# Neutering



## Laztastic (Nov 21, 2013)

Help! My 9 month old male V is scheduled to be snipped in 2 days. Breeder said hold off for 18 mos. for full growth. My dog is not aggressive and never humps. Daycare takes intact dogs. But I live in an urban area. I get a lot of comments about his being intact. Also the vet says this will prevent some health issues later on. But I'm having second thoughts. He's a gorgeous dog. And I don't want to impede his muscular development. Anyone have thoughts? Especially about future medical issues??


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

Stand up straight, shoulders back, chest out.
Now say "This Is MY Dog. I will have him neutered if and when I decide, and not a moment sooner. His health is more important to me than your opinion."

http://www.theaggie.org/2013/04/04/uc-davis-study-shows-negative-effects-of-neutering/

http://mercola.fileburst.com/PDF/HealthyPets/61314_Pets_Lead Article_VizslaStudy.pdf


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## Melissa_DT (Jan 9, 2013)

I agree with TexasRed. I had the same situation as you, I live in an urban area and anytime I took Bentley out I got lectures and dirty looks from strangers who have the notion that an intact dog=an irresponsible owner. At times it made me feel tempted to just neuter him to avoid dealing with that anymore but in the end I decided that it's my dog and my business and people can have their opinions but I wasn't going to let those pressure me into doing something I didn't want to do. I had conversations with both my breeder and my vet and trust their advice and recommendations more than strangers on the street. I waited until Bentley was 18 months to neuter him and I'm glad I stuck it out. 

It's your dog and your decision. Research your options and make the decision that's best for you and your dog and ignore the negative comments.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

We live in the city with our almost 21 month old MALE who is NOT neutered. I get a lot of comments from people...

anything from:

Wilson, you have BALLS!

to:

So what're you waiting for? Why isn't he neutered?

I have even gotten the totally ridiculous "he's a lot of dog for you to handle" comment from some people (including a dog trainer at our local dog school) when Wilson was being a typical vizsla and getting excited about going to the dog store. He was definitely referring to Wilson being intact.

Wilson is not allowed at doggy daycare or our traditional boarding options (like kennels in town) and we pay almost triple to register him with the city than we would if he was neutered. We have a great walker who is -somewhat- understanding of the fact that Wilson is not neutered. She has tried to talk me into neutering him under the guise that "the testosterone gets going and he may bite down harder while playing than intended," but since he's such a gentle soul, she hasn't actually had any evidence of it happening or any problems, so there's not a whole lot she can do. She boards dogs at her home, so we use her, or a hunting kennel about 1.5 hours away to board him if she's not available. It's a PITA, but we don't leave that often without him, so we work around it.

That said, I do not regret it one bit. He is a lovely, amazing pup. No behavior issues at all that anyone can point to neutering. The only issue is that some other dogs take offense to him being intact. To which I say, "that's a problem with YOUR DOG, not mine."

My husband almost does not want to neuter Wilson because of the comments we get from people. We have a five year old son and one common response is "I wouldn't neuter my five year old child, why would I my dog?" Wilson is big and strong and filled out in his chest (and will continue to do so) because he's in tact.

Photo of my big boy (He's the one in front) from a V playdate this past weekend.


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## mlwindc (Feb 8, 2013)

I'll note that once we were at a local park and Wilson was happily playing with another dog. The dogs owner said something g about how she hates when people bring their intact dogs to the park while commenting also on how well our dogs played. It's just a ridiculous prejudice here in the city against intact dogs. My coworker brags about how her dog still "pees like a girl" -/ because that's something to be proud of?


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## OttosMama (Oct 27, 2011)

My advice, don't do it until you're absolutely positive you want to. It's not really something you can take back! . So take your time and make a thoughtful, well informed decision! 

My dog is intact. We live in the suburbs and we receive a lot of the same comments. When people simply ask me why I haven't, I explain our reasons. I understand that it's not common, so I almost expect people to ask. When people are rude about it, I'm just up front with my opinion of neutering, regardless if their dog is neutered. 

