What to expect if I have the boy snipped?

[gezzerglide]

Let me preface this; I have no intent of breeding the boy. I have learned there are _way_ too many BCs in shelters to put more into this world. The boy nearly wound up there.

That said, Clyde was 2 in May. He is intact. What kind of behavior change should I be set for if he is cut? Will it help?

Right now, no issues with chasing squirrels, birds, cars, thunder phobia... Some reactivity to folks coming in the house. (throw ball, now friends) Frisbees, balls are his life. Inside the house/in the fenced back yard recall is not a problem. Outside, across the street in the "frisbee" field, recall is challenge. I can call _home_ and he will run to the house and wait for me on the porch. In the house, playing w/ the ball, him giving it up is a challenge at times. He wants to play keep away until he remembers that I won't play that way and he will bring the ball back. He is getting better in the house tho. In the field with the frisbee, he will drop it when I tell him "drop" but he gets set (lays flat on the ground) waiting for the next throw. _Nothing_ else matters at that point. he is locked in. He gets the BC eye in the field chasing the frisbee and the same thing in the house with the ball. _VERY_ intense, treats put in his mouth get dropped.

Basic stuff, sit, extended stay, come, down in the house/yard not a problem. (without ball/frisbee stimuli)

I have been doing c/t style training, but once Clyde gets into "eye" mode, it doesn't work.

He is a "latchkey" dog, put in the back yard when I go to work. He does have an 8 yr female BC next door he plays with while I'm gone tho. When I get home, we do play _every_ day, ball and frisbee, 1.5 or >mile walks.

All that said, snip or not? Or, do I just have the pup that got dropped on his head?????

[Maralynn]

I'd for sure get him neutered if you're leaving him in the backyard all day. Male dog are very determined to get out if a female in heat ever happens to be around.

 

I had my male neutered when he was a little over 2 y/o and saw no difference at all in his personality or drive.

[painted_ponies]

I agree with Maralynn - if you're leaving him outdoors unsupervised, you need to have him neutered. Even if he doesn't get out, I've known some hussies who managed to get themselves knocked up by going to a dog in a fence or crate.

 

I had my male BC/maremma cross neutered at about two years of age. I know some folks feel males are better off left intact, but I've had two males I really regretted not neutering. One was a chow whom I nearly lost to a sudden high fever brought on by a prostate infection, and whom I did have to have neutered at age 8 in order to clear up same; the other is my little Lhasa Apso, who will be fourteen in September so I'm not risking surgery, but he's such a PITA with his little Lhasa-tude I wish I'd snipped him before it developed! Which was late in life, BTW - he was a sweet little fellow till he was eight or nine years old, then apparently he read the Lhasa book. *sigh*

[NCStarkey]

Hi,

 

Neutering a male dog will not change his personality. What neutering will do is change his "priorities". As an intact dog, one of his biggest priorities is reproduction, which could certainly lead to problems for your "latch key dog". Have your boy neutered, and you will both be better off.

 

Regards,

nancy

[Bo Peep]

I agree, neuter. Also brings a less chance of testicular cancer. I had one old boy I left in tact. He was 17 and I left him keep the "good old boys". He was always supervised and really I don't think he had it in him to do any harm, but I didn't want to risk the surgery. At 2 years of age, he won't even remember he had them. Usher doesn't miss his.

[Shetlander]

but he's such a PITA with his little Lhasa-tude I wish I'd snipped him before it developed! Which was late in life, BTW - he was a sweet little fellow till he was eight or nine years old, then apparently he read the Lhasa book. *sigh*

 

If it makes you feel better, I had my Lhasa neutered at 8 months and he steadily built his Lhasattitude despite my preemptive strike. I swear, he will be the last of this breed I own. Or maybe I pray.

 

Back on subject, I agree if the dog is going to be outside, unsupervised, then he should be neutered.

[tripsis]

There are really no cons to getting your dog neutered. The most it will do is change/eliminate a few habits. If your dog is known to assert dominance on other males, neutering him can help eliminate/reduce that behavior.. and among other things (such as "marking" territory).

[mtnbound]

Neuter....neuter....neuter....neuter. They're more aerodynamic.

 

Also, Clyde doesn't sound like he was dropped on his head at all. He sounds like he's a BC. If I drop a frisbee or a ball on the ground in front of Kona, I can literally bounce cookies/treats off his head, his sides, or his rear end and he'll stay locked in - "Will you stop goofing off and throw this thing across the yard already!!!"

[mbc1963]

My dog came home at 18 months or 2 years. He was a shelter dog, so he was neutered a couple days before I picked him up. Not having known him before, I can't really say for sure how he changed. But I can tell you that after a couple months, there was a DRAMATIC drop in his reactiveness and aggression toward other dogs. I think that coincided with the trickling out of the testosterone. It probably also had a lot to do with the sudden stability and safety that he had in the new environment. At any rate, Buddy is not fat or lazy, and I don't have to worry about his sneaking around with girls.

 

(Unneutered determination: Yes! My childhood dog once broke-and-entered through a cellar window to impregnate my neighbor's dog.)

 

Mary

[juliepoudrier]

I agree with everyone who said a dog left outside all day unsupervised should be neutered. Females can and do climb fences to get to males who are staying home (I have a friend this happened to--twice), so if you don't want to inadvertently add to the overpopulation problem it's best to neuter him.

 

I just had my two-year-old male neutered. I waited till 2 because I wanted him to fully mature first. As he is a working dog and shows a lot of promise, I probably wouldn't have neutered him, but he was a cryptorchid so I had it done. It's been just a couple of weeks, but I haven't noticed a personality change. He's the same big goof he was before. It will be interesting to see if down the road other dogs react to him differently. Many males seemed to take an instant dislike to him, probably because of his adolescent maleness. Maybe now they won't care about him.

