Aftercare for Neutering

ShaShaBear

So, Opie is booked in for the snip n' chip on the 18th of this month (a month later than we planned because we thought we'd qualify for the Dog's Trust voucher ). Any advice for aftercare? We had Shadow neutered by what I know now to be a less than savoury vet (my dad took him to the same farmer vet his mother used to take their dogs to ) so I'm expecting things to be totally different.

Also, any personal experiences with changes in energy levels etc when neutering a high-energy breed at 7 months? Shadow's energy levels really dropped and he became much more responsive to training and commands (although he was 4 years old so that could have been age-related). I know I can ask the vet all this and I'm sure she will tell me, but it would be nice to know what's "normal" so I don't rush him back to the vet in a panic :P

borderlinemeath

He could be a bit groggy when he's collected from the vets, he'll not know what hit him with the anaesthetic so he'll be out of sorts, although I've found dogs that get a regular straightforward snip are far easier than bitches that have had the full hysterectomy. They come around faster, are quicker to eat and get back to normal. I've even had a few foster dogs come straight from neutering without even a buster collar and are right as rain the next day. I'd just keep an eye on him at the stitches (and if it's straighforward then there'll only be a couple of them) and if he does have a collar I'd definitely leave it on overnight but if he's not at them then you could leave it off when you're around during the day to supervise. Overly rough and tumble is out for the first ten days to ensure that the stitches don't tear)

Regarding energy levels, I don't know if it'll have much of an impact. Particularly as he's still a young enough pup. I would imagine it might be more noticeable if he was an older, fully adult dog, say 2+ years. What I do find with some dogs that are neutered is that they can be far better at playing and interacting without being hormonally led by their testosterone. With some dogs (usually that haven't had much socialisation when they were pups) that are left intact their interaction with other dogs (males and females) is completely directed by testosterone. So I would imagine that in the case of Shadow, his concentration levels were redirected away from the testosterone.

ShaShaBear

borderlinemeath wrote: »

He could be a bit groggy when he's collected from the vets, he'll not know what hit him with the anaesthetic so he'll be out of sorts, although I've found dogs that get a regular straightforward snip are far easier than bitches that have had the full hysterectomy. They come around faster, are quicker to eat and get back to normal. I've even had a few foster dogs come straight from neutering without even a buster collar and are right as rain the next day. I'd just keep an eye on him at the stitches (and if it's straighforward then there'll only be a couple of them) and if he does have a collar I'd definitely leave it on overnight but if he's not at them then you could leave it off when you're around during the day to supervise. Overly rough and tumble is out for the first ten days to ensure that the stitches don't tear)

Regarding energy levels, I don't know if it'll have much of an impact. Particularly as he's still a young enough pup. I would imagine it might be more noticeable if he was an older, fully adult dog, say 2+ years. What I do find with some dogs that are neutered is that they can be far better at playing and interacting without being hormonally led by their testosterone. With some dogs (usually that haven't had much socialisation when they were pups) that are left intact their interaction with other dogs (males and females) is completely directed by testosterone. So I would imagine that in the case of Shadow, his concentration levels were redirected away from the testosterone.

I wouldn't expect (or really want) his energy levels to deteriorate, but if he weren't as testosterone-driven, I imagine he would be more receptive to training. He's started to get reactive on the lead to other dogs (he will stop and bay at them until they get up close, and then its all tail wags and happy greetings and kisses) so I was thinking that might be because of him maturing, as he didn't do it until about 5.5 months. People with dogs steer clear of him on walks now and I feel serious irony in shouting "Don't worry, he's friendly!"
He's also shown some serious issues in listening to my OH. When I come in, he rarely ever jumps any more, and is quite good. He still struggles with new visitors as well. But when my partner comes in from his course, he treats him like a new visitor and he was getting very frustrated (lots of cuts and bruises as Opie is now standing as tall as a smaller greyhound) but very recently he's also made a few attempts to mount Pierce, so we think again that neutering might nip it in the bud before it's a learned behaviour

I suppose I should expect the possibility of "aggressive" grumpy behaviour if he's hurt? And I assume the vets would be used to that? He's obviously not aggressive but Shadow was so quiet that I'd be worried a vet would give me a telling off if he snapped getting the chip or something