Neutering and the working dog

Dr Chris Zink has a good study out there.  Google the name the study is posted on the internet.

Truthfully,  male dog right.  If the dog doesn't have any medical reasons for neuthering or their are behavioral reasons to neuter why do it.  It doesn't make sense.

Thank you!  I found the article and it was very good.

Early neutering may increase the chances of cranial cruciate ligament disease. This is where they blow the ligament in their knee and need surgery. This has been suspected for some time and it looks like there is some evidence coming out now. Looks like early neutering causes excessive tibial plateau angles. More of a concern for large dog owners.

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.231.11.1688

I read Zink's article when it first came out and my feeling is I won't ever do an early spay/neuter on any dog in my home.  I can understand rescues/shelters requiring this, but I would really rather err on the side of avoiding ACL's on my agility dogs.  I've also read an article that felt early sp/ne caused the dog to remain puppy-like later and they had poorer learning curves.  This was written with an eye to military/police working dogs, so that's something they definately don't want.  (Don't remember where that article was.)

Just did an ACL repair on a dog that had been neutered at approximately four years of age, so there's no guarantees in life.

That said, I think it is up to each individual owner, if and only if, they are able to keep the dog securely on their property. I've been pretty amazed throughout the years by the ability of a creative dog to escape. If a person is willing to take responsibility for their dog's actions should they escape, I have no problem. SIL has a boxer who is five or six and still intact. He's never been bred and won't be bred, but she prefers her dogs intact. He's never been a problem.

Stacita

That said, I think it is up to each individual owner, if and only if, they are able to keep the dog securely on their property.

Agreed.  It is really a management issue.

Now I wouldn't say to just anyone that it's ok not to neuter their male dog.  I don't believe that most average dog owners have the management skills.  But for those that do and know how to manage the situation well that is a different story.

timsdat

I don't believe that most average dog owners have the management skills

I don't think the average pet owner has the skills and for some dogs, I know I don't. Floyd, the Malinois, was a very impressive jumper in his younger days.

samshine

Early neutering may increase the chances of cranial cruciate ligament disease. This is where they blow the ligament in their knee and need surgery. This has been suspected for some time and it looks like there is some evidence coming out now. Looks like early neutering causes excessive tibial plateau angles. More of a concern for large dog owners.

http://avmajournals.avma.org/doi/abs/10.2460/javma.231.11.1688

cat0

The article refers to "early" as being before six months.  So when is the right time?

I believe that is a decision that you must make in consultation with your vet after you learn all the pros and cons.

If everything goes as planned, I won't even consider neutering my next dog until it's first birthday. Em grew for WAY too long, she's far leggier than she should have been (looking at her mother and her puppy pics), and she stayed a puppy until 3 1/2 or so. She has serious joint problems that would have been a problem anyways, but I'm sure the ridiculously early spay (8 weeks) didn't help a bit. 

I had Babe spayed at 6 months, I swear she never grew up!  And she was on the larger end for a female of the breed. With Kord we waited until he was a little over a year old. His breeder recommended between 10 and 14 months since I had got him on a limited purchase and had no plans to work him.

All I can say is he is still puppyish in some behaviors,and he is a few months shy of 2yrs,  but I do see stronger mature actions in some area's that Babe didn't, the main being obedience. She was more apt to ignore or misbehave, where as he does not. Now we are talking a 12 year and different sex difference, not to mention my own learnings over that time.

I had the devil of a time with some of the vet techs over this, actually had one young lady get rude with me, who was so extreme that she told me "this is your dog, not the breeders, you need to do what is right!" I was down right nasty right back with "yes, he is my dog, and since your NOT a vet, and you did not breed him and know nothing of the breed or my intentions, you can keep your opinion to yourself, I did not ask for it". I respectfully asked that she not attend us if in the future if possible. So far so good.