Hi

Do any of the doberman owners on this board know what age is best to castrate a doberman? Our dog is coming up to six months and vet would do him at six months but to me this seems quite young as I understood that they are quite slow to mature.

I have seen first hand what positive effects castration can have on a dog and only one negative - putting on a little weight at front end but this could have been lost by diet if we put mind to it I suppose.

Having said this though the dog that we had castrated was not a dobermann .

What do you think.

karen

hi Karen.
I personally would not have any dog neutered (male) unless there was a good reason for it, can't see the point, a well balanced and trained Dobe is a pleasure, I am sure you will agree. Should you decide to neuter him, unless you have already, I would have him tested for Von Willebrands disease first, if affected it is likely he could bleed to death under anesthetic. This disease is racing through the breed at present.
Dawn.

Hi Karen
I've got a 16mth old Dobe and he is only now showing faint ( very faint at times :D ) signs of maturing .
We havn't had him neutered and to be honest with you I can't see what it would have changed in him .
I have a friend with one the same age and he was neutered and they sound pretty similar behaviour wise
Liz :)

Hi Dawn

Karen does not need to have her pup tested for vWD as she brought her from a breeder who tests the parents and won't produce affected pups (Parents are also both hip and eye tested and the litter were also eye tested before leaving their mum)
~~~~~

Hi Karen

Regarding when to castrate - it depends what you are trying to achieve by castration as to when to do it. I am fairly neutral either way about castration but if it is just to stop his ability to reproduce - the only sure result of castration - then I would like to see the dog mature physically first.

Christine

Tell you what Christine, that brings a HUGE smile to my face !! :D :D :D :D
Dawn.