Premature castration - very worried

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baileymoo

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Hi, I am in desperate need of advice.

I got a dog from a well known rescue centre 4 months ago. At the time of adoption the dog was only just 5mths old. Before the dog leaves the rescue centre they castrate all the dogs as a rule. We did think at the time it was a very young age to be doing so, but was assured that it was commonly done and was at a good vets etc.
Now this dog is a Saluki with a hint of Collie in him, so by no means a small dog. He is already standing at 26 inches but i am very concerned for his future growth. After reading up on early castration a lot of side effects are already happening with my dog. He always squats and ends up urinating on his front legs which is apparently a sign, and although house trained he is still incontinent at 9 months old. Due to his breeding i am concerned about his bones as well, he has excessively long (even for a Saluki) and narrowly set legs and they seem very weak. If he knocks something even lightly he is a limping whining wreck. I am mostly worried about his bones, i hear that the bone fusing process can be affected? A lot of people have said he will forever remain a puppy in an adults body which is slightly concerning but the least important issue.

Is there anything i can do to help my dog? Can the vet give any supplements to help him with the obvious lack of testosterone or anything? Or am i panicking over nothing?

Any advice would be greatly appreciated :)
 
I think there is only so much you can do any not everything can be nailed down to a cause.

I have a intact dog and a dog neutered at 1.5 years and they both squat and pee over themselves.

I would have the vet check for a UTI before you go down the incontinace route.

What i would put my energy into the most is a good solid diet and muscle building exercise. Read up on the raw sticky.
 
TBH I think you are panicking prematurely :)

My dog is seven months. He is very loose in the pasterns and hocks still, because he is a puppy. He also squats to wee and wees on his front legs occasionally, because he is a puppy.
He also has a set of boy bits!

Diet and careful exercise, built up properly, should address the main concerns and get his wee dipped to check for a UTI.

Others may disagree but personally, owning a large breed, I would not go for a dry food with very high levels of protein, as I do believe that causes growth problems but that is just my opinions.
 
Testosterone encourages the growth plates to fuse, so he may well look leggy as he will potentially grow taller than littermates who were not cut so early.

The squatting is normal: all dogs are different and my two pups at 14 months still squat-neither are neutered. My 8 year old still squats a home, but never when he's out and a dog walker I met this week told me her dog never cocked his leg.

It may be (according to anecdotal evidence I have read elsewhere) that he will retain puppy behaviour longer having been neutered early, but he may not. Don't panic, give him time. :)
 
Phew thankyou for your replies! Ill stop worrying so much. The reason i started worrying was that i ran into a Saluki breeder and she mentioned he looked very narrow and long, even for a lanky puppy. When i said he was castrated already she recoiled in horror so it set off alarm bells!

He is fed on Wainwrights puppy food, he has the recommended amount of dry (complete) food and then has 1 of the meat tray things that they do, fed in 2 seperate feeds. He's a good weight with a really glossy coat and high energy so he cant be doing too badly.
He is due at the vets this week anyway as he has an extra tooth growing in the middle of his mouth..he cant make life simple can he ;)
I know squatting and incontinence is a puppy thing but he just cannot seem to control himself. Its not when he is excited, he will be asleep or wandering around and suddenly just wee, wont even have chance to squat and he doesnt seem aware that its actually happening. But i will get the vet to check for a UTI, thankyou very much.
 
i know this is off topic but do you have a pic of your boy ? i also have a rescue saluki x collie and thought he was the only one ! hes such an unusal looking thing.
 
If you think he's too skinny, maybe add green tripe to his diet or raw chicken legs. See the raw sticky to find suppliers for tripe and how to feed chicken with bones in. Also, look at how much exercise he's getting for his age and how often you're taking him out or if he has free access outside for toileting.
 
baileymoo,

a couple of questions.

Firstly, and assuming that my maths is correct, I take it that your puppy is now 9 months old, or there abouts. Am I right?

Secondly, by incontinence, do you mean that he leaks urine, without attempting to go through the process of urinating?

Thirdly, what diet do you have him on? If you're feeding an all in one, does the bag have a stated protein content, by way of a percentage? If you do, then are you supplementing it with other, and perhaps more natural feeds?

Your dog, by definition, is a lurcher, sort of! and whilst they can be the most awful babies when they give themselves a bump, his apparently tender joints would raise an eyebrow or two.

