is there many health benefits for getting a male dog neutered

chris139ryan

I am getting a male bull terrier in about 10 weeks and im just wondering what are peoples opinion on this subject of neutering. I've heard that it reduces the risk of cancer in the dog and other illnesses, is this true.

goat2

yes there are,
a male dog can smell a female in heat from two miles away, he will be gone through fields every day, the health benefits for the dog is that someone will not harm him for entring property, the health benefit for you will be, no worries so no blood pressure with worry looking for him all over the place, if you dont want to lose him, neutering is best, also if you do not want to have him tied up or locked in.

andreac

Absolutely true!!

There is no need to keep male or females entire if you arent planning on breeding them. With females you run the risk of the bitch suffering from Pyometra each time she has a season so its much healthier to get her neutered.

With males it reduces the risk of testicular cancer. There was only a thread here recently about someone who got their dog neutered, and when they went to neuter him, one of the testicles hasnt descended which can be very risky if it was left there so it was of great benefit that he was neutered.

With the males too, it can also help with temperament and stops them wandering looking for bitches in season, lowers their need to urinate to mark as much around the place so it really is best to get your dog neutered unless you plan to breed or show it.

Rachiee

It will also help his emotional mental health as unless he has access to females he will be filled with desire for females with no way of satisfying his lust not much fun for the poor dog

chris139ryan

thanks for the responses, i think i will be getting him neutered then

Chris_Heilong

As others have already told you of all the benefits I wont, but I will balance things slightly and give you a link to some of the potential cons of an early neuter, a balanced view on things means you can make an informed decision and not regret anything later on. If you do a search of the forum you will see we have discussed this very subject countless times before.

Here is a link with some informaton:
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

Galway K9

Controversial but my belief but i'm completely against nuetering! You dont stop wandering, lower drive / energy by castarating (excuse spelling) a dog. Your depriving your dog of a natural and healthy behaviour. You manage these undesired behaviours by your relationship with the dog.

Granted it prevents animal cruelty from happening but that correction should be to the humans with stricter laws and not to be passed to the dog.

Your son keeps following around girls so you cut off his balls. Rational.:rolleyes:
I know dogs are not humans (Thank god for that!) but they are creatures of the earth like us.

I know majority are in favour and not here to argue but thats my input on this.

andreac

Galway K9 wrote: »

Controversial but my belief but i'm completely against nuetering! You dont stop wandering, lower drive / energy by castarating (excuse spelling) a dog. Your depriving your dog of a natural and healthy behaviour. You manage these undesired behaviours by your relationship with the dog. Granted it prevents animal cruelty from happening but that correction should be to the humans with stricter laws and not to be passed to the dog.

Your son keeps following around girls so you cut off his balls. Rational.:rolleyes:
I know dogs are not humans (Thank god for that!) but they are creatures of the earth like us.

I know majority are in favour and not here to argue but thats my input on this.

Yes you do!!

If your dog is never going to be used for breeding then its unfair to keep him entire, so its not natural and healthy for them to be left entire if they are never going to be allowed to mate. Its more unfair to leave them entire and have them frustrated when they can smell a bitch in season and cant get to her or be allowed to mate.

Have you ever seen a male around a female in season and how they behave?? No matter what you do or what relationship you have eith your dog, its natural and instinct to mate with a bitch in season and no matter what you do, you will NOT stop a dog from doing so.
Ive known dogs that even stop drinking water as they are so fixated on a bitch in season, dogs go off their food, they really get themselves in a state, believe me, i know all about it.

Castrating an animal cannot be equated to humans, seriously.

Galway K9

Its my opinion and i believe it to be true no matter way you wish to rationalise it. I just wanted to have my input here thats all.

andreac

I take it your entire males have never been around a bitch thats full in season then?

Galway K9

oh they have anyways i just wanted to have my input, a belief that i hold to be true.

andreac

Well there are a hell of a lot more advantages to neutering your dog and to be honest, your theory on it seems like you are really only doing it for your own personal reasons and not to actually benefit the dog in any way.

What advantages or health benefits is there for leaving the dog entire?

