im thinking of having fred my 8mth old GSD neutered at 12mths(my vets wont do it until this age),for a few reasons, 1; to see if it calms him down any 2; i dont want him sewing his seeds and there being lots of little freds around 3; ive heard its better for his health, and the obvious one is that its the responsible thing to do.
are any of these reasons true,particularly the reason being, to hopefully calm him down.

Neutering doesn't calm a dog down, necessarily. It can keep a dog in its puppyhood for far longer! Do you really want a 10 year old dog that thinks it is a puppy? That will be one of the reasons that your vet won't do it before 12 months. Nice to hear of a vet that is willing to wait for a change ;-) Leaving for as long as possible gives the bones a better chance to finish growing, and the dog to mature nicely too. Dogs done too soon can go very thin and leggy in their make-up.

It will stop him getting testicular cancer but apart from that I don't see any real need to have him done. If you are vigilant then he shouldn't be able to sow his seed, though it is easy for a dog to escape.

I have my bitches neutered once they are past the breeding age, so I'm not against neutering, just make sure you are doing it for the right reasons. Stopping little Freds from happening is a good reason :-) Trying to calm him down isn't. That needs maturity and training.

Complete myth that neautering your dog will calm them down! But it does help stop him having unwanted litter and he wont have risk of testicular cancer things like that :)
If you are not planning to breed from him in a positive way (IE Health testing etc) then he should be neutered any way really, just to be sure!! lol

I am also usure weather to get my pup neutered. He's 7 month old Mastiff. However, I wouldn't consider getting him 'done' untill he has finished growing. So I will wait and see what his behaviour is like when he has matured (when he is 3 or 4) and will get him done if he has an 'eye for the ladies' :)

Getting them done will only solve agression and behavior problems related to sex-drive/testoterone levels.

I had my old boy done when he was 7 years old, we got him from a shelter when he was 4 yrs. He was very boistress, he would constantly bark at things while in the garden (birds, bees, planes, cats etc...) and he was always trying to escape. We noticed that this behavior would be at it's worst evrey now & then, & found out some of it co-incided with the neighbours bitch in season.

The thing that made us op for castrating was he managed to escape & with me running after him he got hit by a car. Despite the fact he was wrapped around the front axle & we had to jack the car up to get him out, he survived :) He had a burn on his side fron the exhaust, a large rip in the front of his shoulder (which required a drain to be fitted for a few weeks) a rip in the flesh over a knee cap, knocked a tooth out & scraped a small wart-type growth off his eyelid. He was very sore and it did take a couple of months for him to feel better :( But he was lucky it easily could have been a LOT worse.

After the castration his behavior slowly softened down. He lost the urge to escape and the frustration that came with wanting to look for bitches. It stopped some of the barking, but he never lost his boitstresness. In his case it was the best thing we could have done for him and I wish we had done it sooner, it changed him from a complete nightmare into a hanfull :)

On the other hand, the dog I had before that was never 'done', he never felt the urge to look for bitches and he never got a chance to 'sow his oats', even with an un-speyed bitch in the same house.

I doubt that castration will have any effect on your dogs behavior. He is only 8 months old, he still needs over a year to mentally & physically mature, and as testosterone is playing no part in the behavior he has now, removing that wont change him.

Vigilance is the key to him not sowing his oats :)

Number 1 = No, only maturity and training will do that, and early neutering can hamper mental maturity. 

No. 2 = Yes but it shouldn't apply as a responsible owner you would not let Fred go Free range to be able to father little Fred's, and unless there is a bad latchkey problem, or some really dumb bitch owners around he shouldn't meet any in season bitch where he is allowed off lead.

No. 3 = definite no, there are more health risks for males than health benefits.

The only good reason for castration is to ease sexual aggression and competitiveness, and if you own an entire bitch and cannot be sure of keeping them apart during seasons.

This article will explain the issues and risks v benefits: http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

Your Vet seems rather enlightened as he is quite right the growth plates do not close on a large breed dog until about 14 months, so for skeletal health he should not be castrated until then.

Hi shelleybel,

ditto Brainless' post - there are precious few good reasons to castrate an entire male and even then I personally would only go down that route having tested the water first with something like Tardack (a drug inducing a temporary effect mimicking castration) to see if it worked or if I had issues with entire male and female residents I would neuter the bitch rather than castrate the dog :)  I would only recommend neutering a male for health reasons - i.e. ones present or professionally suspected rather than for the purpose of possible prevention - testicular cancer is not that common!

