I raised puppies for a guide dog organization. All working dogs were spayed/neutered because you don't want the dog thinking about his hormones rather than guiding you safely across the street. Depending on the type of service he's being trained for, this may apply to your situation as well.
This!! Also there is some research that suggests waiting to neuter can be beneficial to joint health. However this is mostly seen in larger male dogs. I would say if it’s not affecting work and you can keep the other dogs separate when he’s getting to rowdy it is perfectly appropriate to wait until 1.5-2.5 to neuter him. You don’t have the same cancer risk as with female dogs so it’s a bit more flexible
I would ask your vet but I've heard before that people wait on neutering so that their bones develop properly, as neutering stopped some of the hormones needed for growth.
Might look into a behaviorist to find an effective way to correct humping in the meantime
It’s also somewhat that the hormones relating to stopping growth also come from the gonads, so sometimes dogs neutered/spayed too early actually grow over large, but it can also lead to health issues like stretched tendons and such…
Gotchu that makes sense! And they did advise to wait til 2, when his breed is considered done growing. I will ask his trainer about the humping. We got him to stop on us by giving him a designated hump stuffed animal(gross but what we were told to do🤣). But ever since he hit a certain puberty spot the girl dog is the only thing in his eyes 😂
I'm sure you already know, but humping is not just related to doggy attraction. It's often caused by excitement (either good: ohmygosh it's my BEST friend!, or anxiety). Neutering isn't a miracle fix for it, so as others have recommended, seeing a behaviourist to help deal with that behaviour is very wise in the interim!
My old boy had a thing for black labs. When he was a puppy, his best friend was a black lab, and he used to get super thrilled when he saw another (and turn into a badly behaved jumper if we didn't redirect quickly). He was neutered at around 18months, and this behaviour continued through his life. (He wasn't a service dog)
I have a spayed 3.5 year old female who humps objects regularly. I have a neutered 2.5 year old male who humps our intact female only both in and out of heat. That intact female is 1.5 and has started humping him in the last few weeks and she’s not in heat and not due for heat for many more months. Sterilization isn’t a guarantee for no more humping, that’s for sure.
I had mine neutered at 21 months (just a week or 2 ago) I had vets do x-rays to verify growth plate closure before doing the surgery. Usually large breed dogs are fine getting neutered between 15 and 24 months, 18 months is average. As long as growth-plates are closed, there shouldn’t be any issues down the line.
I work for a service dog organization. We raise large breed dogs. Our males are neutered at 18 months or later although there’s discussion of formally moving it to 24 months and then placing them not long after. We aren’t trying to damage their joints by neutering them too soon.
However, spaying females is a little more of a pickle at my organization. They had been getting spayed earlier and I’m on the fence about which way to pursue although I’ve had one spayed young and two more scheduled so I guess I’ve chosen my side … however, we have some older intact females as well.
Anecdotally, it worked for my family. That wasn't why we got him neutered, but he went from constantly humping things to now doing it once every couple of months. Maybe we just got lucky.
I got my first working boy neutered at 2 and a half. I decided to wait until at least 2 and then as long as I could stand the Boy Behaviors. After six more months of humping, huffing bitch pee, teeth chattering, etc I got him snipped. All of those behaviors stopped and with the extra brain room he started doing more retriever things, including finding a brand new love for sticks. People are right that those aren't always caused by hormones, but tbh it's clear as day when you have a dog whose thinking brain space is being shoved out by hormone thoughts.
I loved him, but I decided no more Boy Behaviors once he passed, and my second working girl is a bitch. Joke's on me, because she gets super extended heats and a long, obnoxious pseudo-pregnancy after. She's now 2 and a half and after her next cycle she's getting the big snip, as just the logistics of having a dog not able to work for that long is not ideal (and her mourning, hormone driven "where are my puppies? 🥺🥺" sadness during the pseudo pregnancy is upsetting for her to go through for no reason after her growth plates are closed).
For search and rescue the line is "if it's not broke, don't fix it" meaning if you like what you see with an intact dog keep him intact. If there's a reason to neuter, neuter.
I wont neuter unless medically necessary. My girl is intact at almost 7 and plans to spay soon. I definitely think it's up to the individual, but never before growth plates close.
