Hi, my 3 year old cocker spaniel Jasper was castrated when he was about 9 months old.  We also have a chocolate lab bitch, Cassy,  who has not been spayed.  She is 19 months old.

The thing is Jasper keeps trying to mate her.  A couple of weeks ago, and she was in season, they were out the back and I found them locked together.  I have been told this is a sign she could have gotten pregnant.

Which should be impossible since Jasper has been neutred!  What concerns me is the day of his operation the vet phoned my husband asking permission to make an extra insertion because Jasper had a retained testicle, of course we said do what you have to.
Still puzzles me that the vet would phone to ask about this during the operation, which he charged us an extra £50 for!

Is it normal for a neutred dog to want desperately to mate with a bitch, to the point of dragging her out from under the cupboards by her collar to try to mate her.  He seemed so frustrated.  Barking, growling.....playing, coaxing, you name it, he tried it.  She never seemed bothered and would mostly slump down onto the floor ignoring his advances.

However, his last attempt a couple of weeks ago seemed to pay off.  He hasn't tried since, he did yelp as he was locked onto her....sounded painful!  Now her nipples look more prominant.  A work colleague mentioned phantom pragnancy too.  I don't know what to think!

I know I should take her to the vet, but feel so stupid because he neutred jasper, could the operation have gone wrong, is it possible he is able to get her pregnant and how would I know if she is?

Also, if she does turn out to be pregnant, is there a way to prove that jasper is the parent, and the castration was incomplete?
Thank you
Joanne

Hi Joanne,

Yes, neutered dogs do sometimes retain an interest in spayed bitches, to the point of mating and 'tying' - I know a breeder who went through your worry with a dog puppy that was returned to her, and was neutered and stayed.  However, all was well, and apparently it is quite common.

In the VERY unlikely event of her being pregnant, yes there are also DNA tests available to prove parentage.

I'm sure all will be fine though, just a phantom brewing I should think.

M.

All neutered boys I have had have still been interested in mating, and have still tied with in season bitches but of course there won't be any pups. If your vet had NOT removed the undescended testicle then there could have been a slight risk of pregnancy, but as he did ask for permission to do it I'm sure it was done and there is no chance of puppies -she could have a phantom pregnancy though, believing she is pregnant as she has been mated. :)

Marianne

I think that there can be a risk of pregnancy within a 6 month period after a dog being done so your girl definitely should be fine. 

We go through similar every season and my nutered male becomes quite agressive to other males as well :( I just spend about 3 weeks moving them about the house to keep them as seperate as possible as Im afraid he will hurt either her or himself - at 9 he should be old enough to know better.

Thank you All for your good advice and for putting my mind at ease.

Joanne