I have a six month old terrier and I’m debating whether or not to neuter him. He’s a mixed breed (half Jack Russell and half your-guess-is-good-as-mine) and I have no intention of breeding him or of getting any other dogs until I have a fenced yard. He’s leash trained and I don’t have to worry about him getting outside or running off.
So what are the advantages to having him neutered? Does neutering change the personality (for better or for worse)? If I ever get a female I will definitely have her spayed because you may not be able to stop another dog from getting to her, but my dog is fairly safe from getting near any females in heat.
I’ve been told by at least two different vets that neutering results in a calmer dog, with less likelihood of destructive behaviour–like peeing in your shoes.
I have two male part English Mastiff, part Rott mix male dogs didn’t have them neutered. One is aggressive with anyone other than my wife, son, or myself (and at 150 pounds that is an issue). The other is a baby, and no neither one will try and hump your leg. I told my wife that most of the arguments used for neutering dogs would apply equally well to men in general!
The general theme at their site appears to be that it’s good for the dog, good for you and will avoid the unwanted pregnancies that can happen even if you are careful.
I am a big proponent of spaying/neutering. Aside from the health reasons to neuter a dog, think of it this way: You have an unneutered dog, and naturally he gets horny. He is confined and can’t do anything about it. Wouldn’t that drive you nuts, if you were an unneutered dog? Neuter him, and take away all those urges.
And on the off chance he did manage to escape, he’d be much less likely to wander off into danger or fight another dog.
So far I have convinced my owner not to neuter me. He says that neutered dogs live longer. Maybe that’s because neutered dogs aren’t as likely to chase cars that look bitchin’.
There are lots of good reasons to neuter a dog, but that isn’t one of them. It is however a good example of anthropomorhisation.
Dogs are not human. They didn’t evolve as humans did and they don’t behave like humans. In the wild most male wolves will never mate in their lives. Only the alpha male ever gets to breed, and indeed in the breeding season the alpha will viciously attack any male that shows the least interest in the in-season bitch. That is somehting that dogs have evolved with. Theye xpect never to mate in their lives and since all domestic dogs should be submissive pack memebers that is their accepted station in life. It doesn’t cause them any problems. It doesn’t drive them nuts. They don’t resent it.
The whole argument is akin to saying that male humans should be castrated because they aren’t allowed to stop and pee on every lamp post. Of course men don’t find that in the least frustrating because it isn’t something they particularly need to do. It is a desire only found in another species of mammal and the desire can not be translated across species.
My owner had me neutered. She says if dogs are not neutered by about age 2, their chances of doggie cancers go way up. Dogs can get prostate, testicular and other cancers… just like people. Same with girly dogs. Our doctor (the vet) made mom bring in my sister before her first heat to minimize her chances of breast, ovarian, and uterine cancer.
My owner also says that neutering a male dog makes us stop marking our territory all over the house. She hates cleaning up pee and I wish she’d just leave it there so all the other dogs will know that I RULE!
In aggressive dogs, neutering can calm us down a little. In horny dogs, it can make us hump legs and furniture less. I used to be a puppy mill stud dog. Now I’m retired and haven’t humped a thing since my owner adopted me and had me neutered.
Neutering does not:
• Cure behavioral problems. Only good training can do that.
• Make us fat. Maybe in cats…
• Change our behavior, make us lazy or alter our personalities in any way.
• Keep us in the yard or alleviate our desire to run and roam. We’re dogs. We like to run and roam. We’re going to do it if we can find a way to get out, whether we’re neutered, spayed or neither.
Neutering on its own won’t make a dog fat, it requires overfeeding as well. However neutering will make a dog (or almost any other animal) fat on less feed.
It’s not in any way correct to say that neutering will not alter a dog’s personality. Of course it will. As you just said yourself neutering will makes dogs less aggressive, which is of course a personality alteration.
The reason I stated it that way is because it seems that many people - especially males - are very hesitant to neuter their male dogs. That is anthropomorphism at its best. I am honestly more of a cat person than a dog person, and after watching my female cat in heat I made that connection. It truly looked like sexual frustration, and I felt so bad for her. She was spayed quickly after that. I never knew that about wolves, thanks for the info.
Of course queens will be in severe physical discomfort if they aren’t neutered or allowed to breed. It is a physical necessity for them to do one or the other or they will get extremely ill and have a very good chance of dying. And by extremely good I mean like 80% if they aren’t treated after they come into season and fail to conceive.
What you saw wasn’t sexual frustration. It was a queen suffering form the cat equivalent of extreme menstrual cramps. Had you allowed it go on for a few weeks she would have developed an infection of the uterus and after that she would have died.
So we have another good example of anthropomorphisation. Sexual frustration it wasn’t. A painful symptom of a physical illness it was.
What!? Do you have a cite for that? I know plenty of people who have unspayed females (for whatever reason - money, time, they just don’t get spayed immediately) and those cats aren’t dead! My own female cat was previously owned by an apartment dweller who didn’t spay her and never let her out, and she didn’t die.
I’m glad I’m not the only one who notices this contradiction. Neutering proponents always say this. “Want a calmer dog? Neuter him. Afraid neutering will make your dog too sedate? No problem, neutering never affects a dog’s personality.”
You know, there are obvious benefits to neutering your dog. Sometimes there are drawbacks. It annoys me when proponents of neutering pretend to be unbiased, but really are prepared to say whatever they think is necessary to convince the public. It’s insulting. What other downsides are they hiding? It makes me doubt their entire message.
.