far_kenell_73 Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Hi Everyone, I have a 5 1/2 month old male Golden retriever which is my first dog. It's getting to the time where we are looking at getting him de sexed and I just wanted to get some opinions on stuff I have heard. He will not ever be bred from so obviously I would like to get him desexed. One thing I have read time and time again is desxing a male dog will calm a dog down, thing is we love his personality how it is at the moment and he is already a very quiet and calm dog. And my fear is if we get him desexed he will loose some of the energy he has. In everyone's experience how much does desexing change a dogs personality, does it calm dogs down that are already calm or only calm dogs down that are highly energetic or is it all a myth and a bit of placebo and the dog has just matured naturally? Is 6 months the best time to have them desexed? Any help would be great thanks, Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shags Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 My opinion is that desexing getting done at the earliest possible time is best and 6 months is perfect. The puppy hasnt experienced sexual desires so it is something that wont be missed. In my experience and form what I have read, it seems to be a myth that desexing calms down a dog. I have not seen this at all in any dog I have had desexed. I have had my girl (staffy) done only this week at 5.5 months and although we are comparing a girl to a boy, nothing has changed. Two days later, once the collar(bucket) was removed the ZOOMIES started up again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tlc Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 Hi, My boys and girls were all done between 5 and 6 months and their personalities did not change at all. Our old dog was 8 when he was desexed and he didn't change either. Ill be interested to see others comments. The only thing some might say is due to your dog being a bigger breed it might pay to wait a while before having him desexed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear&Duke Posted January 31, 2012 Share Posted January 31, 2012 I personally think it's a myth. But I also think sometimes the desexing coincides with an age where a dog starts to grow out of their puppy phase and in to an adult and people put it down to the desexing rather than the age. We got Bear desexed at 12 months, and I wouldn't wait that long again. We were advised that if we desexed him early it would stunt his coat growth, I have no idea if thats true or not. It was really hard to keep him confined for the 10 days that the vet wanted as he was such a big dog by then and used to being outside. Our second dog Duke will be desexed at 5 months old as this is when I will be able to take time off work to look after him and he is still inside most of the time so he won't have a problem being confined. I also think our vet is a little over cautious with confining the dogs for 10-14 days, with NO access to grass or sand. I have never heard of such a long period before so I think it's a bit of an overkill Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jumabaar Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 There are benefits to leaving them longer and giving their body time to mature naturally with all their hormones. You should discuss it with your breeder, however I know many golden breeders suggest leaving them till they are over 12mths of age. Desexing has not changed temperament with any of the dogs that I have had done or seen done. My older boys who are entire have perfect manners- no sexual desires have impacted on their life and they are 4 years of age :laugh: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
persephone Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 There is interesting information in these threads LINK LINK Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
becks Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 There are pros and cons. Personally I would let your boy fully mature and then think about desexing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) I have always had my German Shepherd boys desexed at about 7 months. They appear to have grown sufficiently by then. Interestingly (and this could fall under the banner of "old wives tales"), I had often been told that a desexed GSD will be less aggressive than an entire. In what I have learned since first hearing this as a young girl, I would say it really has to do with what stimulus is around for them to be 'aggressive' about! Of course keeping a number of male entires together and having a bitch in season thrown into the mix could bring out certain agressive instinctual behaviour. Let's face it the perpetuation of the species does call for the strongest male to fight for and win any battles ensueing over the female. Fortunately domestic dog breeding isn't this extreme. ;) I've just found that desexing takes away the many concerns regarding the ownership of an entire dog not intended for breeding. It certainly won't change the personality of your dog. :) Edited February 1, 2012 by LizT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Why is everyone in such a hurry to have the boys castrated? I tell my puppy buyer to wait until they are at least 12 months old. My male is 7 years old and I have 4 females he has never had a stud and no accidental matings. No, he is NOT aggressive either, he is very easy to live with NOT like my bitchy females always eyeballing each other. I think you guess I love him the best Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mumof4girls Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Why is everyone in such a hurry to have the boys castrated? I tell my puppy buyer to wait until they are at least 12 months old. My male is 7 years old and I have 4 females he has never had a stud and no accidental matings. No, he is NOT aggressive either, he is very easy to live with NOT like my bitchy females always eyeballing each other. I think you guess I love him the best We are not going to be in any rush, my hubby actually said if there is no medical or behaviou reason we will leave him be.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bear&Duke Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Why is everyone in such a hurry to have the boys castrated? I tell my puppy buyer to wait until they are at least 12 months old. My male is 7 years old and I have 4 females he has never had a stud and no accidental matings. No, he is NOT aggressive either, he is very easy to live with NOT like my bitchy females always eyeballing each other. I think you guess I love him the best I was under the impression that there are health benefits to having a dog desexed. I think it may be due to a reduced risk of testicular cancer or something of that nature? If I am wrong please correct me as if there aren't health benefits to desexing I won't put my boy through the trauma of anesthetic Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SparkyTansy Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I like mine to finish growing before they are desexed... particularly the males The only thing that i noticed about my boy when he was desexed was his coat went to crap (he was 5) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
