Teresa Castonguay Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Hello all This is my first posting so please forgive me if I reintroduce an old topic. I have a 17 month old intact male who was briefly started before the snow and cold arrived. He went away for training in the fall and the trainer commented that he was quite immature and not terribly confident. He is quite soft and very biddable. I have been contemplating having him neutered during this "down" time. My question is do you think it will have any effect on his confidence level? Should I wait until he has been truly started in his work? or will it make no real difference? Thanks for any and all opinions. Teresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Journey Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 If's he's not a problem intact and you are sending him back out for training I would recommend leaving him alone, sometimes the testosterone can help Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lenajo Posted February 9, 2009 Report Share Posted February 9, 2009 Same opinion here. For a slightly soft or shy dog, testosterone can be a "boost" for training that requires drive (like working sheep, or patrol/police world). It won't solve everything of course. As long as he's not a behavior problem, or can potentially sire unwanted puppies, I'd leave him alone at least a year if he were mine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DTrain Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 It is not likely I will get another BC unless and I hope not I need to replace one of my guys. I have three dogs, two are fixed and one is not. The dog that is not fixed is by far my best dog at everything including work. My other two guys are great dogs but not to the same level as my best dog. The two dogs were fixed at around six months. Because of this they did not develop fully in body. I have come to the conclusion I would not consider having a male dog fixed again until at least the age of two and even then if I did not have a good reason I would not have the dog fixed. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMSBORDERCOLLIES Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Hello all This is my first posting so please forgive me if I reintroduce an old topic. I have a 17 month old intact male who was briefly started before the snow and cold arrived. He went away for training in the fall and the trainer commented that he was quite immature and not terribly confident. He is quite soft and very biddable. I have been contemplating having him neutered during this "down" time. My question is do you think it will have any effect on his confidence level? Should I wait until he has been truly started in his work? or will it make no real difference? Thanks for any and all opinions. Teresa Hi there. In my opinion the only reason to neuter a dog is if you don't want to breed him. Nothing wrong with neutering but I feel that the dog should be fully mature and that could be anywhere from a year to three years old. I don't believe that dogs should be neutered before 18 months as they are not physically mature until then and it could affect when they reach maturity (probably later than if they had not been neutered). Neutered dog sometimes become a little more biddable if they were relatively biddable to start with. I don't believe that neutering an aggressive mature male will change things at all just prevent him from being a sire. Some of the other posters have stated that it could affect his confidence and that is quite likely true but nothing is written in stone. As a trainer it is your or your trainer's responibility to bring the dog to his genetic potential confidence level which is different for every dog. As long as he is capable of reaching a level of confidence sufficient to move stock capably then neutering shouldn't really affect him much but don't do it before he is mature. Bob Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Amelia Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 Hi Teresa, My good friend Julie Mathews had a dog named Moss that was neutered younger than yours is now. He was reserve champion at Meeker the same year he was reserve champion at the national finals. he competed successfully until he was 12 years old and was also one of the best work and chore dogs i have ever had the pleaure to work beside. I think it's possible that because we have different expectations of an in tact male over a neutered one, that they behave differently when we raise them side by side, but I don't think it matters at all. Your dog is old enough to have received any perceived benefits from remaining in tact and I would recommend cutting him. Cheers all, Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Debbie Meier Posted February 12, 2009 Report Share Posted February 12, 2009 He went away for training in the fall and the trainer commented that he was quite immature and not terribly confident. He is quite soft and very biddable. Hi, do you plan on sending him back to the same trainer? If so, I would check with your trainer to see what the advice would be and follow his/her suggestion. Deb Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Teresa Castonguay Posted February 17, 2009 Author Report Share Posted February 17, 2009 Hi, do you plan on sending him back to the same trainer? If so, I would check with your trainer to see what the advice would be and follow his/her suggestion. Deb Thanks for all the feedback. Yes I have asked the trainer but since she has only females she didn't feel qualified to give an opinion. He has no behaviour problems other than being a bit goofy! I do worry about his confidence level - he is so easily cowed by my (spayed) female! Guess I will wait until he's a bit further along and decide then. Teresa Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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