Hormones are essential in the physical and mental growth and development of all creatures.  Train your youngster like any other dog/bitch to have good manners and good recall, don't let him wander in search of canine company and when he reaches the "kevin stage" (any time around the period you're thinking of having him done!) work harder on the training issues, weather the storm of teenage hormonal rebellion (do you have a brother per chance - if so you'll get the picture LOL) and you'll both come out the other end absolutely fine :)

regards, Teri

Hi Shelleybel

I had my RR neutered at 6 months - to be honest I've since regretted it.  My vet pushed for castration and after reading round since he had the 'chop' it isn't recommended for large breeds until they've finished growing.

He is fine, fit and healthy, but is rather 'leggy' and not as muscular as other Ridgeback males which I put down to this early neutering.

I agree with others, in that it doesn't calm them down and as the majority of dog owners are responsible I don't buy into the unwanted litters line either.

Personally I won't routinely neuter/spay anymore (we have a 4 month old female) but it really is personal choice - whatever decision you make will be right for you and your dogs and that's all that matters!

thanks everyone for your informative replies,i wasnt 100% happy with the idea of having him neutered in the first place,and after reading everyones views,ive made my mind up not to have him done,hes never free to roam and sew his oats,even when hes out with me,hes kept on a long lead.hes not overly bouncy,just a little rough(as stated on another post) my last dog was neutered when he was about 5yrs old,this was for medical reasons,but the bonus was it calmed him down loads,as he was quite an agressive dog,(he was a mixed breed terrier)
i'll wait another few good years and see how he is with other bitches,if hes like a rampant beast when any are in season,i may have to think again
.x.

sound like a good decision :)

afterall, later in life, if you think he could do with 'the chop', the option is always there, but if you get him done young, then later regret it - there's nothing can be done about it.

I sympathise with you on the rough playing (with my other dog)- my pups the same. Some lads just like a good old rough & tumble :(

hi mastifflover
yes,my mind is definately made up, fred will remain a full lad....lol

rough and tumble must be a big boys thing,i need to find him some big boy friends who he cant hurt with his big daft paws!!!
bless him...lol
.x.

> I sympathise with you on the rough playing (with my other dog)- my pups the same. Some lads just like a good old rough & tumble :(

Not just the lads, my Jozi came back to em as an OTT youngster at 8 1/2 months and has been very laddish right up to last year. 

She still likes to rough house but at nearly 8 1/2 has calmed down a lot, but is till her granddaughter's chief playmate.  Her Mum and daughter are laydees :D

> im thinking of having fred my 8mth old GSD neutered at 12mths(my vets wont do it until this age),for a few reasons, 1; to see if it calms him down any 2; i dont want him sewing his seeds and there being lots of little freds around 3; ive heard its better for his health, and the obvious one is that its the responsible thing to do.
> are any of these reasons true,particularly the reason being, to hopefully calm him down.

Hm GSDs don't stop growing until they are 18-24 months, the growth plates do not close until this happens & the growth plates are directly linked to the hormone testorone, castrate before the growth plates close properly & your dog could have serious joint problems.

Why should your dog be able to mate bitches at random ? Surely you will not be letting him stray & if you are always with him he will not not be able to mate bitches. I've had of 6 entire males & 5 entire bitches in the same house(not kenneled)at the same time & three of the males were keen stud dogs. It is a total fallacy that dogs will mate bitches at every opportunity .Castration will eventually render him sterile(although no vet will tell you how longer after castration this happens)

He would never get Testicular Cancer because he wouldn't have any testicles, however testicular cancer is very very rare in dogs. There is little difference between the incidence of Prostate Cancer in castrated & entire dogs & again it is relatively rare

Castration like the others have written is no guarantee that he will calm down afterwards

You might want to read this article about early neuterng

hi moonmaiden
thankyou for your advice,but if you read my other posts,you'll see ive decided to go against the neutering.
i really have no need,as i have said,fred never strays, hes not agressive,hes not over bouncy,i was never 100% for it anyway,i think i just needed people to confirm what i was already thinking.
.x.

Im glad Ive read this post as I REALLY didnt want to have my dog done but the vet recomended it at 6 months! totaly the opposite as to what is said on here!  I was told he would run away whilst off the lead in search of female in heat and to avoid testicular cancer and prostrate problems. 

And line his pockets!!

yes :-)