My boy is going in for 'the op' a week Friday. I suspect he won't want to wear an Elizabethan collar and to be honest his head is smaller than his neck (which is very big) and so he would be able to just get it off. I've seen a few different types of collars for this sort of thing, such as the inflatable ones. What sort do you find best for post-op stitches? He would probably try to lick them.

Mine do fine in the Comfy Collars - inflatable ones. Although it does depend on how long your dog is, as to whether he can get to his stitches or not. I've found the Elizabethan collars just add to the general air of depression post surgery, so try to avoid them if possible.

> My boy is going in for 'the op' a week Friday.

Just out of interest what are your reasons for neutering your dog? there seems to be mounting evidence that males are better left entire.

I have waited until he is fully grown and matured. He is two now and with a high number of intact females around, he does get driven to distraction when they come into season and so I find it kinder to try neutering him.

I haven't taken the decision lightly however I've done it in a balance of pros and cons and at what I feel is an appropriate age for him.

Another vote for comfy collar here, my dogs just rest their chins on it and use it as a pillow.

Good luck, hope all goes well.

I know they are very routine operations but I hate leaving him anywhere and I will be a nervous wreck waiting for him!

Thanks for the reply. I know from your posts on here you are a thoughtful and informed dog owner so I was interested to see what your reasons were. I am glad that it was not just because the vet says you should.

I see many puppies in my line of work and I am saddened just how many vets are telling their owners to neuter them at a very young age and for no legitimate reason.

To be honest I've never used a collar, never seen a need. Especially not for a male dog. The few times in the past I used them all it did was depress the dog. I had a bitch spayed on Wednesday, she was sent home with a collar and I decided to take it just in case (usually turn them down at the vets as I have many) but it's not been used at all and she's not touched her stitches the slightest.

Just don't bank on him losing all interest in in season bitches!! Certainly has never stopped any of mine mating them. Just checking my records and this year alone I have had FOUR different male neutered dogs tie with in season bitches. A 10 year old that was neutered when aged 3, an 8 year old neutered at 8 months, a 3 year old neutered at 9 months and a 4 year old neutered at 2½. Four different breeds of these boys as well! So in my experience it does nothing other than prevent pups as the age it is done at seems to have no affect at all on future interest in bitches. The one thing it seems to affect is the timing -the neutered males don't know when the bitch is most receptive so get them either very early or very late or both (which is why it keeps happening here) -the entire dogs know the RIGHT day and therefore don't bother for more than a few days to a week with great interest. In that sense my two entire boys are less hassle as they don't stay worked up for the entire season.

For the reasons Marianne said I would not have him done unless you are/planning to have a bitch in your own home or there is an entire one literally next door.

Chances are as he matures he will get less worked up unless unlucky enough to sniff out one that is right on the dot.

I have said up to three entire bitches at once and one of my neighbours who is a friend has owned entire males of a large and virile breed and never had an issue and they are only three garden widths (75 feet) away, with me visiting during the girls seasons.

It's more likely that Nando's friskiness is general due to being a young testosterone filled male.

I'd go for the implant (though you will get a testosterone surge) and once it has kicked in you will see if it really makes enough of a difference to warrant castration.

Have to say if he is a GSD two is still young to have him done he is almost bound to get side effects as he gets older. Would leave it till he is mature and by then you may find you no longer feel the need. If you can possibly manage without I would urge you to do so at least till he is over 7 but if possible do not neuter a male at all apart from the removing the ability to procreate you will achieve nothing positive and you may well get negative results.

My boys that were castrated didn't need a collar at all, they didn't look at the wounds once, it is a very small op and they recover the next day :-)

I do genuinely appreciate your concerns but its not something I've taken lightly and I have spoken to my vet and behaviourist. It is not something I am doing on a whim either, I have researched for quite a whole and come to the conclusion I feel it is a good route to go down for my dog.

Obviously neutering is not a one-size-fits-all thing but I feel it is the right thing to do in my circumstances.

We use the comfy collar when needed. One of my rotties became really distressed and disorientated with the elizabethan collar, but will tolerate the comfy collar, and as another poster mentioned, uses it as a pillow.