I was in the same boat as you, except or daycare didn't accept intact dogs after 7 months. The owner really tried to push us to neuter. With advice from the forum and reading up on the latest research, I decided to cancel the appointment and stop bringing him to daycare. In retrospect, I'm so relieved we made that choice. He's incredibly active so I'm happy we gave his skeletal system a chance to develop fully. He'll be 3 next month and I don't foresee us neutering him in the future!


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## MCD (May 4, 2013)

Our vet was after us to have our girl spayed at 6 months. I have to think of her physiological well being before I would support any comments being made. I am more concerned about her overall health than what is ethical. Our breeder has put a clause into our contract regarding non breeding and that it should be done but not until a certain age and a heat cycle. I can understand this. Our breeder will take care of her puppies for us if we need to go away so I don't have boarding issues to deal with.
I am sure there are ways around the issue.


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## Laztastic (Nov 21, 2013)

Thanks for all your comments and encouragement. I canceled the vet appointment. I'm going to hold off another year, maybe longer.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

Laztastic said:


> ... the vet says this will prevent some health issues later on. ...


I think that your vet is not up-to-date. There is definite evidence of the ill effects of neutering (e.g., higher incidence of cancer) and sketchy or non-existent evidence of positive effects. Most people's attitude about neutering is culturally based (what they've always heard) and your vet is probably no exception.


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## giandaliajr (Nov 24, 2012)

Dont do it unless there is a specific medical reason or he roams around with unspayed females. For some reason vets just automatically recommend it, I'm guessing for population control. I haven't seen any real evidence that shows you get a better behaved dog after he is neutered. From what I have read it all seems like a huge public policy push for the last several decades in an attempt to get unwanted dog populations down. 

Since you're on this form, I'm guessing you are responsible enough to avoid females in heat so I would highly recommend you don't neuter him - ever - but at the earliest 18 months. 

When Berkeley was younger we thought we would do it at 18 months but around month 16 or so i started doing research again and found absolutely not reason to do it. He is coming up on being 2 years old now and he is healthy as an ox and loves every other dog and human (its only the fedex guy he doesn't like).


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## Duke14 (Jul 20, 2014)

There is a clause in our breeding contract that says if we don't neuter, we don't get his CKC Papers. Can someone tell me what I would need these papers for if I'm not going to breed him? I don't plan to show him. I may enter him in some agility or dock jumping competitions, but do I need his CKC Papers for that? Do I need them for pet insurance? We don't have our puppy yet and after doing some research on neutering, I'm not convinced it's the best option. Maybe a vasectomy if I can find a vet to do it but castration just doesn't sound like the right option...or the most humane.


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## einspänner (Sep 8, 2012)

Duke14, 
You won't need the papers depending on what organizations you test through. Many accept mixed breeds for instance. However, I wouldn't circumvent your contract with the breeder. Be open about your concerns and reference the research on the issue. If your breeder is worth their salt, s/he should already know about the recent study on the correlation between neutering and cancer in vizslas. Your desire to test the dog is worth something too. Likely, if s/he sees the effort you've take to educate yourself, s/he'll be willing to amend the contract. If not, pick a different breeder that shares those concerns. You're buying a relationship with a breeder first and a puppy second.


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## texasred (Jan 29, 2012)

I know more about AKC, than CKC but did find this.
Looks like a preferred breeder could still give you a limited registration. So I don't think I would accept a pup with no registration.

https://www.continentalkennelclub.com/pbp.aspx
CKC Preferred Breeders Program
8. CKC Preferred Breeders will be able to assign a puppy that they produced a Limited Registration which means that the puppy will not be able to produce offspring registerable through CKC and will not be able to compete in any conformation events. Limited Registrations give the Preferred Breeders more choices for their registration needs.


