Neutering and the male perspective

I agree, Gina. [][] They're not particularly attractive appendages on ANY species - but at least on humans, they stay covered for the most part.

Joyce

houndlove...sparky is so human, it scares me.

well, here is the solution:
 
Inventor of Fake Dog Testicles Wins Ig Nobel Prize
 
BOSTON (Oct. 7) - Gregg Miller mortgaged his home and maxed out his credit cards to mass produce his invention - prosthetic testicles for neutered dogs.
What started 10 years ago with an experiment on an unwitting Rottweiler named Max has turned into a thriving mail-order business. And on Thursday night Miller's efforts earned him a dubious yet strangely coveted honor: the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine.
"Considering my parents thought I was an idiot when I was a kid, this is a great honor," he said. "I wish they were alive to see it."
The Ig Nobels, given at Harvard University by Annals of Improbable Research magazine, celebrate the humorous, creative and odd side of science.
Miller has sold more than 150,000 of his Neuticles, more than doubling his $500,000 investment. The silicone implants come in different sizes, shapes, weights and degrees of firmness.
The product's Web site says Neuticles allow a pet "to retain his natural look" and "self esteem."
Although the Ig Nobels are not exactly prestigious, many recipients are, like Miller, happy to win.
 

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

I mean, we who like our dogs' balls aren't anti-neuter right?

this might be the weirdest statement I have ever seen.
Lol...sorry but I had to say that. I certainly don't "like my dogs vulva"....their big brown eyes maybe, their soft ears...but I really can't conjure up anything akin to "like" for the testicles of any male dog I've ever owned. They're there...in my show dogs it's important they're there...but "liking them"??? [sm=wink3.gif]
 
The OP's question was about NOT NEUTERING...and the observation that it seems common among men. I think any discussion about why people who do not neuter is pretty on topic.

Um...of course I was being facetious right? I said that to cover the position of those who like the features of sexual maturity in dogs (heavier muscling, etc) are not necessarily anti neuter.

I hope the explanation is easier to understand.

Paula

ORIGINAL: faramir

well, here is the solution:

Inventor of Fake Dog Testicles Wins Ig Nobel Prize

BOSTON (Oct. 7) - Gregg Miller mortgaged his home and maxed out his credit cards to mass produce his invention - prosthetic testicles for neutered dogs.
What started 10 years ago with an experiment on an unwitting Rottweiler named Max has turned into a thriving mail-order business. And on Thursday night Miller's efforts earned him a dubious yet strangely coveted honor: the Ig Nobel Prize for medicine.
"Considering my parents thought I was an idiot when I was a kid, this is a great honor," he said. "I wish they were alive to see it."
The Ig Nobels, given at Harvard University by Annals of Improbable Research magazine, celebrate the humorous, creative and odd side of science.
Miller has sold more than 150,000 of his Neuticles, more than doubling his $500,000 investment. The silicone implants come in different sizes, shapes, weights and degrees of firmness.
The product's Web site says Neuticles allow a pet "to retain his natural look" and "self esteem."
Although the Ig Nobels are not exactly prestigious, many recipients are, like Miller, happy to win.

Interestingly enough Elizabeth Marshall Thomas observed that dogs treated castrated dogs differently than intact dogs. I don't remember if she was just speculating or backed it up wiht any data. 

Paula

It all started innocently with some of us expressing a like for our dogs' balls and the appearance of an intact male
 
I'm sorry....the entire post was seemingly really trying to make the point that you like to look at the dogs testicles, and you like the way he looks with them vs without them.
 
Muscling up is a product of conditioning and breeding...as I've met some pretty muscled up doggy bitches. If you mean secondary sex characteristics matter to you, then allow them to develop and then neuter the dog. A head width does not shrink, nor thickness of bone degenerate, and brain cells do not die off en mass, ost neuter.
 
Muscle mass can be maintained with proper conditioning, and it's largely genetic how dry or wet a dog is going to be.
 
 

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

It all started innocently with some of us expressing a like for our dogs' balls and the appearance of an intact male

I'm sorry....the entire post was seemingly really trying to make the point that you like to look at the dogs testicles, and you like the way he looks with them vs without them.
 