ComfyKnickers

Get the dog neutered - there is no down side to it really, the dog gets over it like any other operation. Don't get it done until about 10 months though as until then, the dog needs the hormones produced in the testicles for healthy growth - your own vet will tell you this as did ours when we got our guy first. Apart from anything, neutering your pet cuts down on the huge amount of unwanted puppies born every year in Ireland (should he escape and find a partner of course!!). A lot of kennels will only take neutered dogs too so that has to be considered if you go away on holidays etc. We have two neutered dogs, the first guy we had done ourselves and there were no ill-effects and I don't think for a minute that we have altered the natural state of our dog. What about a man who gets the snip?? No longer a man?? I don't think so!!

Good luck with your new buddy!!

Tranceypoo

Plus it will stop your dog humping everything in sight and potentially any visitor that comes to your house!!

Galway K9, you're not the guy who walks around Galway city with the Wolfhound and a couple of other dogs not on leads are you? I had a 'conversation' with him once and his argument for not neutering was the same as yours.

Maybe it's a man thing, you'd think it was their balls being cut off.

toadfly

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Maybe it's a man thing, you'd think it was their balls being cut off.

Mainly a man thing from what I've seen, such a stupid reason.

Shammy

Pros : The prevention of unwanted litters
The reduction of stray and feral animal populations
To reduce the spread of inferior genetic traits, genetic diseases and congenital deformities
The prevention or reduction of testicular (and epididymal) diseases
The prevention or reduction of testosterone-induced diseases
The prevention or reduction of testosterone-mediated behavioural problems

cons : The dog may become overweight or obese
Desexing equates to a loss of breeding potential and valuable genetics
Loss of testosterone as a result of desexing may result in immature development of masculine characteristics and a reduced body musculature
Loss of testosterone as a result of desexing may result in delayed growth plate closure
Neutering reduces the male animal's drive to herd, hunt, guard and work

A summary of the pros and cons , it really depends OP on what you want to do with your dog . If you are going to neurter him , my personal preference is that you wait until the dog is over 12 months old.

decskelligs

ComfyKnickers wrote: »

A lot of kennels will only take neutered dogs too so that has to be considered if you go away on holidays etc.

I have never heard of a kennels doing this. I have been using kennels for our dog for the last five years and the ones i have used dont even allow the dogs come into contact with each other.
Think about it you are basically saying that dogs which breed cannot use kennels.

Galway K9

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Plus it will stop your dog humping everything in sight and potentially any visitor that comes to your house!!

Galway K9, you're not the guy who walks around Galway city with the Wolfhound and a couple of other dogs not on leads are you? I had a 'conversation' with him once and his argument for not neutering was the same as yours.

Maybe it's a man thing, you'd think it was their balls being cut off.

No Im not him haha and i know the guy your on about lol I see him out town alright. My belief also applies for the female dogs ive had so its not a male testosterone macho thing. Anyways i hold it to me to be true.

Discodog

This is a difficult topic because I totally support & encourage the neutering of all dogs. But this has to balanced against the need to tell the truth. None of my previous males were neutered & I have decided not to neuter my youngster. I would consider my Vet to be a friend & she accepts my opinion.

There are no health advantages with neutering a male. None of my previous males have "humped", none have ever fathered puppies, none have had behavioural issues & none have missed bonking !. Yes neutering does remove the risk of testicular cancer but it is very easy to check testicles (make sure the curtains are closed) & testicular cancer is rarely fatal. I would always neuter a female because their are obvious health benefits.

But for 99% neutering is essential. I accept that this makes me appear hypocritical but it's better than being a liar

Shanao

Shammy wrote: »

cons : The dog may become overweight or obese - If you let him, as will all dogs. It is up to the owner to feed the right amounts, the dogs body does not create extra fat due to being neutered.
Desexing equates to a loss of breeding potential and valuable genetics - If you're not going to breed anyway then it doesn't matture
Loss of testosterone as a result of desexing may result in immature development of masculine characteristics and a reduced body musculature - If you neuter too early
Loss of testosterone as a result of desexing may result in delayed growth plate closure - Again if you neuter too early
Neutering reduces the male animal's drive to herd, hunt, guard and work - Sorry, but this is wrong. My neutered male is every bit a guard dog as any unneutered male dog, though he isn't here to be a guard dog. You cannot take away an animal's instinct by neutering. Both of the OH's sheep/cattle dogs are neutered and have never lost their drive.

