Desexing Age.

[Leela and PJ]

Would like to know everyone's opinion on the age they desex their dogs.

My 4 year old BC Leela was desexed after her first heat cycle. The reasoning behind that (her breeder informed me) that desexing after her first heat cycle meant that she was able to develop better in regards to hormones and bone growth.

PJ's breeder had told me the same thing and also gave me an article on the issue of desexing age and the effects it has on the dogs growth.

I'm trying to decide what the best option is for desexing PJ. If I should desex at 6 months or let him fully develop then have him desexed. My biggest concern is that if I desex at a later age that I may have issues with him following his male urges. PJ is my first male dog so I'm not sure what to expect if I do not desex him straight away.

Opinions/experiences with this please.

[julesluvscavs]

Hi :)

I've just had my Miah desexed over a week ago, she had not long turned 6 months old. I wanted to get her done before she had her first heat. Shes a CKCS. Ive always read its the bigger breeds of dogs that should be left to they are a bit older/bigger.

This question has been asked quite a few times in the past, I guess it comes down to personal choice, but its good to be informed of the pros and cons too of when to desex ;)

Edited June 7, 2013 by Jules❤3Cavs

[Sandra777]

Is PJ a Border Collie?

If so, I would not desex him until he is fully grown & mostly mature - probably somewhere around 16-18 months, but this will depend on his lines & his breeder is the best to guide you as to when this is with their dogs.

I have never owned a neutered male dog & have had no "issues" with them being anything other than dogs (canines). Most of the problems people have with adult male dogs are training issues.

Honestly, if you live in a reasonably good part of suburbia he has virtually no chance of coming across an in season bitch so he may never figure out what his 'male urges' are anyway :laugh: If you live in a less nice part of suburbia this could be a different story of course!

I have been unfortunate enough to be in the company of vets who have practised for 4 or 5 years and who have, in practise, NEVER seen an entire adult dog or bitch

[OSoSwift]

I have only ever owned entire males or males desexed later ie 8 years of age.

I would definitely do it later.

I wouldn't desex either sex of dog before maturity

[Kirislin]

I would prefer to let mine mature.

[persephone]

Training and supervision ...and later castration ..... to help him mature and be under control in all facets of his life :)

[BC Crazy]

I had both my male & female Border Collie desexed at 6 months. They were both brought on limited reg. so had to be desexed. I discussed the most suitable to do this as

I too was concerned with any negitive impact it could have on their physical maturity. Both breeders of my dogs & my Vet of almost 20 years agree that 6 months of age is perfect.

Apparently there is no benefits waiting till after Stella had her first season or Sonny till after his body had matured completely, say 13 or 14 months of age.

So I followed their experienced advice & both my guys have physically matured really well. I have no regrets doing either of them at 6 months :)

[WreckitWhippet]

6 months is not perfect for desexing. Dogs need their hormones to grow and mature properly and to the full potential. If you desex at 6 months, you may as well desex them at 6 weeks.

For a BC I would not consider desexing until around 18 months

[SkySoaringMagpie]

Agree that training is the answer with "male urges".

I'd also not do it before 18 months, and TBH, these days I wouldn't at all if I lived somewhere with secure enough fences etc that my dog was not a roaming risk.

I've just finished doing a canine theriogenology course online - they usually come around again and repeat the courses so it should come up again. It took 6 weeks of committing time to work through the material but I wish I'd done it 6 years ago. I recommend it for anyone planning to have multiple dogs who are unsure about how to handle the reproductive side of things. I have a much clearer view of how I personally will choose to manage things having done this course.

[blakkjackal]

I agree with letting the dog mature, absolutely. I personally wouldn't desex until about 2 years of age to make sure they are fully grown both mentally and physically. I find it sickening that a lot of vets are perfectly fine with mutilating puppies less than 12 weeks old. Desexing is fine, but for most dogs training and responsible ownership will be enough.

I personally won't get my male castrated even though he is not a purebred dog and will never be bred. I have no problems managing him just as he is now.

In households with several entire dogs of different sexes it might make things easier though, but that still wouldn't justify operating them early just to avoid heats etc.