I have spoken to my vet and behaviourist

Well you have decided this is best for you but I do wonder if you have asked the best people, what is it you are trying to achieve by neutering when he is so young? Sorry not trying to bully you just really interested in what has made you decide this is best for your dog when scientific research would suggest otherwise.

its a really hard decision with all the new  research...I am following these posts with interest as I've just got a male pup,my first boy in over forty years and am undecided about neutering.
I know when my girls were spayed we didn't use a collar,but used a cotton tee shirt.You put the shirt on with the head opening over the tail and the arms on the back legs..then knot the waist of the shirt over the dogs thorax.this way there was no possibility to lick the stitches. we used gold bond powder to combat the itchiness of the shave. All in all it went well.Good luck!

> we used gold bond powder to combat the itchiness of the shave

I haven't heard of this. Where did you get it from please?

Personally I would only ever consider neutering a male if it was for a reason of health - I have experience of the sort of problems that can happen in a neutered male and one I had who was neutered early suffered very badly all his life.

The behaviourist actually told me to put off neutering until we had worked through the problem that she came out for. She is very clued up and used BAT techniques on my dog (who was suffering from a bit of nervousness after being attacked by other dogs, nothing really that serious but I wanted to make sure it was nipped in the bud.)

The main things I believe it will help him with are marking territory constantly when out and about, the ability to be mixed with entire females without harassing them (also highly likely we will be taking on a bitch at some point,) reducing the likelyhood he will take off after entire females. He also has issues with weight gain which I believe should be helped by neutering him.

All of this combined with the entire females in the area, (they really do make his time miserable) I just feel it is the fairer option for him. I understand the risks (such as the increase of other types of cancer but the elimination of testicular cancer) and that it may not change his behaviour at all, however it is an avenue I would like to go down. I am going to speak to my vet about surprelorin as a trial run as then at least it is reversible.

Well it may or may not help or you may swap the one problem for another, he may well develop feminisation syndrome which is worse than trying to stop his interest in bitches which will stop anyway once he is mature. He will be inclined to be slim he is not fully mature as yet, many males of different species are slim in youth, he needs to be given time.

There are many problems apart from those you suggest,  I had in one dog, feminisation,  over growth, arthritis, immunity problems and increase of oil in the skin causing cysts and fungal problems, and he was still interested in mating bitches. Surprelorin may improve his behaviour towards bitches or it may not, but you will still be depriving his body of the hormones he requires for proper growth towards full mature, he will never reach his best if you interfere with his hormonal system and I would not dream of giving it to a dog that is not mature you need to wait at least another year before using Surprelorin and about 5 before castrating.

Esme....Re....
>" we used gold bond powder to combat the itchiness of the shave

I haven't heard of this. Where did you get it from please?"


The chemist should sell this...you can also find it if you google.      Gold bond powder uk.
it is a medicated talc like powder...anti itch and soothing.
https://www.google.it/search?q=gold+bond+powder+uk&ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&hl=en&client=safari

> I am going to speak to my vet about surprelorin as a trial run as then at least it is reversible.

Good idea - and this will give him a little more time to mature.  Some of his excessive male behaviours will be the enthusiasm of youth.  At 2 they are a seething mass of hormones and their sexual behaviour choices are driven by instinct.  By the time he reaches 3, like many boys he may simply calm down and learn how to manage his impulses - his training will help to override his urges.  At three you'll see the adult dog, both physically and mentally and be better able to know if neutering is the best decision for him.

Marking territory is v common amongst male dogs - neutered and entire.  However, if you prefer him not to keep stopping then it's a training issue.  Avoid temptation as much as you can by simply walking briskly along and a little further away from walls, posts, car tires etc so that he can't quite reach.  Walk him on the outside of the pavement if necessary.  Allow him pee points when it's convenient for you otherwise just tell him 'not here' and keep walking.  As long as he doesn't actually need a wee (assuming he's been in the garden before a walk) then he won't mind being jollied along :)  I don't think that boys should be allowed to pee anywhere they like AND it's one of those behaviours that get worse if not discouraged.  Mine are allowed to pee off lead but I rarely stop if they are on lead.  Also if I'm walking all three then it's a tangle of leads and pee on heads!!

