Testicle surgery..what to expect? If you cut mine off I'd hate you. - Page 1

Re: 2 year old male GSD, Falco.

Falco is a pet. He was a $4000 pup whose testicles failed to drop. Rather than exchange him, I got half of my money back and thus far I have no regrets.

The vet had recommended surgery to remove the testicles right away. I declined based on recommendations of several folks on this forum to wait as long as I could... perhaps 2 years.

He is now 2 years old, so it's time for the surgery. We will schedule his surgery next week.

MY QUESTIONS:

--I have never had a nurtured dog, what can I expect?

Falco is my very best friend and he is with me 24/7... he loves to play ball once or trice a day. He loves running on the beach. In the house, he is a perfect gentleman and he love everyone he meets including other dogs. He even gets along with 26 chickens, 3 ducks and 4 geese. He loves life and he loves to please me as well as my wife. He is protective of both of us... but he is also that way with anyone he thinks he's supposed to watch over, such as my grandchildren. He is watchful, but never aggressive.

--Am I now going to have some laid back lazy fat grump?

--Will he no longer want to learn and experience new things?

--Will he lose his lust for adventure and life?

Cheers......

Gator, you and Falco, will be the perfect experiment.   You come back and tell us the changes, as you know him, and you will see them best.  I sincerely hope you do.

All I know, from my experiences, yes, they do gain weight, and yes, they do lose some of their drive.

He is two, so I don't think he will lose his lust for life, and if he is protective, I don't think he will lose that either, but I sincerely hope you come back and let us know of any changes or of no changes!

My experiences have been: minimal change in personality, and drive, and no weight gain. But those are just my personal experiences with dogs and other animals. I have a male I snipped at 2.5yrs, and he's as driven, lanky and fiesty at 5yrs as he was before he was done. Still humps in-season females too.

I've met folks who have said it changed their dogs; in my experience it all depends on the dog.

 Read the "what are the chances" thread by JRANSOM on the other side. I'm looking for it and can't find it or I would've posted a link to it. There is some good info about retained testicles and differing opinions.

Your male does NOT have to gain weight. Whether he does or not will be dependent on how much exercise he gets and what and how much you feed him. Neither will his basic temperament change. He will be sore for a few days, but should do just fine. If YOU think he is going to change somehow and YOU change how you interact with him, then you may note some minor changes. 

I have had hundreds of dogs who were neutered during my care and at various ages. He will be just fine, and you should continue to enjoy him just as before. 

Here is JRansoms thread
http://www.pedigreedatabase.com/german_shepherd_dog/forum/86389.html


My boy is 21 months and has a retained testicle. I have been reearcing the pros and con of neutering. A breeder who has been breeding for 40 yeats said she has never had a case of testicular cancer in a dog with a retained testicle.  She said in some cases the reatined testicle is reabsorbed by the body and not even found.

The following study says that neutering increases the risk of hemangiosarcma which my last GSd died of at not quite 9. He also was cryptorchid and on the advice of our vet I had him nuetered at 6 months. I regret this now

www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

In my experience, neutering males only serves to manage the hormonal manifestations, such as desire to breed, aggression towards other males or neuters, (the willingness to fight).
Neuters will actually be more focused on the handler, because they are not distracted by the sniff of the lady across the way. 
They do not necessarily need to gain weight or lose drive. Both of those issues are owner/handler dependent.

Just because you have seen hundreds of neutered and spayed dogs and did not see any differences does not mean it does not have negative effects. How can you remove an organ that produces key hormones and not think that it wont cause problems for the dog? It may not be a problem to you. If you don't like dogs the way they are and the way nature intended then why have them? 

 I'm a foster home with a GSD Rescue, so I've taken some 20-something GSDs through the neuter surgery.

INSIST on pain medicine.  A lot of the low-cost spay/neuter clinics that the rescue uses don't send the dog home with pain meds.  I've started insisting on it or supplying my own.  In my experience, they recover much more quickly and don't have to wear the stupid cone as long.  The 24-hour pain injection isn't enough.

Gaining weight is, as always, a matter of food intake and activity level.  As with yourself, if you see your dog starting to get pudgy, either increase the activity or decrease the food intake.  He will still love to play ball and run on the beach.

He will not become less protective.  

He will not hate you or hold a grudge.

He will not lose his energy, his lust for life, or his desire to try new things.  

He will probably have an easier time staying with you on off-leash walks.  

 That's it. I'm never going to get myself "neutered"...LOL