When would you spay or neuter - Page 1

I have read the the dogs need their reproductive organs to develop into functional adults. For example males need the testosterone to develop that agression towards strangers, or the instinct to defend property. How old is old enough to alter a dog?

Males, 24 months. Females 20 months. According to much research, that is when the dogs are mature.

I'm not sure neutering makes a huge difference in "aggression towards strangers or the instinct to defend property". Many neutered dogs are just as aggressive and will protect their perceived "pack" and home.

The biggest thing is the structural problems, mainly from neutering males too early. You can get tall and lanky or short and fat, a few end up without any problems, but I would say by far more end up with some kind of structural fault. This includes proper growth plate growth, joint development, bone growth, etc.

Another disadvantage is that the sexes aren't distinctive in many cases (i.e. males do not look masculine, females do not look feminine).

VomFelsenHof   Very well said....

Case in point, 2 Full Siblings... 2 Male pups we had sold,  2 males mommy's got divorced,  2 males came back,  1 Neutered 1 Not,  1 Neutered is groteskly huge and has a funky head and poor structure in comparison to the rest of the litter.   1 Not is correct in size for his age, and is much more correct in structure and head type.

Now for Drives and "Protectiveness" (whatever that means)  Both are very drivey and the Neutered Male actually is better in SchH sport so far than his full brother maybe it's a concentration issue,  maybe it's just the difference between siblings,  But I would say that they're inherant "Pack" guard instinct is almost even keel.  

Hope that makes sense.

I Personally do not like early age neutering in Males !   But it is just that a personal prefference,  However I do believe also that there are many growth issues that accompany early age neutering.   This is not to be perceived as fact however,  This is just my own personal experiences, and beleifs !

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html........ this is very interesting, I give it to all my puppy buyers (sport, working or pet.. they all grow the same way!)

Hope it helps

Denise

I agree with VomFelsenHof males 24 and females 20. 

It's about maturing mentally and physically. 

I neutered my cryptorchid at 7 months.  He's immature and feminine.  If I had it to do again I would have removed the retained testicle early and left him with the other until he was fully mature.

Dkiah, THANK YOU for that link!!! I've been trying to find information like that to counter all those people who are pushing for early spay/neuter!

I had my vasectomy after the second kid.  I guess it really depends on how many kids you really want! 

If you meant the dogs, I would agree with VomFelsenhof.  I like to wait until maturity.

Here's another article as well:

http://showdogsupersite.com/kenlclub/breedvet/neutr.html

Thanks for your responces, I had a feeling that 12 weeks was way too young.