I have two wonderful deerhound puppies from the same litter, both male, 4 months old, and am wondering what to do about having them castrated/neutered.

We are keeping them purely as pets with no intention to show or breed from them, however I am reluctant to have them altered as I'm concerned it might not be good for their health (the anaesthetic & the long term changes) and may affect their coat, weight, etc. On the other hand they will be spending some stretches alone together during the day at home in the future and while training etc. is proving much more successful than we thought with this breed, and we're doing everything 'by the book', occasionally when they start playing it starts to turn a bit nasty. One also has a tendency to mount the other one already(!) but there is no obvious 'dominant' dog overall. One is a kilo heavier but they're about the same height and it's the lighter one that is doing the mounting and usually likes to walk up ahead of the other one. Overall I wouldn't say that there is a problem with aggression but that may change and in a dog of this size it would be a big problem.

Our vet recommends castration for both dogs but that is par for the course and pretty much the textbook answer for the vet to give. I want to make the best decision for them. My husband's family has a (now geriatric) male whippet (with one testicle) which hasn't been altered, who is and has always been the most chilled out chap you've ever met, and a female spayed whippet cross who is as mad as a mongoose!!

Any advice from anyone familiar with sighthounds and/or large breeds would be much appreciated.

At the moment it is no good trying to put a detailed answer on the site as it will chuck me off. So if you like e-mail me

At the moment it is no good trying to put a detailed answer on the site as it will chuck me off. So if you like e-mail me

Hi Guest
I have Wolfhounds and IMHO I don't see any reason for you to have them castrated. :)
There could be some dominance probs later, because they are litter mates and will want to decide who is No1, but this is less likely with dogs than if you had 2 bitches!
If you do decide to let them have the chop then please consider a vasectomy rather than castration. :)
Nicky

Nicky how will a vasectomy have any effect on behaviour, dominance stuff etc, won't the hormones be completely unaffected?

Hi Isabel
I don't imagine it will have much if any effect on hormones etc but IMO it is a better option.
As I said in my previous post I don't think the guest will have too many probs with two brothers, you wouldn't with IW's anyway. The boys are much more laid back than the girls. IMHO there would be more likelyhood of a prob between the boys if they were different ages, but there, as I say IMO only.
Nicky

I don't disagree with you, Nicky, that castration might not be necessary I just don't see vasectomy as an worthwhile option at all. I have seen it advocated a few times lately but I'm afraid I don't understand how it can be seen as usefull in these sorts of cases, nor would it in the case of a badly trained or controlled dog going off in pursuit of bitches. Also I don't see the point of a vasectomy when a dog is living with an entire bitch they would still have to be kept apart during her season as I see it. If she was anything like my Amber she would be extremely nasty to him if he pestered her before she was ready and if it was a more compliant bitch I should imagine he would make her life very unpleasant with constant attempts at mating. I haven't therefore been able to see when vasectomy would be worth the anaesthetic risk, better not to bother at all I think. :)

Hi Isabel
I suggested vasectomy in this instance simply because IMO it is less likely to alter the personality than castration.
I really don't like to see hounds castrated for no real reason and as I don't think that the guest will need to have her boys castrated but may still feel she/he needs to do *something* it was the lesser of the two options. :)
I agree with you re a dog living with an entire bitch, they would still have to be separated but this isn't the case here.
I also think there would be another valid reason for vasectomy with a show dog, who perhaps could have permission to show in the same way as spayed bitches.
Nicky

Sorry Nicky I still don't get it, showdogs can be shown after castration with permission so how would vasectomy help there as far as I can see the only reason for a vasectomy that I can think of is for contraception while continuing to have the desire for sex, very good for humans ;):) but I cannot see any application for dogs I'm afraid.

I would think most exhibitors will agree that in other than veteran classes a dog that is castrated has very little chance of winning in the showring against entire males.

On the other hand a vasectomised male would still have his testicles and other male attributes, but would be unable to sire puppies, which might be the only reason for considering castration, to ensure an accidental mating wouldn't result in offspring.

As most lay people will use castration to stop unwanted breeding and that is the reason given by vets, RSPCA, etc. for preaching the cause of castration, then vasectomy is a better option, same effect on procreation but none on the poor dog who can live his life with all the hormonal help that it's maker designed. It is of use when you have a dog and bitch together too, how many pups have you met who were bred by accident because someone forgot to shut a door - used in conjuction with Tardec it solves the problem with most dogs and even those who are still keen it is only for a few days rather than a couple of weeks, and no chance of a misshap. And yes you can show the dogs and no one would know except you, your vet and if your honist the KC. Jackie

Sorry but I disagree with the fact that you will have more problems with littermates who are bitches rather than littermates who are dogs.

You will nearly always have a dominance problem with any littermates who are kept together, it really depends on the individual dogs involved and the further apart the dogs are in their characters and temperaments the easier it will be (i.e. two dogs from a litter one of whom is a shrinking violet and is very submissive and one who is dominant will have much more chance of getting on in adulthood than two who are closer in character). The reason for castration in two dominant puppies is to widen the gap of dominance, you have the more submissive of the two castrated, immediately widening that gap.

The three times I have personally witnessed problems in littermates, have all been when it has been dogs rather than bitches. In all three cases the only way to solve the problem was to separate them, and this has been after trying every other option.

Although I will say that it again depends on the owners capability of handling the situation, a more experienced owner will see the signs of dominance aggression and hopefully will be able to stop the behaviour before it get out of hand.