Our previous boxer Malic was castrated when we got him and he was a rescue. We now have Alfie who we got at 9 weeks old and is a male unneutured boxer. We would in the future like to consider allowing him out to stud, obviously depending on how he matures and how his health is. If we decide not to use him for stud for any reason SHOULD he be castrated or it is ok to leave him how he is?? Do people keep non stud dogs entire or is it deemed irresponsible??

Alfsmum I am a bit confused, if you want to use a dog at stud he will need all that God gave him in the way of male parts, if you castrate him they will remove these so he would not be able to be used for stud.

Perhaps you would like to rephrase your question so we can give you a sensible answer as I am sure I have not.

OK, have read again and think you mean if by the time he is 3 years old and you decided he is not suitable for stud should you castrate, well I would not but then I would never castrate unless it were for an immediate health problem. Do I consider it irresponsible, not at all providing you look after him in a proper manner.

I have an intact male with no problems- I feel if there was going to be problems then God would not have had them born with them lol we people live just fine with our bits lol

On the otherside if the dog was female I would probably alter after maturity as I myself do not want to deal with a bitch in heat unless I am planning on breeding from her :-)

First off, it's not really you (as the dog owner) that decide to use a dog at stud or not -stud dog owners are approached by bitch owners that have seen your dog do well in the show ring. :) Advertising dogs as available for stud isn't the done thing with responsible breeders, and so if you did that, you'd only be approached by the wrong kind of people. (Like those breeding to make money.) I.e. even if your dog turns out to be healthy and good looking, he may still not be used at stud, or you may be asked -there's no way of knowing.

I have 3 entire male dogs and 4 neutered dogs. There is NO difference between them at all. They all do the same things. The neutered ones even mate and tie with bitches in season given half a chance. My oldest entire dog is 12 ½ years old and he's not a stud dog and never has been. (He did sire an accidental litter which was entirely my own stupid fault, and I lerant that lesson.) My only reason for having neutered some are that they were never going to be shown and it makes life easier for me as there are less entire dogs to worry about when I have a bitch in season. :)

> Do people keep non stud dogs entire or is it deemed irresponsible??

My dog will never be used as a stud - he's just a pet, but he has his 'bits' and I have no plans in getting him castrated. I am perfectly responsible, willing and able to stop him being able to sire any litters :)

ETA, I only have the 1 dog & no entire bitches to worry about.

I just can't bear cutting a bit off my dog for "convenience" sake.

i have an entire male, and will probably neuter him when hes around 5 or 6, purely for health reasons. i have seen way too many dogs with testicular tumours and prostate problems, and needing anaesthetics at an older age. my mum left her 2 gsds entire and the elder one developed a lump on one of his testicles at the age of 6, and my cousin who has WSS, also got her boy done at 7 after a lump appeared.

Thanks everyone for your replies. I am new to owning an entire dog so your comments are appreciated!! The reason i ask is that i own horses and i have a stallion who is two years old. I will hopefully be offering him out to stud when he is slightly older. In horses it can be deemed irresponsible to own a stallion that is not going to be used for stud as kept entire they can be quite difficult to handle/ manage and most stallions will not tolerate being turned out with other horses other than mares. I just wondered whether it was the same for dogs and whether they too would become to diffucult to handle if kept entire.

It depends purely how you treat the stallion as to how they behave ;-)  If you treat a horse like a horse it will behave like a horse, same with dogs.  It doesn't matter if they have "bits" really.  Most folk are like "Ooooh stallion!" and tip toe round him, or put him to stud in-hand or to a dummy mare for AI (no wonder they go crazy if they aren't allowed to socialise properly).

> prostate problems

Actually prostate cancer is more prevalent in neutered males.

Obviously testicular cancer (which is rare) can only hapen to entire dogs. 

Yes some males as in humans get enlarged prostates as they age.  Chemical castration is effective if the dog is too frail for GA.