Best Time To Neuter
Submitted by DiMaggio The Bi... on January 8, 2011 - 10:46pmJust wondering when is the best time to get your male Bully neutered. I've read 6 months and BDW website says 1 year....Just looking to see when you've all had it done.
Just wondering when is the best time to get your male Bully neutered. I've read 6 months and BDW website says 1 year....Just looking to see when you've all had it done.
We usually did the big snip at 7 or 8 months...
one we did at 6 months.
Neuter
We did Deuce at 10 months and Oliver at a year.
Contract
Is there anything in your breeders contract about neuter dates? Mine says 18 months. I personally think 6 months is too young. Anything under a year is such a growth period for your dog. Some suggest that neutering too young affects the growth and maturity. I'm not sure I'm a believer in that as I think genetics has far more to do with the substance and growth BUT with that said I don't want to limit their growth possiblity with an early neuter.
If you wait until he is a year then you need to be a responsible pet owner and don't let him run free and keep him away from intact bitches. Also if you are having male marking, humping, temperment issues that you can't get a handle on with training then I would suggest neutering younger.
My Norbert was neutered around a year old and MacKenzie was neutered around 2 yrs (only because I bought Cleo).
agree
I tell people that get male pets from me to neuter between 12 and 18 months UNLESS the dog starts displaying 'bad boy' behaviors such as marking, humping, in-charge attitude or wandering. Of course an owner must be willing to be vigilante and prevent any matings with their own dogs, the neighbors dogs, etc.
There's actually nothing in
There's actually nothing in our contract about breeding and neutering. The breeder was actually pretty cool and he said that it's our dog, who is he to tell us what we can and can not do with him. We considered studding him, but I think it's more hastle then it's worth.
"There's actually nothing in
"There's actually nothing in our contract about breeding and neutering. The breeder was actually pretty cool and he said that it's our dog, who is he to tell us what we can and can not do with him."
This would be a red flag for me. Most ethical breeders require a spay/neuter, or at least fill out the papers to be Limited Registration.
Please don't get upset over my comment, I'm not attacking you or the people you are getting your puppy from, just mentioning what current Bulldog Club breeders' code of ethics/guidelines are.
No Red Flags here....I'd
No Red Flags here....I'd actually seen a few different breeders and his facility, the care and time he puts into his dogs, overall honesty and commitment to be a phone call away for help if I ever needed it for the remainder of my Bully's life was awesome.
I understand to some hardcore bulldog club members this may seem unethical, but our breeder loves what he does and it's obvious when you visit him. His whole point was if he's going to charge you almost $3000 for a dog, he's not going to tell you what to do with him/her after you take him home.
Our Bully is CKC registered, and all his Bulldog are too, so I'm not upset by the comment, I think we just have different opinions.
growth and early neuter
The sex hormomes are responsible for the growth plates to stop growing, so altering too young, before those plates stop, causes the bones to grow too much.
It doesn't limit growth it causes too much.This is not a theory or a guess, it has been proven by research. For a bulldog, iIf the leg bones are longer than what they should be it will affect the overall balance of the dog. Not balance as in it now falls over but balance as far as what a bulldog is supposed to look like.
Puberty is a necessary stage of development, the hormonal transition from youth to adult. If you eliminate all the sex hormones before the dog makes that transition you have eliminated an entire stage of their life. It is not correct to assume that this can not have any negative long term consequences.
Effects of age at neuter (I am ONLY speaking of males here) has been studied a lot and neutering too early (before maturity) has been shown to increase chances of fatal bone cancer, prostate cancer (which is contradictory to what most believe), and is not a 100% guaranteed way of changing undesirable behavior.
You can find lots of information on age of neutering, and the ONLY benefit to neutering before maturity is birth control. There are no health benefits.
The aspca's relentless spay/neuter campaign has made so many people believe it is a vital, necessary thing to do to ensure the longterm health of your dog, but that is simply not true. They will say it makes them healthier but will not give any reasons how, they expect you to just take their word for it. They may even say it reduces cancer, but they have NO evidence to back up that claim, and in fact when it was studied the evidence proves just the opposite. The only cancer it eliminates is testicular, which is not only extremely rare but also NOT fatal. Prostate and bone cancer however WILL kill your dog.
You MUST prevent your dog from producing unwanted puppies. That is not optional or a trivial concern. (I am not saying you feel this way. Obviously you are trying to make an informed decsion, which is so important.) You must be able to contain your dog and prevent him from roaming.
I had a long discussion with my vet about when to spay Audrey. (the health risks/benefits for a female are a whole different story). He is the one that told me that they normally schedule a spay/neuter shortly after the last puppy shots because that is a reliable way for them to get the dog in for the procedure. He knew he did not have to worry about an unwanted litter with Audrey and he told me that fro her HEALTH, (not birth control) it was best for her to ler her have at least one heat cycle before she was spayed.
