NEUTERING - Page 3

pzdc I very interesting in the vasectomy option. Is it difficult to get a vet to do it? Are you in the US? Thanks.

KCzaja, This might be hypocritical for me to say but I would much rather spay the female then the male. Not that I'm being sexiest or anything but with females it happens every 6 months, you understand what im trying to say here? As for vasectomy options... it's not a piece of cake, rather then it can become a horrifying ideal and a painful procedure... some may heal right up but others will cause horribly painful infections, here's some of the stories that you guys can read a pond of which humans had it done... since dogs cant speak to you, theses men who had it done can tell you if it's right or wrong. http://groups-beta.google.com/group/alt.support.vasectomy?hl=en Please read their stories... the simple way is SPAY the female and the males wont go crazy when the females goes into heat. Again... think of what your going to do to the poor dog, if you are willing to do this to your self... well what can i say? GO FIRST and see how it feels to get neutered or being vasectomtized and then think of what the dog is going to feel.

I had one puppy out there, that was put down at one year for a failed pancreas. One other puppy had a small patch of demodetic mange on the upper muzzle, 2 others were skinny as rails, with reduce muscle/bone density. The comon denominator was they were all spayed a 3 months of age. With the sex harmones tied to the growth harmones, I pondered that and called Germany for some opinions. Some opinions were that the dogs growth was thrown a growth/development imbalance curve due to the early spaying. I have not bred those two dogs together again, because I just don't know. 20 other puppies are doing great and 6 puppies from a different sire are doing great. I spoke with my vet and he said none of it was hereditary. The owners vets said the same thing. I have also changed my warranty, from one year to 3 years. I now give 3 year bumber to bumber(hips/elbows/major organs)guarentees if the dog is not spayed or neutered before the 24 month birthday. Spay or neuter before the 24th month birthdate and the warranty is voided, you are on your own. I am going to track these dogs and compare them with instances against those that were spayed early. I raised/imported the show line for 23 years before I started breeding. I NEVER spayed or neutered my dogs. NEVER had behaviorial problems(peeing in the house/humping guest), because I took the time to train them.

SGBH, i never had a problem like that either. If we have the right to keep our sexual organs... so does the dogs. owning a dog is a huge responsiblity. if you're uneducated and not responsible enough... dont own a dog... buy a giga pet instead. go to http://virtualpet.com/vp/farm/gigapet/gphealth/gphealth.htm for more information :) Dont blame your pet for bad behavoir problems and for the loving god dont blame their sexual organs.. blame your self for not taking the time and effort of taking them to obedience classes.

GSD4dogs: I'm sure all vets are able to perform a vasectomy. In my humble opinion they simply prefer to castrate because it's a bigger operation, therefore more expensive, therefore your pockets are lighter and theirs heavier (catch my drift?). Maybe in future you should just ask him whether he can't do a vasectomy instead of neutering? And no, I'm not in the US. Regarding undesired behaviour as described above from intact males - I've NEVER seen such behaviour and I have friends who let up to 5 intact males run together with a pack of bitches. My own dogs are in and out of the house all day and night. However, then you need to know exactly when your bitches are due for a season, which can be rather troublesome if you have a btich like one of mine of whom you can only be certain of one thing - she will not come into season when you expect her to. She's either 2 weeks early or 2 weeks late.

Rhino, Don't be "put off" by some of these comments. Neutering is not THAT bad. And for ANYONE to compare a human to a dog...wel, I'll be nice...It's just NOT right. If your that concerned ask your Vet. and call around to many Vets. I've neutered everyone of my males, even my Police Dog, though his was a health concern, they ALL did just fine.

Like this is a sensitive subject. Go to the Pound and look at all the dogs ready to be euthanized. . . Have you worked for animal control? Seen the morons coming in who just had their dog killed because the fellow could not figure he had to confine a dog? Only to come in for another replacement. Have you travelled in Tennessee where the dogs are chained on trees outside removed from the house? Neutering and spaying is the only way to minimise the +4 Million pet euthanizations a year in this country. I cannot believe this post. It would be different if we did not have to discard our pets like old dolls. But we do.

Like this is a sensitive subject. Go to the Pound and look at all the dogs ready to be euthanized. . . Have you worked for animal control? Seen the morons coming in who just had their dog killed because the fellow could not figure he had to confine a dog? Only to come in for another replacement. Have you travelled in Tennessee where the dogs are chained on trees outside removed from the house? Neutering and spaying is the only way to minimise the +4 Million pet euthanizations a year in this country. I cannot believe this post. It would be different if we did not have to discard our pets like old dolls. But we do.

From experience, I was nieve and neutered an 10mo Weim because of dominance problems like I was told. Guess what it did NOT work. For me personally I will never neuter before 2 years of age. Spaying I would do before first heat. As for males and females though there is less of a chance for cancers of all kinds. I've personally always had females up till the last 5 years. All of our females that were not neutered developed cancer by the age of 10. I can't see putting any animal through that. For me My dogs are trained not to go out of the yard. I have neighbors who have 3-4 dogs all constantly getting out. I've even had their dogs bite me in my own yard. With this situation the owner is a cop and nothing will be done. For reasons of population control I do believe in neutering.

"I'm sure all vets are able to perform a vasectomy. In my humble opinion they simply prefer to castrate because it's a bigger operation, therefore more expensive, therefore your pockets are lighter and theirs heavier (catch my drift?)." Actually, castration is the simpler--and therefore least expensive--of the two options. Takes much less time (hence less anesthesia), and it's not as 'delicate' or exacting as a vasectomy. A vasectomy is nearer in technical expertise to a spay than a castration, since it involves entering the actual inguinal area; castration involves just opening the scrotum, stripping off the tunica from the testes, and tying off the blood vessels and then snip! Gone gonads. There's another factor to consider when it comes to vasectomies, and it is one reason that it is not the standard of practice for sterilization of males in the US: under AKC conformation rules, one cannot show a dog that is not sexually intact. It's pretty easy to determine whether or not a male dog meets that requirement when castration is the customary method. Vasectomization can also increase the opportunity for fraud in breedings.