german_shep_fan Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I like mine to finish growing before they are desexed... particularly the males The only thing that i noticed about my boy when he was desexed was his coat went to crap (he was 5) I agree, i now regret having my boy done at 7mnths. I wish i had waited for him to finish maturing. Vet thinks he would of been 5kgs of muscle heavier then he is now. That would of given me 50kgs of Troyboy :D I am in no rush to get my new girl done either :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Fordogs Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 You have to look at your own dog and decide, look at his temperament, if he is he easy to train, is he well behaved around people and other dogs, are you able to prevent him from escaping. If you can say yes to these questions then all is good BUT if he is showing any signs of aggression towards other dogs or people marking his territory inappropriately eg inside or on the outer walls of your home or when visiting others then I would have him desexed. Health wise, I have only ever seen only a few dog with testicular cancer but I have seen quite a number with prostate cancer and a great many dog that have been very badly injured during fights with other male dogs over a female on heat. I really don't think that desexing male dogs is purely for health reasons the biggest reason is to prevent behavior problems. You also have to look at your puppy contract, what has your breeder stated? I am not advocating For People to Not Desex BUT just to allow their dogs to mature a little that's all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
**Super_Dogs** Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I was under the impression that there are health benefits to having a dog desexed. I think it may be due to a reduced risk of testicular cancer or something of that nature? If I am wrong please correct me as if there aren't health benefits to desexing I won't put my boy through the trauma of anesthetic I has also heard this. I think what has happened is more research has been done and what we once thought is no longer the case. Have a look at the links before posted by persephone. In these links there are some research articles. There are pros and cons of desexing, but some of the research now saying for boys desexing actually increases the health risks. All the research I have look at shows you should wait until your dog is mature. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poodlemum Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Why is everyone in such a hurry to have the boys castrated? I tell my puppy buyer to wait until they are at least 12 months old. My male is 7 years old and I have 4 females he has never had a stud and no accidental matings. No, he is NOT aggressive either, he is very easy to live with NOT like my bitchy females always eyeballing each other. I think you guess I love him the best We are not going to be in any rush, my hubby actually said if there is no medical or behaviou reason we will leave him be.. There is, I believe, a slighly higher risk of prostate problems in entire males who are not being "used". My ex & I had a stud dog who hadn't been used for a couple of years & got an abcess on his prostate gland. Unfortunately, the abcess burst and he died I would not recommend de-sexing a large breed dog, such as a GR, before 12 months, however. Edited February 1, 2012 by poodlemum Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keira&Phoenix Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Just throwing it out there as I think in some dogs is does make a different A friend has a male Malamute. He had some behaviour issues with other dogs (wouldn't interact with them, when any dogs came near he stiffened, growled etc), and was also really quite skinny and lanky. He finally got the dog desexed at 9/10 months, the dogs body has evened out, he looks like he is supposed to now and all the issues he had with other dogs are gone, overnight and I am not exaggerating. He has turned into one of the best dogs we have in our groups. The change floored us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 (edited) Why is everyone in such a hurry to have the boys castrated? I tell my puppy buyer to wait until they are at least 12 months old. My male is 7 years old and I have 4 females he has never had a stud and no accidental matings. No, he is NOT aggressive either, he is very easy to live with NOT like my bitchy females always eyeballing each other. I think you guess I love him the best Fordogs sometimes is has to do with your local council and registering your dog. One upon a time the dog had to be registered when it turned 6 months old, now they want them done at 3 months of age. If you don't want to pay the much higher entire rate then you need a vets desexing certificate (on a side note my vet doesn't like to desex before 6 months and won't do 'infant' desexing), Many owners would be especially worried about the dog not being registered and possible repurcussions such as fines if found wandering. Many a new puppy buyer thinks their fencing is dog proof until the dog begins to grow and starts to 'test' it. It is easier to justify letting registration slide until the dog is 6 months old, somewhat harder to do for an 'adult' at 12 months of age. It was so much simpler when you could have you dog desexed at 6 months and registered at 6 months as well. Edited February 1, 2012 by LizT Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizT Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 Just throwing it out there as I think in some dogs is does make a different A friend has a male Malamute. He had some behaviour issues with other dogs (wouldn't interact with them, when any dogs came near he stiffened, growled etc), and was also really quite skinny and lanky. He finally got the dog desexed at 9/10 months, the dogs body has evened out, he looks like he is supposed to now and all the issues he had with other dogs are gone, overnight and I am not exaggerating. He has turned into one of the best dogs we have in our groups. The change floored us. The mature behaviour and filling out could have more to do with the timing and his age rather than the desexing. Impossible to really know. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest donatella Posted February 1, 2012 Share Posted February 1, 2012 I think all 'pet' dogs should be desexed regardless of sex because of the health benefits and it's the right thing to do (erasing all possible mishaps/accidental pregnancies/fence jumpers etc). I had my girl done on 6 months on the dot at my vets advice and she's still the same mental pooch :) For some reason some men seem to get attached to their dogs balls and want to leave them be, I'll never understand that! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now