Desexing A Border Collie

[rmdov1]

Ive seen a few forums on this topic debating the impacts of desexing at 6 months. But what I have noticed is that the impacts vary depending upon breed. e.g. the impacts to a small lap dog apper to be lesser than larger working dogs like my boy.

He is very close to 6 months old and still very much a puppy. I am concerned about the development and behavioral issues. Ive have read a great deal of anecdotal evidence stating that the dogs mental state often slows keeping them in a 'puppy' frame of mind when interacting with other dogs and people. I was told to wait for at least 9 to 12 months. Assessing the behavior of the dog and decide as appropriate for him. My vet was very non committal......

I would be grateful to hear from other border collie owners to learn from their experiences.

[Simply Grand]

Purely because BC's are such a physical breed I would want to keep them entire until 12-18 months just to make sure they develop structurally as well as they possibly can.

I don't know how much desexing affects their mental development, it's a hard thing to judge as obviously you can't compare development with or without desexing in the same dog! But if you have a good training regime in place you should be able to manage his behavior as he develops.

[Sandra777]

I would definitely wait for physical maturity, which not only varies from breed to breed but also dog to dog.

All the common "issues" people have with entire dogs can be managed with good training.

[LisaCC]

Agree with Simply Grand. Especially if you plan on doing any high physical sports with your boy I would wait until 18 months.

6 months is still very young.

[Guest Clover]

If you can wait as long as possible I'd do so, especially with an active athletic breed.

[dancinbcs]

I have always told my male puppy buyer to wait until after 12 months at least unless they are having arrogance issues with the dog. Several of the male BCs I have sold have been entire all their lives with no problems. It all depends on the individual dog and the circumstances you have to keep him in. If the breeder advised 12-18 months then I would wait until closer to the 18 months if you can. Of course he should not be used for breeding unless registered on the main register.

[Rilla-My-Rilla]

I've got a 16 month old female BC and she is still entire. She's had two seasons and will be getting desexed after the next one or so. I've noticed that she has a big growth spurt after each season, and as she is a petite girl I think this is important for her. Her breeder trusts me enough to let me keep her entire until I feel she is ready to be desexed and I have no problems keeping her secure during her seasons.

I noticed with my sister's male dog that he didn't stop growing until he was 18 months / 2 years and he has now been desexed as once he matured aggression was becoming an issue. He's now back to his lovely self.

I think it depends on the dog itself and believe it's really important for you to do what feels right, and be comfortable with your decision.

[Pretty Miss Emma]

My BC Hamish is 22 months old and still entire. He is still maturing, so even if I wasn't showing him now that I know a bit more about it I would keep him entire until he is fully matured. If I were having behavioural issues with him that would probably change my mind a little, but I've learnt a lot about dealing with an entire adolescent male in the last 6 months or so and I have a dog that is delightful 99% of the time. I chatted with my vet about this issue also. And while they in general are advocates of early desexing (I think mainly because there are so many stupid people out there that just need to have one litter, or he has to prove himself, or it's cruel - you know all those excuses that irresponsible people throw out!) they also recommended to me to leave Hamish until he was a bit older and more mature especially if there were no behavioural issues. She was of the opinion that in males there is direct health benefit (ie cancer issues) until they are around 6 years old, so desexing around that time is beneficial.

I would wait as long as you can if you aren't having any issues with him.

[Dame Aussie]

I would definitely wait for physical maturity, which not only varies from breed to breed but also dog to dog.

All the common "issues" people have with entire dogs can be managed with good training.

I agree with this :) It's up to you when you desex, not your vet.

[bridgie_cat]

The event you are waiting for is the closure of the growth plates in the bones. Different bones close at different times but on average most will be closed by 14 months.

The thought behind early desexing being an issue (at least with the growth thing) is that sex hormones act to close these plates, so in their absence the bones continue growing for longer and this effect is more pronounced in the long bones, causing a very slight change in limb proportions and joint angles.

The statistic that is most relevant to an active medium sized dog is the increased rate of cranial cruciate ligament rupture in dogs that are desexed early (and early tends to mean as a young puppy rather than just the usual 6months in these studies and that will certainly give you the most pronounced effect on growth plates, but it is likely that there is still some effect in the later months while a little bit of growing is still being done).

The benefits of desexing are partly behavioural if your dog is a bit full on/self important etc - and a lot of this benefit is lost if you wait until behaviours are set. The main benefit in my mind however is that many entire male dogs eventually end up with prostate disease (generally benign hyperplasia - but this can still cause problems as the prostate becomes very large and can make urination difficult or deficating painful and increase the risk of infection) you can also get prostate cancers and testicular cancers. The rates of all this are much reduced in desexed dogs as you do not get the stimulation of hormones that causes the prostate to enlarge.

I would be inclined to wait until 14months and then desex soon after that if it was my dog for the above reasons.

I hope this is helpful - there are other things that people look at with early desexing pros and cons and I have found a nice paper on the topic that I would be happy to share (pm me with your email addy anyone that would like it)

Edited January 24, 2014 by bridgie_cat

[aliwake]

That was such an informative and balanced post bridgie_cat, thank you!