Desexing Males

[saintlysusan]

Ive been giving it alot of thought lately whether or not to get my boy fixed.

Hes a St Bernard, Will be 2yrs on 5/9.. Due for hip tests and I believe they will be great numbers!

Ive taken every precaution to make sure he grows steadily etc so that I could breed him if I chose,

I passed my exam for prefix, now Im thinking breeding may not be right for me at this time.

Im really torn, should he get the "snip", I would like him to settle down and Vet says theres a guarantee it will help.

Would he be any less dominant after it??

And of course, its made harder because hes lovely and Im sure he would produce beautiful pups!

[Silverblue]

Why not get him scored first, what is the reason you think his scores will be high,

It is a decision not to be taken lightly,

Good luck in whatever you deciede.

[Dogsfevr]

If hes dominant now using him at stud will most likely increase his all male attitude.

Some males after stud work can become more toey & difficult,inclined to pee up everything.Some couldnt care aless but its important to understnd that some males after stud can certainly become alot more effort.

Have you showen him at all??

[saintlysusan]

No Ive never shown him which is another reason why I think I shouldnt breed him. I hear people bagging out breeders who dont show and I'd hate to be one of them even though reputible breeding is a big interest of mine.

As for the hip tests, I have no way of knowing until hes hip scored how good they will be, Its just a feeling I have.

He was allways intended as a family pet, put on Main reg so I could show him but with a busy household and lotsa small kids, it just hasnt happened and to be honest, the show scene dosent interest me in the least anymore.

I'd hate to put him out to stud and have him be more donimant etc,, I can barely breathe now with all the testosterone!

Edited April 12, 2008 by saintlysusan

[puggy_puggy]

No Ive never shown him which is another reason why I think I shouldnt breed him. I hear people bagging out breeders who dont show and I'd hate to be one of them even though reputible breeding is a big interest of mine.

As for the hip tests, I have no way of knowing until hes hip scored how good they will be, Its just a feeling I have.

He was allways intended as a family pet, put on Main reg so I could show him but with a busy household and lotsa small kids, it just hasnt happened and to be honest, the show scene dosent interest me in the least anymore.

I'd hate to put him out to stud and have him be more donimant etc,, I can barely breathe now with all the testosterone!

Wow you seem like a very responsible person and I aplaud you for it.

I am one of those who thinks that a dog should do well in the show ring and be a good example of the breed to be able to be bred with.

Are you still in contact with his breeder? Maybe you could get them to have a look at him and they could tell you if he is a good example of his breed. Maybe you could take him to a breed specific dog show and have a few people look over to again tell you if he is a good example of the breed.

This is of course if he passed his hip scores.

As for desexing. My first pug I thought I might show and that he might be good for breeding with. I didn't end up showing and now after being in the pug world for 7 years know that he has so many faults it's not funny and should never have been considered for breeding with. I had him desexed when he was nearly 2.

If your dog turns out to be a 'pet only' desexing is the way to go. It will cut down his dominance. Some dominance issues can be already ingrained but by desexing they should be easier to train out thne if a dog is not desexed. Desexing also cuts the risk of your dog being stolen and used as a Puppy Farmer.

Goodluck. I would say get his hips checked and get him looked over by some people involved in the breed and if he doesn't cut it then bit of him can get the cut.

Edited April 12, 2008 by puggy_puggy

[morgan]

Personally I wouldn't breed from the dog in your situation - it could make him more dominant, which you don't need with a busy lifestyle and family to take care of. As an unshown male I doubt that anyone would want to use him and as far as I know this is not a breed favoured by puppy farmers - too expensive to raise

Making a decision not to breed from him has nothing to do with desexing - many of my males are never bred from and never desexed.Yes they can get a bit dominant with other males, especially when a bitch is in season, but I have the facilities to manage this easily. As a large breed he needs his testosterone to keep his musculature in perfect working order to help support that huge frame. I would only desex him if his dominance issues are too difficult for you to deal with. Try some obedience work first, then make up your mind.

You certainly don't have to worry about accidental matings by him adding to the pound population, so don't let anyone guilt you into desexing him simply because it is the politically correct thing to do. Only desex if you feel it is the only way to address any temperament issues. By the way, I have seen some extremely dominant desexed dogs, so no vet can "guarantee" that this op will solve all your problems.