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## Duke14 (Jul 20, 2014)

Thank you TexasRed and eispanner. I don't have any plans to breed, I will leave that to the professionals. I also don't have any intentions of disrespecting my breeder, I have built a good relationship with her. While I have every intention of speaking with her about this, like all questions I've posed to her, I am doing some research first. I am hoping that a vasectomy might satisfy the contract and allow my dog the benefits of remaining intact. I still have a lot more reading to do. And I just learned that the vet we chose does not perform vasectomies, but I live in a large city and I am sure I can find a trustworthy vet if we decide to go that route.


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## Duke14 (Jul 20, 2014)

I reached out to my breeder and this is what she had to say about neutering vs. Vasectomy:

"Neutering is better at 18 months because all a vasectomy does is stop the sperm, he would still be a problem around intact males/marking, testicular cancer as he gets olds and he would be a real problem around females in season i.e. parks, camping, etc. He would still have urge to mount/show aggression. I really recommend neutering, you don't want an accident/incident when you are out and about with him. I wouldn't want the cancer risk down the road.

He would be a more loving boy down the road as well.

They are finding more and more cancer in intact males/non spayed females."

My husband isn't very excited about castrating his boy but understands. Besides, the breeder has the best interest of the breed and dog in mind. We also have a while before we have to really worry about it seeing as how she says to wait until he's 18 months old. This makes my husband feel a little better about it because he wants Duke to develop properly. 

I just want to do what is best for Duke, the same as I would for either of my kids. I can't imagine viewing Duke as anything other than a member of our family. And yes, I know Vizslas are notorious for being a challenge, but my kids aren't always a walk in the park.


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## Bob Engelhardt (Feb 14, 2012)

Duke14 said:


> I reached out to my breeder and this is what she had to say about neutering vs. Vasectomy:
> ... They are finding more and more cancer in intact males/non spayed females. ...


This study shows just the opposite:
http://www.caninesports.com/uploads/1/5/3/1/15319800/vizsla_javma_study.pdf


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## Duke14 (Jul 20, 2014)

Thank you for linking this study for my review. I am not sold on castration. I have no problem honouring our non-breeding contract but if there is potentially a more humane way to meet that obligation, I would rather explore that.

I am relieved to know I can take my time making this decision as it's not something that would need to be done right away anyway.


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## Sydney (Jul 28, 2014)

I'm still deciding if Trevi should get neutered or not. I have no plans to breed him, but he occasionally humps objects.


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## Duke14 (Jul 20, 2014)

Sydney said:


> I'm still deciding if Trevi should get neutered or not. I have no plans to breed him, but he occasionally humps objects.


From what I understand, dogs that are intact or otherwise will hump. I don't think neutering will necessarily make him stop.

I spoke with a holistic vet and he does not recommend castration unless there are significant behavioural issues. And at that he does not recommend it done before 2 years of age.


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## Sydney (Jul 28, 2014)

Duke14 said:


> Sydney said:
> 
> 
> > I'm still deciding if Trevi should get neutered or not. I have no plans to breed him, but he occasionally humps objects.
> ...


Thanks duke14. I'll be sure to talk to the vet about neutering when Trevi goes for his 12 week checkup.


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## hotmischief (Mar 11, 2012)

Castration does not stop humping or aggression. I have a neutered dog and he still humps occasionally when he is playing and gets excited. My Vizsla is entire and although he humped when he was younger we were very strict and used the word NO. He is 21/2 now and I can't remember the last time I saw him hump. 

Because of the health issues that castration is known to cause, some vets offer a chemical castration for aggressive dogs. It is an implant and last 6 months. If it helps then there is obviously a good case for castration. It has not helped with the majority of aggressive dogs therefore it is unlikely castration will help.

Marking territory, I have had three entire males and only one of them marks his territory. I think it is very much down to the personality of the individual dog. 

Don't let anybody tell you that castration will solve everything - a lot of the issues referred to are controllable with training.


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## Ozkar (Jul 4, 2011)

It's probably been said already, but it's what's between the ears which is important, not the legs!


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