Alec.
 
Hi, sorry am at work using my phone so have no pics, will get some up later :)
He is on Wainwrights which is a natural feed, it is complete but he is getting added wet feed and after speaking to a dietician on a stand in Pets at Home I am feeding a little over the amount she reccommended. He seems a good weight on his body, obviously as a growing slender dog he will be changing shape a lot, so I guess ill just have to hope he matures properly.
He is 9 months old yes, I have a greyhound as well so I know how much of a wimp a lurcher can be! He just seems oddly more so.
He gets 45 mins of exercise per day split into 2 walks, minimal road work but I am gradually increasing it and going by the 5mins exercise per month old rule.
As for his incontinence, sometimes it just dribbles freely out and others he wakes up suddenly and just cannot even make it to the door. They spend most the day outside in all weathers laying around the yard so he has plenty of toilet opportunities.
I will ask the vets about a urinary infection to see if that's the cause of his lack of control bless him. Also I shall have a read of that raw feeding sticky later, and look up some tripe. Thankyou very much for all your suggestions :)
 
It does not sound like incontinence. At 9 months even if there where effects from castration it would take alot longer for you to see the effects;)
They do not retrain puppy behaviour because of young neutering either lol.....depending on the breed you will see as as many entire dogs/bitches acting like pups as you will neutered, that one always makes me laugh. As suggested he is a rescue and a X breed and you have little clue of his breeding and standards of parent dogs, the joint/bones could well be due to a poor diet as a small puppy or just the lankeyness of the pup, salukis are very gangly looking puppies, my friend has salukis (lots) and all his pups looks like gangley baby gazelles up until he starts to exercise/muscle them up.
The main issue with neutering large breeds young is growth and other than that there really is and none that I have seen other outstanding effects, and with the peeing on leg when squatting/cocking, that is not as suggested a neutered dog issue either, alot of (and very smelly) as you can imagine entire dogs do it, I have an entire male poodle in and he is 2 and his front legs are humming of pee and just watching him pee I can see why, he literally aims for the front legs:rolleyes:
I think folk are scare mongering and panicking you unneccesarily.
 
If you do not already I would go back to basics with the training and monitor his water intake, and maybe start from a crate as it seems like more of a toilet training issue.
 
Lots of good advice on here already but just wanted to reassure you that a lot of this is normal. Our newest dog came from rescue, was neutered at over a year and he still pees all over his front legs, squats occasionally, recently peed himself in his sleep and spent a morning leaking everywhere (dipstick showed no infection and he hasn't done it again since), his back legs are long, gangly and completely disproportionate but that's more to do with poor breeding than anything else. He's just a smelly ugly oik. :p
 
Yeah I wasn't really fussed until someone put the idea into my head, I think I just found things that coincide with symptoms that I read up and convinced myself that my dog was retarded! I've had lurchers and a few other pups but never a saluki pup so he's probably just normal (ish!). Think I've been spoilt with a Basenji which cleans itself like a cat and wouldn't dream of peeing near his legs!
He went to the vets today to check the tooth and they echoed my thoughts about him being particularly lanky but said he is going to be one tall dog. The vet said he aware of side effects of early neuturing and thinks it will probably make him grow taller than he should have been. They took a urine sample and said he is in good condition, just a little slow developing but as you say we don't know his full parentage and he just needs monitoring. Thanks again for all your suggestions, really was useful.
 
Yeah I wasn't really fussed until someone put the idea into my head, I think I just found things that coincide with symptoms that I read up and convinced myself that my dog was retarded! I've had lurchers and a few other pups but never a saluki pup so he's probably just normal (ish!). Think I've been spoilt with a Basenji which cleans itself like a cat and wouldn't dream of peeing near his legs!
He went to the vets today to check the tooth and they echoed my thoughts about him being particularly lanky but said he is going to be one tall dog. The vet said he aware of side effects of early neuturing and thinks it will probably make him grow taller than he should have been. They took a urine sample and said he is in good condition, just a little slow developing but as you say we don't know his full parentage and he just needs monitoring. Thanks again for all your suggestions, really was useful.
 
baileymoo,

any chance of any pics, particularly his front end, and his joints? Regardless of the pics, or not, from your description, I think that you're wise to ask the questions which you have.

Alec.
 
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