Is Neutering At 8 Value For Money

[LeoBullTerrier]

Hey just wonder if there would be any benefits to have my Bull Terrier neutered at the age of 8.

I was at the vet recently and she said have I ever given any thought to having him sexed to quieten him down.

He's always been just too friendly and goes way too crazy around other people and dogs, absolutely no aggression toward anyone human or animal.

Now that our town has a dog park I've tried Dog Busters which would work if I had 8 hours a day to reprogram him.

Edited December 7, 2014 by LeoBullTerrier

[*kirty*]

Having him desexed won't calm him down - training will.

[VizslaMomma]

Training will be his friend not being desexed.

Does he have any basic training?

Tell us what his life is? Only dog or others, kids everything.,please.

Lovely looking boy there.

:)

[tdierikx]

At 8 years of age, the problem is habits learned, NOT the fact that he has testicles.

Whether he keeps his testicles or not, you are still going to have to invest some time and effort into training and enough mental/physical stimulation in order to change his behaviours.

T.

[Christina]

No, not now.

Sometimes it is just in the nature of the particular dog to be this way & they are often lovable & fun but a bit of a pain.

No use knocking the spirit out of him by harsh training but you could maybe try a few things like making him sit when over excited & having him on a lead when greeting.

One of my poodles is like this. She runs laps & bounds up on furniture with visitors most people thing its hilarious seeing her crazy with excitement but I do hold her or put her out sometimes depending on the level of activety.

Had her desexed at age 8 & she is exactly the same as always almost a year later.

[persephone]

Agreed - if he is not aggro - and is bouncy & friendly , it sounds as if he may need more to occupy his brain , and some training to channel that attitude :)

[JRG]

Not for his problems, but could be worth it for other (health related) reasons

[Stressmagnet]

Ernie's desexed and still hadn't met a dog, person, stick or inanimate object that isn't his BFF. Desexing won't do a thing - it's his nature.

I love Bull Terriers. All those wiggles.

[cowanbree]

I personally find desexing them does quieten them down, just takes the edge off. I have recently desexed a 5yr old and he is certainly a lot more restful that he used to be.

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

It will reduce the possibility of testicular cancer or a peritoneal hernia - having experienced both with rescued dogs, I cursed the owners who didn't desex when younger. One of the dogs was too far gone and had to be euthanased.

As for female dogs not being desexed when young - I've lost them too, after rescuing them.

I don't care if my opinion is popular but after years of experience with rescuing undesexed dogs and suffering the consequences which can be heartbreaking, unless a dog is going to be bred with (by registered breeders only) or shown, then I believe they are all best being desexed at some point.

[pebbles]

IMO desexing wont fix the problem it's more a training issue.

HMD - just curious re your statement that many of your undesexed rescues have had health issues. Do you perhaps feel that this may be related to their previous living conditions? Nutrition, stress, etc. Why I ask is I've been involved in the show world for over 50yrs, know a lot of breeders/owners and I've never had either of the problems (never had a dog desexed) and find it's pretty rare in the show world.

Have you any thoughts on this?

[Gallomph]

I inherited an oldish dog who was entire, and thought it wasn't worth desexing him at his age (8). Later, he developed perianal tumors that were inoperable due to location. The vet did some research and discovered that some of these tumors are hormone driven. So we desexed him at 14 years old. The tumours shrank, and he had another 2.5 good years with me before he succumbed to heart failure.

So - I would say there could be some health benefits.

[Animal House]

I'd only do it for the possible health benefits (discuss this with your vet, as GA always carries risks at any age, but the older they get etc etc ) and on the off chance possibility it may calm him a little.

I think some mental exercises, and basic training would be a definite plus, and just be glad you have a happy, friendly, bouncy boy :D

[juice]

I personally have found all the dogs I have had calmed down after being desexed, however I also know of many exuberant bullies who it made no difference too.

They can be really full on , gorgeous , but I prefer my go slow model,my kids on the other hand would prefer a bully with a little more bounce :laugh:

[Her Majesty Dogmad]

IMO desexing wont fix the problem it's more a training issue.