Muscling up is a product of conditioning and breeding...as I've met some pretty muscled up doggy bitches. If you mean secondary sex characteristics matter to you, then allow them to develop and then neuter the dog. A head width does not shrink, nor thickness of bone degenerate, and brain cells do not die off en mass, ost neuter.
 
Muscle mass can be maintained with proper conditioning, and it's largely genetic how dry or wet a dog is going to be.
 
 

Actually there are specific features that are part of sexual maturity; like cheeks on a stallion's face, or on a tomcat's face, the neck crest on a stallion, and denser muscling. Yoshi is quite muscular and he was neutered at 4 1/2 months but he would look quite different if he was intact.

The issue came up that there is an alternative to castration - vasectomy. I cannot help if some prurient minds must associate some childish humor to the matter.

Paula

just wanted to put my 2 cents in. i am not male, but i have opted to not nueter my dog, yet anyway. he is an inside dog, never gotten loose, and is not exposed to any females, so i don't feel obligated at this point to have him castrated. my main reason being that i'm afraid the change in hormones will depress him, or otherwise make him feel weird or different. he is not an aggressive dog to begin with so it has nothing to do with macho maleness, i just do not feel right about altering my dog. which i am not saying i would never have him nuetered, i have spoken with my vet about it, i just havent really had any good reasons to do so thus far.

And all those things disappear magically once the animal is fixed?
 
Having a late neuter tomcat in the family, as well as a male Akita neutered at 5, I beg to differ on that one at least. They looked identical post neuter.

Gaylemarie...how old is your dog?

he was born around mayish 2003, so about 3 and a half...is it detrimental to his health to not have him nuetered? other than the obvious that he can't get testicular cancer if he doesnt have testicles.

ORIGINAL: jennie_c_d

Dogs can be vasectomized - it is just not a widely practiced procedure. Personally I prefer the look of an intact dog myself. All my dogs are castrated at the moment, but I cannot garauntee I won't vasectomize in the future. Understand that vasectomy just makes them infertile, but does not affect any secondary sex behaviors or complications thereof.

Paula

When I was a kid, we had a dog named Sam. We got him from the humane society. When he hit maturity, he was a big guy (probably 50-65 pounds). He decided to start humping (and FINISHING) on yard toys, fence posts, and kids. It was obscene, so Mom decided to find the money, take him down to the vet's office, and have him neutered. They did a vasectomy. Stupidest thing any vet has ever done. The dog ended up clearing the fence and being hit by a car, b/c the neighbor's dog was in heat. Castration is probably the BEST option for JQP, IMO. Of course, if you want your dog to still act like a he's intact, but worry about the population problem, it's a GREAT solution. Sam was obviously not a well trained dog.

Well the vet wasn't stupid for doing the vasectomy. Like I've said before; vasectomy does nothing to address any secondary sex characteristics that we might or might not find acceptable. That's why it isn't cut and dried for me. Like I said; I still worry that I'd have some people eating dog hating humping dog if I vasectomized. The vet's mistake was not informing the owners of this.

Paula

This thread has gone way OT and come back several times, but I just thought I'd throw in my two cents. I see no point in not having your pets spayed or neutered. If you're planning to breed--responsibly--or show, that's fine. Otherwise, what is the point? The dog sure doesn't have a self esteem problem after being altered. And in my experience, the lack of hormones makes a difference in the temperment of the dog.
 

I've seen dogs of both gender fixed and un-fixed hump. I think part of it is hormone driven, but it's also a dominant behavior that doesn't go away when I dog get's altered.

ORIGINAL: rwbeagles

And all those things disappear magically once the animal is fixed?
 
Having a late neuter tomcat in the family, as well as a male Akita neutered at 5, I beg to differ on that one at least. They looked identical post neuter.

I don't konw if I'm just being paranoid or you're just being obtuse or whether I'm simply reacting to the red print and large font.  In a previous post I said that I considered castrating Yoshi late so as to have the secondary sex characteristics I liked. And I also have two former tomcats who were castrated well in to adulthood.  So of course these feature do not disappear from a sexually mature animal after castration. Nobody said that this was the case.  We were discussing firstly liking secondary sexual characteristics in our dogs, secondly liking the appearance of an intact dog, and thirdly vasectomy versus castration.  For a few of us so far vasectomy seems to offer the opportunity of sterilizing a dog without castrating him. There are still considerations.

I didn't realize we were being unclear.
Paula