If you feel that you will have difficulty keeping an intact male from getting to an intact female, then by all means neuter your dog! If you are having a difficult time with your dog's behavior, then neutering is definitely worth it to try to help you get him under control. I am not trying to be an alarmist and make people believe their neutered dogs are going to get cancer. The risk is small to start with. But I am really bothered by wrong information and the idea that the general population of dog owners are too stupid to understand the real health consequences (positive and negative) of altering their dogs AND too irresponsible to have intact animals.
Please educate yourself before you make a decision. It is not a simple black and white situation. I am not suggestiong that you aren't. I am only saying that for a very long time we have been led to believe that remaining intact is a health threat for males, and the more this idea was challenged the more it has been proven untrue.
Cathy and Audrey
Question?
First off - thanks for the info. I found it to be an interesting read! I wonder how that statistics in Europe (where they don't neuter as much as we do here) stack up to the USA?
Anyway, my question - why did your vet want Audrey to have one heat cycle, first? When I read about the advantages of spay in females, the incidence of certain cancers does go up after the first heat (albeit, marginally) before it shoots up after the 2nd and 3rd. I was just curious as to your vet's reasoning?
Olivia
vet's reasoning
the hormonal changes from youth to adult would help her body grow the way it was supposd to. It does not increase the rate of bone cancer as much if you wait for maturity.
The reduction in mammary cancer is still signifigant if you spay beofre the 2nd heat, and still high if you spay before the 3rd heat. He KNEW he didn' have to worry abou Aurey getting pregnant, and he KNEW that I wouls still bring Audrey in for regular visits.
My favorite study is a paper written by Laura Sanborn, who reviewed over 50 peer reviewed studies, including studies from Europe. I printed it out and asked my vet to read it, and he could not find a single thing to refute the information OR make a single argument FOR spaying her earlier. The only thing he did say was regarding males, that it ONLY addresses health issues, not behavioral issues, and his experience is most intact males come to his office with injuries related to them roaming or they get hit by cars and die.
I looked at every study I could find trying to decide on if/when to spay Audrey, but this one was very easy to read and gives references to the 50 studies she references.
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf
The information about male dogs was very profound for me. I would have a difficult time I think getting a male dog and being told by a breeder I HAD to neuter him knowing that for his overall health it is not the best thing for him. After reading that study I was glad Audrey was female and I wasn't in that position. I FULLY UNDERSTAND the breeder's stance and WHY they want it guaranteed that their dogs will never be used for poor breeding practices. But still I would hate to know it's not best for my dog and feel forced into it.
Cathy and Audrey
Thank you!
I have to say, the only reason I had Q neutered was because he kept getting prostatitis/UTI's/crystal formation. If that had not been a recurrent issue, I would not have subjected him to the anesthesia.
Kano is my working dog, and my trainer recommended that I wait till after her first heat so she could "get her head on straight". She manifested with lupus a few months after her first heat, and I ended up delaying having her spayed for years ( I was terrified of subjecting her to the stress of surgery). Thankfully, at almost 11 years, she's a happy healthy girl. I did have her spayed at the age of 7. :)
Olivia
early spay
This is an interesting subject to me on several levels.
Some reading I've done on it suggests that in a study of Dobe females there is a greter incidence of urinary incontience in older age among those spayed prior to their 1st heat than those spayed after their 1st heat. Many articles indicate that studies overstate the health risks of not having a female spayed are (I assume) used as a scare tactic to encourage pet owners to have it done before time gets away from them and the VEt looses out on the $.
Then there are my feelings as a breeder that any dog (male or female) I place as a pet is to be considered a PET and not a breeding animal. Yes, I have even spayed/neutered finished Champions prior to placing them because I didn't feel they were worthy of being bred. I've also let go of animals that were of show/breeding quality to pet homes and still wanted them spayed/neutered because for the average owner, it makes the animal so much easier to live with.
Did you read the study I posted?
It has very detailed information about the positives and negatives and the long term health consequences.
I do really understand your views on NOT wanting your dogs bred for any reason. That's what makes it hard for me. I DO understand!
BUT on the other hand, I view it as a HEALTH issue, and if I am going to buy a dog I would want EVERY health decision to be mine to make.
If I ever do decide to get a male puppy, I don't know what I'll do if faced with mandatory neuter in a contract. I just don't think I will ever neuter my dog unless his health was in jeapordy, or I was having extreme behavioral issues with him. I have very strong views on breeding and do not believe a dog should be bred unless it's a PROVEN excellent example of the breed, but I do not realistically expect a breeder to just take my word for it. I am sure they've heard it before.
I am also certain that I WILL prevent my dog from roaming and mating, just as certain that I will keep them from getting hit by a car.
Since Audrey hates other dogs it's not like I have to worry about that any time soon anyways. For now we are a one dog house, and actually really liking it!
Cathy and Audrey