I am going to get my male pup neutered as we also have a bitch, and aren't going to breed from him.The vet recommends getting him done at 6 months, has anyone ahd their dogs done before this and what were the effects on their physical and emotional maturity afterwards?

If you are going to do it all please try and wait until at least 12 months old if not older.  Castration interferes with normal growth.  Can you not put separate your bitch and dog when she comes into season?

We have had a bad experience of castrating a dog and although I would not do it again myself I would say leave it as long as you can but at least 18 months and if you can several years you can always kennel one or the other or have the bitch spayed, you don't say how old she is.

"Castration interferes with normal growth"

Why did the vet not point this out?

Thanks for your replies but has anyone had their dog neutered before or around six months and had a positive outcome?I am going to speak to my vet about it all at weekend but thought you lot on here would have more first hand experience.my bitch is nearly 6 months, he is nearly 3 months and i don't want any accidents as they are together all the time and it would be a problem to separate them for a long period twice a year.I knew all this when i got a dog puppy but just wondered how early it is possible to get him neutered!:) 

Has anyone else watched the Channel 4 programme called "Human Mutants" about growth? It pointed out that the 'castrati' who were popular opera singers in the 17th and 18th (and even 19th) centuries, who were castrated before puberty so that they retained their singing voices, grew abnormally tall.

Several male pups that I have bred and see regularly have been castrated.  I am afraid I do not admire the effect on the ones doen under a year.  They do not look like proper male dogs, and seem to have stayed at that gawky unattractive stage of development.  The one that was done because he was prone to inappropriate leg mounting actually still does.

Another male was castrated at 3 years of age, and there is no change to him at all, he looks and acts like a male, though he was always affable and obedient.  The only reason he was done was due to an anal gland infection which caused him to lick in that area constantly and he ended up with a fungal infection around the scrotum.  His people were planning a holiday, and I had said I would have him only if none of my girls were in season.  So they decided to have him done, as they didn't want the uncertainty of where he would be boarded.

If you remove the hormones that induce the growth of the sex related characteristics before they have done their work in this regard, the body does not produce them. Different breeds, different characteristics, but in most breeds the dogs should look different from the bitches, and yes it is noticeable the bones seem to continue growing in length longer that the norm and the amount of bone is somewhat lighter. It is difficult to assess because, of course, if you castrate you will never know what that particular dogs potential was, so you can't judge the effect of the castration on his physical conformation, nor if it comes to it, anything else.

Why don't vets point it out, well I sometimes wonder that, some are seem not aware of the problems some dogs can get because of castration but a lot are and some if asked directly will tell you. Why would they offer the information if you don't push for info. They see their job as looking after you, their client, if you say 'off with his bits' why would they argue or even try to tell you what could happen, after all if things are to go a bit wrong it will not be for a year or so and by then you are not likely to make the connection. I may be an old cynic but in this case I have done the research and you would be surprised in the differing levels of knowledge amongst the veterinary profession when it comes to neutering, and dog management in general, not surprising really unless they are dog owners themselves.