I have a question i have noticed that in the uk people dont often desex dogs/bitches that arnt used for breeding or desexing i want to know why.
I dont think its a problem if you only own the one sex but if you owned a male and a female of different breeds or of crossbreeds wouldnt it be easier and more sensible to just desex?

In that case most people do.  The average pet owner with both seces will usually have the bitch spayed.

As you say there is no need to if only oen sex owned, but I would say the majority of bitches are spayed soner of later whether breeding stock or not.

Hi slee,

I too have been confused by a lot of posters who do not wish to neuter their dogs and some who even feel it is not the done thing, because the majority of people do neuter their pets, dogs and cats in this country, unless wanting to breed or show.  In the UK it is very normal to do this, this is why we do not have a lot of stray dogs over here, because 80% of the dog population are responsible owners and our vets here also do  push for neutering.

I guess it does give out the wrong signals to oversea readers as myself have often been confused by a lot of anti neutering on this site, but it is a minority and not a majority. :-)

You have to remember this forum is majoritally showers and breeders therefore do not neauter their dogs for that reason.  However many pet people do and all rescue dogs are neautred (resuce centres insist and if they don't vets are very pushy)

I think you'll find that people are against the premature neutering of immature animals, not anti-neutering per se. :)

I agree with JG.

If I had a bitch I didn't want to breed from, and knew that for sure - I still wouldn't spay her until she was at least 18-24 months old.  I believe dogs need the hormones in their ovaries to develop fully, physically and mentally, and if spayed early there is a risk that they will remain puppyish either in physique or behaviour.  However, I would then spay her to stop the risk of pyometra. 

With an entire dog, which does not have any aggression problems, I would not castrate.  Castration could then result in other dogs targeting that dog, or in that dog "compensating" for not being entire by becoming aggressive himself.  So my take on dogs is to leave well alone unless there are good reasons to castrate - aggression, living with entire bitches, that kind of thing.

This is a radically different viewpoint to that in the US and other countries, where everything is "routinely" neutered at 6 months old.  Personally, I find that distasteful and a bit freaky. 

and double I feel the need to redeem myself after receiving a few e-mails from this thread. I have read this post differently to most of you, but I think my answer deflected the original meaning.

When I said that there is a minority of anti-neuterers I was not refering to anyone on the site at all, quite the opposite I think we all give very good advice as to the best time to neuter.

The way I read the post was in the way that I feel Slee wrote it, meaning that we get an awful lot of posters with entire dogs and bitches, lots of 'accidental' matings with mature dogs, and the answer I find puzzling is the obviously one, to have the dog or bitch neutered, these people seem to be anti-neuterers, it does not seem to cross their minds that this should be the first call.

For someone like Slee looking in from another country it does look as though we in the Uk do not think of neutering our animals, but these posts are from a minority and the majority of us do neuter our dogs. That was what I was trying to say.  Hope that clears it up. (Or makes it more complicated :-D)

I know very few people that neuter their male dogs.  I help out at a local Pet Obedience class, so see a broad spectrum of purely Pet owners.

Bitches are generally neutered to prevent unwated pregnancy in multidog households,a dn to prevent pyometra in old bitches.  Sadly a lot of vets push very early neuterign which is what most posters on ehre are not in favour of as it interfers with growth and maturity.  the cons are rarely acknowledged or pointed out.

Also most UK homes with dogs ahve fenced Gardens so making it far easier to control entire animals, this is where the problem in the USA is huge as dogs are allowed to wander or can esily gain access to in season bitches.

I neuter my own bitches at around 7 years old to reduce pyometra risk and for my convenience.  Fewer cycling bithes means fewer restricted walks for everyone, as they are lead and street only when someone is in season.  I have never kept more than 3 entire at one time,a dn usualy only two.

Like the others have said, we're not against neutering (far from it) but premature neutering. In my own experience, bitches in my breed who are spayed before their 1st season remain immature all their lives. My own bitches are spayed at around 6 yrs, when they are not going to be bred from again. My dogs are not castrated, unless there is a veterinary reason for it.

i was just wondering because i have noticed alot of posts about owning a male and a female and the female is due to come into season soon and they dont know what to do it. Im a breeder myself so my girl is undesexed but i do have a cavalier who will not be bred and she is going in to be desexed soon even though she is still under a year just incase my girl reacts to the cavalier having a season. If they ever fought the cavalier would definetly get injured while i dont have to worry about that because my breeding girl is now her best friend if the cavalier was to have a season my breeding red cattle could definetly turn on her it has been known to happen and myself i would just like the reasurrence that i could never have an unwanted litter or any fighting.

I don't know anything about red cattle dogs, slee, but I've never heard of it being normal or even common for one bitch to react to another bitch's season by being aggressive towards her.  I know of several people who have more than one entire bitch without a problem.

Females can turn on each other generally only when there is a male around and they are in season at the same time and they are competing. I dont have a stud so it isnt much of a bother i do have entire males who do live in my area and if both girls where to go into season at the same time it could be a hassle plus i dont want any unwanted litters from the cavalier. Even though i have my girls inside most of the time it is still a possibility i am just more relaxed and comfortable knowing it can never happen when my breeding girl goes into heat when she is at home and not at the studs i watch her and whats around like a hawk until the season is over

If you have the cavalier spayed I would prepare myself for her coat to become very fluffy and harder to groom.  You may end up having to have her clipped if it becomes like sone I have seen.  Basically like Candyfloss (spun sugar).

I would certainly advise you letting ehr have her first season.

Spot on Barbara The change does seem to be less in bitches that have had a season(or so my friend tells me who is a groomer)

She cringes when she gets a call from a new client who has a Cavalier bitch(or dog TBH)that has been neutered early as they 99% of the time have terrible coats & she sometimes(very very reluctantly)has to clipper them as scissoring isn't effective enough

I saw one such bitch on Sunday at our local marker  She had been spayed at 6 months & at 10 months old looked like a different breed & the vet of course never warned them ! Their dogs lovely shiny puppy cost is now like a ruby cotton wool ball !

In a numerically small breed, it is not a good thing for all the boys to be castrated - their genes may be needed at a later date.

Tell me about it

Its also so difficult to find anything with an unbiased opinion to give new owners. Was it you, Brainless, or JG who did a link to a GSD website? There is some really good stuff on there, including pro's and cons of castration. Everything else seems to be from vets or rescues sites, very heavily "for". My new litter has 6 boys and creates a totally new line anywhere, which I dont want to lose!

http://www.gsdhelpline.com/castration.htm

http://www.gsdhelpline.com/reproductive.htm

I found this paragraph interesting in the early neutering article (the article is pro, must say I find the idea abhorent and totally unecesary in most circumstances).

"Studies have shown that there are differences in behaviour and development between dogs desexed before and after puberty. Dogs that are desexed before puberty tend to remain more "puppy like" in their behaviour.  But  the timing of pre-pubertal desexing was not shown to have an effect on development. There was no repeatable difference between pups desexed at 6 weeks and at 6 months."

It confirms what many of us beleive that prepubertal neutering does alter behaviour and stunt mental maturity.

Which is why I would never have a male castrated unless I had to. Thr thought of an adult GSD acting like a puppy Arghhhh

Bitches too :D