[lucknow]

Personally if you are not going to show him and then proceed to breeding I would desex him at an age recommended for the breed by those experienced with them which is unfortunately not going to be your vet.

Your other option to 'buy some time' before an irreversible procedure is the Suprelorin implant which stops Testostorone and Sperm production temporarily.

And with dominant behaviour desexing is often recommended as the first step to controlling it but it is definately not the be all and end all.

[Dogsfevr]

The implant is well known for decreasing the size of the testicles.

I have friends who have used it on an old dog & i dont have an issue with that but i dont think i would use it on a young dog considering you may need to desex latter on any .

[saintlysusan]

Lots of food for thought, thankyou all that replied.

It does seem a shame to wait all this time only to skip the hips and just have him desexed, I may get his hips done 1st and then make my decision based on that, Im very curious to see if a good food, controlled growth & exercise will reflect in his Xray scores.

[toughgirl78]

Hi saintly susan,

I made the decision to desex my samoyed because I didn't want trying to escape out of the backyard

to chase females. lol.

I was worried that if he did get out he may get hit by a car.

He still does try and hump male dogs occasionally, though trainers say it is because he is trying to dominate

the other dog.

XXToughgirlXX

It's good that you are considering all the options.

[puggy_puggy]

As an unshown male I doubt that anyone would want to use him and as far as I know this is not a breed favoured by puppy farmers - too expensive to raise

A very valid point that I forgot to mention. Other breeders really aren't likely to want to use your dog as a stud if it hasn't been shown and doesn't have titles. This means that probably the only two ways you could breed with him is to get yourself a registered bitch and use her or go the way of BYB or PF which as a now registered breeder would be against canine council rules.

You have already stated that you haven't had enough time to show your dog so if you did get yourself a bitch then I doubt that you would show her therefore how would you know that she was a good representation to the breed? If you did then mate these two unshown dogs wouldn't you be breaking the registered breeders code of ethics to only breed to improve the breed of dog?

[saintlysusan]

Huh?

Where did I say I was getting a bitch? And If I ever did breed I would only ever breed to improve, Im no byb thankyou.

[puggy_puggy]

Huh?

Where did I say I was getting a bitch? And If I ever did breed I would only ever breed to improve, Im no byb thankyou.

I didn't say that you were but as most reputable breeders would not use your dog as a stud because he hasn't been shown the only way that you could use him for breeding would be to get your own bitch or go down the BYB path.

Get his hip scores done.

[sas]

If he's not suitable for breeding then I would de-sex.

I personaly haven't known a giant breed to collapse after de-sexing because they don't have muscle tone to support their frame.

You generally don't want to de-sex until they are fully grown so they develop correctly.

[morgan]

Of course the dog doesn't "collapse"

But I have seen an instance of a very large breed dog, desexed at 6 mths, that had incredibly poor muscle tone compared to his entire siblings (despite the same amount of exercise as them). He ended up having an accident whilst running caused by lack of muscle tone and spent an horrific three months battling bedsores and infection before being pts (spinal injury).

Having seen how devastated his owner was, trying to save this dog's life, I vowed never to desex a male of this breed myself unless medically required. Interestingly enough, some holistic vets treating testicular cancer in large breeds will frequently only remove the affected testicle and keep the healthy one intact, as the importance of the hormones is recognised by them.

PS - Funnily enough, desexing didn't help this boy's temperament any - he spent most of his life humping any female he could get hold of and was known for biting children, which is why he was handed in to the pound in the first place (he was a rescue)

[sas]

Of course the dog doesn't "collapse"

Obviously I was being dramatic

But I have seen an instance of a very large breed dog, desexed at 6 mths, that had incredibly poor muscle tone compared to his entire siblings (despite the same amount of exercise as them). He ended up having an accident whilst running caused by lack of muscle tone and spent an horrific three months battling bedsores and infection before being pts (spinal injury).

The dog the poster is enquiring about is not 6 months old and is fully grown so the comment wasn't necessary. Came across like scare tatics, not sure if you meant it that way?

Edited April 17, 2008 by sas