 

J.

[painted_ponies]

I had my Lhasa neutered at 8 months and he steadily built his Lhasattitude despite my preemptive strike.

 

Lhasattitude. I think I'll have Arlo a little t-shirt made with that on the back. So he can roll a pack of Camels up in the sleeve.

 

I just had my two-year-old male neutered. I waited till 2 because I wanted him to fully mature first. As he is a working dog and shows a lot of promise, I probably wouldn't have neutered him, but he was a cryptorchid so I had it done. It's been just a couple of weeks, but I haven't noticed a personality change. He's the same big goof he was before.

 

Please tell Pip that had I known, I'd have sent him a get well present. How's he doing?

[Journey]

Hmm, I may differ here and get slammed but....

 

If he's not a problem, you have a "securely" fenced yard, and your boy is not an obnoxious male at this time, then I may say leave him alone. It's really a personal decision. Having neutered one male, he was a class A "snot" when he was intact and cutting him changed him completely. The change, imo, was not for the best. It was as if his fairy godmother came along sprinkled some dust on him as said "you're now a weenie". He was cut at 3, and then became a complete nerd! Scared doesn't come close when storms came along. To this day I believe his hormones gave him confidence, false sense of security, yes, but "life" scared this dog after neutering. So, my point is I guess, each dog is different. If you are responsible, can manage him now and have no issues, you may want to leave him alone.

 

Karen

[painted_ponies]

Karen - that's why I left my Lhasa intact, actually, because he was such a fraidy cat as a youngster and I thought boy hormones might help. Apparently it was just a clever ruse on his part.

 

Not to wander too far OT, sorry, but my younger paint horse was left entire until he was three, when he moved to my boarding barn and the barn owner told his then-owner she needed to get him gelded. Then-owner was such a novice she didn't realize Quanah still had his boy bits or why that might be a problem. Anyway, gelding worked exactly the opposite with Quanah: he went from being the world's quietest colt to one of the top ten all-time PITA geldings. Good thing for him he's cute, or he'd not have had the chance to grow out of it - which he finally did when he was about seven.

[mbc1963]

It will be interesting to see if down the road other dogs react to him differently. Many males seemed to take an instant dislike to him, probably because of his adolescent maleness. Maybe now they won't care about him.

 

Oh, yes, I'd forgotten - that does seem to be an issue. My dog reacts completely differently to unfixed males than he does to neutered males. On the one hand, if the unfixed dogs are not interested in socializing, and just want to go off and sniff around, Buddy finds them FASCINATING. He puts on this goofy, "You're so cool. Can I hang out with you?" behavior. On the other hand, if an unfixed male comes toward him to do a formal meeting (which is tough for Buddy anyway), he gets really stiff, even from 10 feet away, and his reactivity is heightened. I'm guessing that in his former life, whatever it was, Buddy did a lot of bitch-chasing and had to compete with a lot of other intact males, so associates the scent with fighting.

 

Also, from what I've read, taking an unfixed male to a dog park often results in scuffles, as the scent seems to trigger different behavior from other dogs.

 

Mary

[juliepoudrier]

Hmm, I may differ here and get slammed but....

 

If he's not a problem, you have a "securely" fenced yard, and your boy is not an obnoxious male at this time, then I may say leave him alone.

Karen,

I don't think you'll get slammed. I certainly would have left Pip intact if not for the, um, lack of any male appendages where anyone could see them. I think the key point is the security of the yard, and since the owner is not home during the day, she can't know if a bitch has come and gone. My friend's border collie was minding his own business in his own yard (which he didn't leave) when the bitch (a neighbor's lab) came a'calling and the deed was done before anyone could do anything to stop it. Of course, the resulting puppies weren't actually my friend's problem, but she still felt responsible for the fact that her dog helped bring more puppies into this world, thanks to the bitch's irresponsible owner.

 

Sally,

Pip says he'll expect a personal visit from Aunt Sally, aka "Pip's drinking buddy" sometime in the future. You can share a glass of wine and commiserate over his "misfortune." All four! of his incisions have healed nicely and he's back to full activity, including working.

 

J.

[ziggzmom]

It will be interesting to see if down the road other dogs react to him differently. Many males seemed to take an instant dislike to him, probably because of his adolescent maleness. Maybe now they won't care about him.

 

J.

 

 

I had one of my males neutered late, he was around 5 yrs old. He was never a problem so I just didn't get around to it, but he did seem to have a 'kick me' sign on his back when it came to other male dogs. Since he was neutered(it's been about 4 yrs) he very seldom gets a second look. Hope it's the same for your boy.

 

Janet

[1sheepdoggal]

Well, if you decide not to neuter, long story short, you may have some one come to your door with a box of black and white puppies, and a sour look on their face, telling you that since it "appears" that your dog was the culprit, that they feel it is your responsibility to take half the pups! This dog was 4 yrs old, and had learned how to open the sliding glass door even when it was locked, traveled 5 miles down the road, to visit his fair maiden.

[Barb Scott]

We just had Zip neutered (age 6) because of an enlarged prostate. Our BC Blaze is 14 and still intact. Blaze's full brother (different litter) was neutered at 6 months. He was much leggier (rangier) than Blaze and was put to sleep when he broke his leg because of bone cancer. IF I was leaving my dog outdoors when I wasn't home (and I never will), I'd have him neutered immediately. In any other case, I'd wait at least until he had his full growth.

Barb S