I am pro-neutering due to the rise in testicular, prostate cancer and undescended testicles in male dogs and from the rescue point of view. The same for females. I have met dogs who scaled 7ft high walls, jumped through glass windows and eaten their way through doors and partition walls to get to a bitch in heat.
And to the people claiming it is against nature, sure, haven't we already taken away their natural mating seasons from them anyway? Do female wild dogs mate and breed three times a year? Many wolf bitches dont breed until they are at least four or five, and wolves only reproduce once a year. As we bred specific dogs for specific purposes, we also bred this into the species. So we've already gone against nature.

DBB

In some other countries, Scandinavian countries spring to mind, it is very unusual for owners to neuter their dogs.
Yet they have a practically non-existent stray/unwanted dog problem.

Why?

Because their dog control laws are good, they're strictly enforced, and their culture of respect and social conscience means that you rarely see dogs wandering the streets there. People keep their dogs on lead and simply don't allow unwanted matings to happen.
The side effect of this, as it happens, is that their dogs tend not to be particularly good with other dogs. This may be because the above culture prevents dogs from socialising with one another very much, and perhaps the fact that most of the male dogs are testosterone-fuelled and more aggressive?

In Ireland, as most of us know, the dog control laws are not as good as they should be, and their implementation is generally poor. The culture amongst us (I mean "us" as a nation generally) is one of not really caring whether our dog is causing a nuisance, crapping on the footpaths, and making lots of new puppies for which homes can't be found. Indeed, in some sectors of society the breeding of dogs is a great little profit-making enterprise.
So until things take a serious change in Ireland towards better control of dogs, I will be an advocate of neutering in Ireland. If I lived in Sweden, I probably wouldn't be so hung up on it.
I don't have a huge issue with very responsible dog owners not neutering their males if they can guarantee their dog is not going contribute to the unwanted puppy population. I do have a problem, however, with females being allowed come into heat again and again, causing all sorts of problems, popping out pups, and suffering from the not insignificantly increased chances of various related health problems.
However, very responsible dog-owning people are in the minority in our population (the proportion of them on animal-related forums tends to be unrepresentatively high!) Rescue groups have to deal with the upshot of irresponsible dog ownership on a much bigger scale than any average dog-owner is aware of, and they are 100% right to neuter everything prior to rehoming.
So, like it or not, until we get a sea-change in legislation, implementation of same, and responsibility amongst the greater dog-owning population, here in Ireland we need to keep advocating neutering (at an appropriate age), because here in Ireland the alternative is putting thousands of healthy young dogs to sleep every year.
It's a cost-benefit analysis.

mosi

My own two are neutered and spayed.

I didn't give it a second thought with the female...unwanted litters, pyometra and mammary cancer are just some of the issues I didn't want either me or her to deal with.

I did think about the pros and cons with my male though (who I had first). I had been quite keen to get him done but the OH was a bit unsure (I think that was down to it being a bloke thing:rolleyes:). As my boy is never allowed to wander, the matter of him producing pups wasn't a huge matter. Still, it just takes a broken lead, an open door, a sudden dash when off lead...while he had his balls, there would always be a chance, no matter how careful we were.

Also, I didn't have my girl at the time, though I was considering getting a female. I felt that it would be better for any newbie not to have an unneutered male bothering her. I also didn't fancy explaining to rescues why I hadn't neutered my male. In the end, I got my girl directly from the pound. I was definitely glad my boy was neutered as she was in heat at the time.

Before getting him done, I read up on some of the medical pros and cons. One that concerned me was the suggestion that neutering can lead to a higher risk of prostate cancer later on. I spoke to my vet about this and she said that, while there is a risk, the incidence of this in neutered dogs is far less than the incidence of testicular cancer in neutered dogs.
At that point I felt that everything added up to getting him neutered.
It's easy to say that "it won't happen to me" regarding cancer, pups etc., but the fact is that it can and it does.