HMD - just curious re your statement that many of your undesexed rescues have had health issues. Do you perhaps feel that this may be related to their previous living conditions? Nutrition, stress, etc. Why I ask is I've been involved in the show world for over 50yrs, know a lot of breeders/owners and I've never had either of the problems (never had a dog desexed) and find it's pretty rare in the show world.

Have you any thoughts on this?

I specialise in older dogs and see a lot more dogs than the average owner as a rescuer. I also liaise with other rescuers regularly and we all sincerely wish that dogs were not left undesexed as they get older.

With the females, I'd say that it's highly possible that being bred from continuously isn't good for them - often they are not purebred either - certainly not good to breed them as older dogs and then when dumped by then they've developed mammary tumours or other cancers.

As for nutrition and a bad environment, it certainly impacts on their health in other ways.

[JackieW]

I've got an entire 9 yr old. He's sterile and has never humped or done any of those hormonal things so vets have said just to leave him.

[LeoBullTerrier]

Thanks guys, if its just a health thing then he's keeping his because all our Bullys have kept there's and they've all lived to be 12 plus with no down stairs problems, hey its a bloke thing. I to thought desexing him at 8 wouldn't do a thing.

We've tried the Bark Busters training program and when he's alone at home with the other animals he's very calm and sometimes he couldn't be bothered with the training but then again at home isn't the problem.

Then as soon as we go for walkies or down to the park all his training goes out the window and he goes back to his old self.

We've been doing the training for several months and it hasn't made any difference so does anyone know of other Queensland training programs suitable to a crazy male Bully and it would need to be an internet program because we live in outback Queensland. We drove 600klms to see Bark Busters so doing this again won't be happening.

Edited December 7, 2014 by LeoBullTerrier

[Christina]

I don't think your vet is being a money grabber by making this suggestion.

The vet may sincerely believe this will work but it may not be based on personal experience. Many vets only own one dog or may not even own a dog so they take their opinion from the textbook on this.

It may quieten a dog down, especially a young dog, but it doesn't always especially an old dog. Your dog your decision.

If his exuberance doesn't bother you & you are not getting complaints from others why worry.

The only guaranteed thing it will definitely stop is testicular cancer & ability to sire a litter.

[LeoBullTerrier]

Training will be his friend not being desexed.

Does he have any basic training?

Tell us what his life is? Only dog or others, kids everything.,please.

Lovely looking boy there.

:)

Well lets see, From day one he's always been way too friendly and even with his basic obedience training as a puppy he didn't change much.

When we selected him we looked at both his parents and they were both very quiet but then again thinking back they were show dogs.

He's an only dog but we have next door neighbors with dogs and a chain mesh fencing so they can see each other and he and the others and him on both side love running around the fence talking and playing. We also let them play together in our yard of an afternoon and they play fine with only a little bit of humping but the girl dogs puts him in his place and that's were that ends.

He had basic training as a puppy but he was only interested in playing with the other dogs and he's had several lots of youtube home training since which worked well because he now takes no notice of people or dogs when out walking but this is from a distance of 10 feet or more, then again this also could be because he's matured. Kids from down the road come into our yard when were not there and he plays fine with them actually when hes at home by himself folks can come in and hes quiet with no being crazy but when were there is a different story. His and our days starts at 5 when we go for a short walk around the block and then he's at home alone until lunch, we only work a kilometer away so its just a quick bike ride home then at 6 its out for his longer walkies usually 2 hours during the cooler months and only 30 minutes during the summer months because hes not a fan of walking during the hotter months and I think he only goes so he can swim in the creek at the park. What I have found interesting is that at the dog park if the dogs are smaller than him he doesn't go crazy with them and plays fine but if the dogs are taller then its crazy time again.

Other than that hes just a big crazy boof headed Bully who loves his kisses and cuddles and spending his days laying on the lounges.

Here he is laying on(his)lounge when were under the house during summer.

Edited December 7, 2014 by LeoBullTerrier

[Christina]

He sounds gorgeous & not a problem dog at all however I would never allow children in my yard with my dogs unsupervised when I am not at home.

Although you know them & the dog does too what if they bought a friend in or did something stupid & your dog reacted ?

Your dog would get blamed no matter what the circumstances so for the dogs sake I would stop this.

Parents hardly ever take responsibility & you may never know the truth if anything happened it is always the dogs fault. Sad but that's how it is now.