-I have no idea if its true but I am not neutering to nice dogs for no good reason :)
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It is not a council requirement, not round here at least.
I would always put my dogs in kennels if I had to anyway, rather than home boarding or whatever, to me safety is all and if they are miserable for a week better than many alternatives.
 
I'll probably have my dog castrated before 6 years old as the risk of hernia and other testosterone related health problems increase from that age. But he is 3 now pretty well behaved and not a humper so I'm in no rush. My ex is a dog walker, happy to take well socialised, well behaved entire males. In fact the biggest trouble maker he has is neutered!
 
Clodagh said:
It is not a council requirement, not round here at least.
I would always put my dogs in kennels if I had to anyway, rather than home boarding or whatever, to me safety is all and if they are miserable for a week better than many alternatives.
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after visiting the local daycares and home boarders I am inclined to agree! the kennels I use are fab, its not that swish but she appears to love all dogs as much as I love mine and they seem to enjoy it. the only issue is that its small and she has such a good reputation its hard to get booked up. two other local kennels I am not keen on tbh, I have only used one of them and Fitz especially wasn't happy there.
 
I've just started taking both mine with me or not going. I'm done with kennels too. Last ones I use nearly cleaned me out financially, dog got kennel cough and then passed it to the one who came with me so we were all housebound for weeks, and they also completely ignored my strict request that he not be given any toys.
A previous one ignored instruction that he not mix with other dogs.
And one where I asked for them to keep him somewhere quieter/away from the reception area and please not put a camera in his face while he was eating, posted a pic of him on Facebook giving some serious side eye and his ears wrapped while he was trying to eat his dinner and then berated me when I came back because a member of the public/customer went into the kennel area and he barked at her.
I don't personally think 'feed him twice a day and leave him alone' is a particularly hard instruction to follow....
 
CC this reminds me of a recent thread about Burghley horse trials where people were talking about ‘bunny huggers’ - the owners of the kennels were definitely BHs, they didn’t think of the dog or listen to your wishes, they applied their own anthropomorphic values. Drives me mad.....
 
The studies I’ve read are about equal re health benefits/disadvantages. I’d say do a lot of research before deciding. If he’s not a sex pest/bumper, I honestly wouldn’t. My big lad was entire, never a pick of bother.
 
Thanks all for your replies, very interesting! My gut is saying don't do it for no good reason but I have read about various health benefits...argh it's a minefield!

My partner is dead against it...but he is taking a rather personal rather than subjective view (for obvious reasons!!)

Pooch has his 12 month vet check next week so I will ask them for their opinion, they must get this asked a lot. Funnily enough the trainers we took him to for puppy school were encouraging everyone to get them done asap, as young as 6 months! He is a big breed so if we do decide to do it, I wouldn't consider it until 18 months as he's still putting on weight.
 
vet will advise you to neuter they always do I will never again neuter a dog male or female unless on medical grounds. Research tells me that is is an unsound practice especially for labradors, golden retrievers and their crosses. But I also am pro choice so if you find it is the only way forward then please do your research first the vet will only tell the pros never the cons in my experience
 
Thank you. We did discuss it with our vet at his 6 month check up (following the comment by the puppy trainers) and they said not to bother unless we run into problems, so i don't think their stance is pro-neutering all the time. We'll see next week I guess!
 
I lost my first spaniel to a problem related to him being entire. But he was 13 and something has to get them. Rehomed my second at 18m of age and castrated him after about a month to stop him marking so much (we spend a lot of time in heavily scented areas) but would still have kept him entire if he hadn’t been so weey. Definitely asses each dog on his/her merits. Sex pest teenager you’re not going to breed = castrate from 6m, only 1 testicle down = same delaying as long as possible for larger breeds, otherwise let it be until it causes an issue (if ever). We have a stallion out with our geldings for a similar reason, not a problem so why put him through surgery. I’m lucky to not have to use dog sitters etc. I’d castrate for ease if what you say is true, like I’d geld the stallion if we had to go to livery. I’m all for an easy life for me and a good life for them.
 
I've been thinking a lot about this recently. At work we have a 12 year old Labrador that had an abscess on his prostate. He ended up needing to be neutered and having his abscess surgically removed. My GSD boy is 8.5 years and intact. So now I'm worried, but I really think I'll leave him intact unless there is a problem. I do spay my bitches when I think it is appropriate. My younger girl is looking like an adult and I'll spay her in a month or so. She's just finished her second heat season. I worry about pyometra and mammary masses.
 
After spending many many hours repairing perennial hernias and seeing many hundreds dogs for prostate masses I always neuter however not until maturity for that breed.

I would never ever keep an entire bitch due to the pyo/mammary mass risk. Too many dogs die unnecessarily from a pyo.
 
We have always neutered at maturity on vets advice. Jake's sister Mol (other owners) almost died from pyro. Our dogs have never put on weight after neutering, I personally think the benefits far outweigh any risks.
 
I personally wouldn't castrate solely for a walker/boarding reason. I am very lucky with the kennels I use, have only had cause to use them a handful of times over the years but if I tell them to put the two big dogs in together, do not attempt to walk them, do not mix them with other dogs and just let them out in the exercise area (which I tramped around the whole perimeter of, first visit :p) they will. It's very prison yard but I couldn't trust a home boarder to keep them safe.

The two spaniels have recently been castrated. One had a retained testicle so it was always on the cards, he was left until two years of age so he was completely mature. The five year old was a more dithery decision as historically he was not a problem as an entire male until the younger dog reached sexual maturity, at which point they started fighting like demons and neither was ready to back down. In the longer term it will be better for his health (thinking of BPH, cysts etc.) and as he was no longer being shown the pros were outweighing the cons.

One thing to mention is that IMO the risk of post op complications increases as they age and the spaniels have borne this out - the younger had a cracking haematoma and the older had to have a scrotal ablation due to, and I quote, his 'excessively saggy scrotum' which tried its best to fill with fluid immediately post op!

Littlest dog will stay entire until he gives me sufficient reason otherwise...
 
When we got Bo as a 4yo, he was still entire. He did spray in the house for a few days, but we managed to stop it easily enough. I’m not sure if it’s years of having cats, that were always fixed, but I wanted to get him neutered. Our vet advised waiting for a while to let him settle right down, and we had him done in April. His personality hasn’t changed at all. He had his 3 month check up in July and had put on weight and they said they would like him to lose around a kilo. Today, Luna had her boosters, took him along to weight him, and we’ve gone from 22kg to 21.4.

I would do what you think is right for your dog. Bo is not a happy dog on lead, although has no choice sometimes depending where we are. I let him off lead as much as I can where he is safe, but as an entire, with lots of other dogs around, and there could be entire females, it was another reason to have him neutered.
 
We had a collie boy who sounds similar to yours. Sweet tempered, not really interested in bitches and a bit submissive. We didn't castrate him because no need. Think it might have taken away what bit of courage he had. Would always spay bitches but only castrate boys if they were a problem.
 
I would always spay a bitch , when fully mature, having lost one to pyo. The only male we have here at the moment is castrated, and was done quite early as he was a rampant sex fiend from a young age (small breed) and the environment he was then in made it unacceptable. I have had far fewer GSD males than females and non were ever castrated as they were show/stud dogs. If a male isn't showing behavioural problems I probably wouldn't castrate, and certainly not because a dog walker deemed it necessary. Like CC the main reason I rarely go away is because there are very few people I would trust with the gang.
 
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