Two weeks ago, my parent's 13 year old collie was neutered due to the vet being unhappy that one testicle was larger than the other. Luckily he is an otherwise heathy dog for his age and came through the operation very well. Many older dogs may be coping with other health issues though, and operating at such an age can be very risky. The test results came back showing that the "normal" looking testicle was in fact malignant. It doesn't seem to have spread luckily, but an early neuter would have avoided the old man having to go through this risk.

planetX

Tranceypoo wrote: »

Plus it will stop your dog humping everything in sight and potentially any visitor that comes to your house!!

Galway K9, you're not the guy who walks around Galway city with the Wolfhound and a couple of other dogs not on leads are you? I had a 'conversation' with him once and his argument for not neutering was the same as yours.

Maybe it's a man thing, you'd think it was their balls being cut off.

Ha, I saw that wolfhound being allowed to drink milk out of a jug on an outdoor table of a cafe..... ask for fresh milk people:eek::eek:

Tranceypoo

planetX wrote: »

Ha, I saw that wolfhound being allowed to drink milk out of a jug on an outdoor table of a cafe..... ask for fresh milk people:eek::eek:

Oh!! Lovely!!! I have to go out of my way to avoid that guy now he just infuriates me on so many levels!!!

Just on another posters point, my neutered male is no less a guard dog, if he even imagines he hears a noise outside he's full on hackles up barking, also the spayed female who is a collie cross has definitely not lost her urge to 'work' she is mad to herd any sheep or cattle she passes (which is why she is always on a lead!)

The Internet Explorer

Bitches love dogs.

ComfyKnickers

decskelligs wrote: »

ComfyKnickers wrote: »

A lot of kennels will only take neutered dogs too so that has to be considered if you go away on holidays etc.

I have never heard of a kennels doing this. I have been using kennels for our dog for the last five years and the ones i have used dont even allow the dogs come into contact with each other.
Think about it you are basically saying that dogs which breed cannot use kennels.

Sorry maybe not lots of kennels then, the one we use have the dogs running around together and insist on dogs over 12 months being neutered.

Shanao

A lot of kennel owners i know wont let unneutered male dogs into their kennels either as they let the dogs out in groups to play and dont want any trouble. I'd hate to bring mine to a kennels and have them not meet another single dog the entire time they were there so i think its a great idea to be honest.

Galway K9

Thanks guys, knowing that cutting off my balls reduces testicular cancer means i should do it, Thanks Guys

killwill

I personally was for neutering, and did neuter my dog but I want to point out that even though there was a piece of research posted on the first page showing us an increase in bone cancer, etc after neutering, the pro posters here seem to be ignoring it.
After I got my dog neutered I found him to be less obedient, he barks at anyone passing our house now and chews up my girlfriend's shoes if they are left around. All behavioural issues since neutering.

Cherry Blossom

killwill wrote: »

I personally was for neutering, and did neuter my dog but I want to point out that even though there was a piece of research posted on the first page showing us an increase in bone cancer, etc after neutering, the pro posters here seem to be ignoring it.

This is not a point against neutering a male dog, it's just a point against neutering them before they are fully grown, to maximise the health benefits and get best of both worlds I personally think males should be neutered once they have finished growing, the age depends on breed and size, this is of course providing the owner can manage the dog properly in the meantime. I will be (hopefully) getting a male pup next year and I'll be playing it by ear as to if and when to neuter, if he happens to be of show quality he might be shown for a while and may be a bit longer being done, it will also be an agility dog and I'm not going to take any chances with bones and joints by training too much too early so I won't take any chances by neutering too early either.

Zapperzy

killwill wrote: »

I personally was for neutering, and did neuter my dog but I want to point out that even though there was a piece of research posted on the first page showing us an increase in bone cancer, etc after neutering, the pro posters here seem to be ignoring it.
After I got my dog neutered I found him to be less obedient, he barks at anyone passing our house now and chews up my girlfriend's shoes if they are left around. All behavioural issues since neutering.

What age was he when he was neutered? I'm guessing between 6-12 months? He probably hit puberty around the time he was neutered, it would be normal for very obedient pups to suddenly start acting up when they hit puberty which would explain the behavioural issues.

I'm all for neutering both males and females, and if you can keep them secure I also believe they should be done once finished growing. I know any dog (and cat) I will ever own will be neutered (unless down the line I start showing).