[RazorBlade]

I adopted my male kelpie puppy, Toby, from AWDRI and it's their policy to have adopted dogs desexed before 6 months. I understand the motivation behind the policy but, to be honest, I wasn't very happy about getting it done so early.

[dancinbcs]

I prefer males to be left entire until at least 18 months to allow for them to reach full height. Full maturity overall is often not reached in Borders until about 4 years but the important thing is the bone growth and that is finished by 18 months.

[kima]

We got our male (Stafford) done at 9 months. We were going to wait until he was 12-18 months but he started getting really humpy and despite our best efforts we did not succeed at discouraging this. He even started trying to mount our friends male Dalmatian. We figured we didn't want him to miss out on playing with other dogs due to his humping so we got him done at 9 months. Now he is back to playing with his Dalmatian buddy instead of trying to hump him!

[LisaCC]

My lab was desexed at 6 months (11 years ago), in regards to humping etc, he displayed these AFTER desexing. To me it's more about training than anything, we stamped them out pretty quick. New pup won't be desexed until he is mature, I want his growth plates to fuse first.

[BC Crazy]

I'm surprised following this thread at the negitive responses

to desexing at 6 months of age. I have owned entire BC's, both

male & female with no trouble, humping etc maybe I was just

lucky. I had a rescue boy that I had for almost 15 years. He was entire

when I got him at 16 months old. I had him desexed at 5 as he went

girl chasing twice in as many days. I had a man phone me to say

he had Redman in his b.yard as he had been "visiting" his bc girl that

was in season 5 km's away. So it really depends on the dog.

As I said with my 2 guys that I have now I had to desex them as per

agreement. Both are from very experienced breeders so I don't know

why they would say it was ok to desex at 6 months if it wasn't.

Same with my Vet really. My 2 look fine to me.

Maybe I'm missing something...

Edited June 8, 2013 by BC Crazy

[luvsdogs]

I knew none of this until about a year before getting Tilba. She had one heat & was desexed at 14 months. With my JS male I wanted to wait until he was about 18 months but he had retained testicles so I had him done at 8 months. A couple of weeks before he started marking in the house & hasn't done it since being neutered..

All previous dogs were done at 6 months as was the norm. If you are going to be doing agility etc with PJ I'd definitely wait until he's at least 18 months.

[persephone]

Maybe I'm missing something...

*nods*

have a read here ..not saying what's right or wrong ...

LINK

LINK

LINK

[BC Crazy]

Thanks for links Persphone. Will have a read when I get a chance tomorrow :)

[corvus]

I don't think there is much conclusive evidence about desexing at all. I went through the literature last year when writing a paper on a related topic (personality and sex/reproductive status in dogs). The more I read the less sure I was about the entire issue. My current opinion is that we don't understand enough about how desexing affects individual dogs to be making routine decisions about it based on anyone's guidelines. I think we need a whole lot more research. I would opt to hold off desexing until there was a good reason to do it. As it turns out, there was with both of my current male dogs. One had one undescended testicle and one that had descended and then withdrawn into the abdominal cavity again. My other dog was humping like nobody's business at around 6 months. It was unusually frequent and it was not a training issue. We had him done at 7 months and he settled down over the following weeks and humping went way down.

[dotdashdot]

I had Cleo desexed at 12 months. Originally she was going to be left entire as a show dog but due to personal circumstances she was desexed and I think it was the perfect age (*for her). She'd had one season (and one phantom pregnancy) and I could clearly see her maturity kick in. She's only a slight girl anyway, so physically I can't see any difference (except I feed less to maintain her perfect weight)

My next dog will be a show dog or bitch and will be left entire but if I were to have another pet Dalmatian, female would be spayed at 12 months and male at 18. More for joint health and I also feel like I am able to contain and control my dogs where they wouldn't be a risk of escaping and contributing to unwanted pregnancies.

For the majority of the public, desexing at 6 months works because many (that I come into contact with) couldn't be bothered to put the time and effort into containing their dogs properly.

ETA * wanted to clarify that point

Edited June 8, 2013 by dotdashdot