Harassing girls is immaturity too - an adult boy knows better - but training is an important part of managing this annoying behaviour.  If he isn't to be used at stud (and even then within reason) then it's perfectly permissible to correct him.  Tell him 'no' and move him away, distract his attention elsewhere and put him on a lead or remove him from the room if necessary.  As long as the bitch isn't in season then he is simply misreading the situation and over reacting.  Gentle correction from the bitch is also a valuable tool in teaching an enthusiastic boy.  Obviously if she is flirting she'll attempt to override your decision and it might be sensible to remove her!  I have two entire boys who get visits from their sisters and from time to time BOTH need to managed - the girls can be terrible flirts even when not in season :)

The main things I believe it will help him with are marking territory constantly when out and about,

Again this will not change I'm afraid, especially not at the age of 2 as is had become a learned behaviour/habit. I can't ever leave my vacuum cleaner out on the floor as my Cavalier always cocks his leg over it -he was neutered over 2 years ago. I once had a male dog neutered already at 4 ½ months (another story, but I wouldn't do it again). He peed like a bitch for 3 years, then all of a sudden the penny dropped and he started to cock his leg. Now we're having a problem with the same dog (now aged 11) as he has started to now and then mark on my mother in law's bed -the corner of it.  Outdoors during walks he has always marked as much as any entire dog. So again, don't expect this to change as chances are it will not.

> The main things I believe it will help him with are marking territory constantly when out and about

I had my last dog neutered when he was approx 6 years old (we got him as a 4yr old). He was a complete nightmare when he got the whiff of a bitch in season, he would pace around the house crying and try his hardest to escape. He did finally escape one day and got run over by a car - ended up wrapped around the front axle and we had to jack the car up to get him out. The poor thing was battered about with big wounds from being dragged along the road and large burns from being squashed against the engine. Amazingly no broken bones. Once recovered he seemed to loose interest in trying to escape but we had him neutered to hopefully stack the odds in our favour (so we don't know if being nearly killed quelled his wander lust, or having his bits chopped off did it, but he remained extremely nervous of cars on the road). He did carry on scent marking for the rest of his life, (step, squirt, step step squirt etc!).

On the other hand, Buster is coming up to 6 yrs old, he is entire. He does scent mark but on an excessive day it would be 4 marks in a 45 min walk, so nothing like our last dog. A male dog is programmed to act like a male dog before it is even born, so there is only some things that neutering can help and then it depends on wheather the behaviour is down to hormones or the dog - eg. some dogs scent mark more than others regardless of if they still have their googlies :)

My neutered dog never wore his collar when he was 'done', he didn't bother the stitches, but he did feel veeeeeery sorry for himself for a couple of days and milked it for all he could, to get extra cuddles :)

> The behaviourist actually told me to put off neutering until we had worked through the problem that she came out for. She is very clued up and used BAT techniques on my dog (who was suffering from a bit of nervousness after being attacked by other dogs

Dogs inclined to be nervous can be negatively impacted by castration as often they get their courage from testosterone.

> The main things I believe it will help him with are marking territory constantly when out and about,

It is natural for boys to mark. As long as it is only when he is in an appropriate place whats the harm? If he is wanting to stop amd mark when you are walking on lead then it is a training issue not a hormone issue. Castrated dogs do still mark so castration will not necessarily stop the problem.

> the ability to be mixed with entire females without harassing them (also highly likely we will be taking on a bitch at some point,) It is much safer and more practical to spay the bitch than neuter the dog. Harasing females will be solved by maturity, mixing with suitable strong minded bitches who wont stand for any nonsense, and obedience training.

>The main things I believe it will help him with are marking territory constantly when out and about

It certainly cured that annoyance with Piglet, when he was castrated at the age of 11 years; he now does one or two 'proper' wees on a walk, rather than wanting to claim any vertical surface as his own property!

Had one of mine done 3 weeks ago, 1 year old pug. Already seen a reduction in scent marking. Losing interest in the ladies and generally calmer. Didn't use a lampshade collar either. He didn't even seem to notice! :) hope all goes well .

This was posted on its own thread a few days ago and makes interesting reading on the pros and cons of neutering.

http://www.plosone.org/article/info%3Adoi%2F10.1371%2Fjournal.pone.0061082