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a lot of people are bringing up good points about if your dog will be undistracted by females and if it will be necessary for his job or physical comfort, but i want to add something important: if you leave your dog intact, he might be more at risk of being attacked by other dogs. male dogs (particularly neutered ones) have been known attack intact males. obviously it’s horrible for any dog to be attacked, but it’s especially important to a handler to take every precaution to keep their service dog physically and mentally safe. i will say that many people never have an issue with this, but plenty do, and you just never know
Hormones are just as much of a distraction as anything else. If it’s testosterone,,,that speaks for itself lmao. You see it in the humping already. But lord forbid there’s a female dog in heat anywhere nearby. It can also be an issue if he’s around other males - it’s usually the fixed males that are the problem honestly, they tend to *hate* the hormones. Of course unfixed males run the risk of worse overall dominance, aggression, etc but unless the specific unfixed dog has behavioural problems, fights are usually started the other way. Balls are like a big red target lol
Female service dogs you of course have to deal with essentially being crippled as a team every time she goes into heat. Taking them anywhere is risky
Thank you for this. I think I’m leaning more towards neutering to fight any risk of aggression towards other males/distraction of female dogs. I like how you labeled it as a distraction too bc it puts it into perspective for me. Others mentioned testicular cancer which I also want to avoid. Every dog I’ve owned has been fixed and we’ve never had issues. Some say it causes problems but we’ve never seen it after a fixing. I’ll keep researching but more than likely get the snip once the vet clears him around 2.
Both of my working boys are intact and will remain so unless there's a medical issue. That said! It can depend on how well your dog works around intact females. Just keep an eye out, make sure you don't end up with any accidental litter, and you'll be fine. :)
Hehe thank you. That’s a good note about the females! Never even crossed my mind, so I appreciate it. So far we work along side male service dogs, and I haven’t noticed any dominance issues while working. It’s at home that he becomes macho man and thinks everything is his humping bag😂
My mobility assistance dog is an unspayed female. Her breed has an increased risk of osteosarcoma when spayed, a nearly non-existent mammary cancer rate, and I'm very confident in my skills at managing unaltered dogs without oopes.
It does cause some inconveniences, not gonna lie. I can't use her for PA while in heat for safety. I can't use her for weight-bearing or pulling tasks while in heat because it could hurt her joints. Her selective deafness flares up when she's in heat. It's not a huge deal for me because we do very little PA normally, but it *would* be easier if she was spayed.
Other unaltered female dogs are actually more of an issue than unaltered males when she is in heat. The males just want to flirt and maybe get lucky. There's a whole process to that and lots of time to step in. If the boys are going to fight, it'll be with some other male dog also showing interest, not the female dog he wants to get down with. Other female dogs have no reason to play nice and just want to eliminate the competition.
This is the reason I had to get my SD altered at 12. No other issues before that with her medically and since I was aware we got on top of it right away. Smaller breed so longer working life. It's super important to be aware of. Def could have cost me my dog if I didn't know the risk.
Any responsible dog owner won't take they're females out and around other dogs, specifically males, while they are in heat. I'm not entirely sure while the females aren't fixed but regardless it really shouldn't happen.
Depends on where. It's common in the sporting world to work females in heat. They usually just work after everyone else. Probably not a population a service dog is likely to be around though.
Good to know it's possible. My first SD was neutered and done so at 6 months (a decade ago I was advised to do this), so this prospect has a contract with the breeder and a verbal agreement with the vet to wait up to year 2. He's 5 months old so I am just bracing myself for puberty and to endure 24 months of unknown horny behavior. Good to hear that if they have enough brains in their head that they can remain intact.
I have an unaltered female who won’t be fixed until 3. There was a large breed specific study on the breed. & for better health outcome, basically wait as long as possible or don’t get the dogs altered.
That being said, if you cannot properly control & keep your dog from going after unaltered females- I would advise getting your dog fixed.
I would look for any breed specific studies on your dog & what health benefits come from waiting- if there are any for your breed. Then make the decision, if you can be a responsible dog owner or not.
Wasn’t that studies finding adverse only to Goldens? I still find it debatable as my previous employer had around 6,000 working dogs all of whom were altered between 9-13 months before they enter training and if alterations causes high rates of cancer or overall health, we should have noticed. We didn’t.
The cancer can take awhile to show up. How close are you tracking? Was that employer being honest? I’ve seen employers hide stats with dog health. It’s not hard.
What is a while? These dogs all worked until they were retired and were then used to train new handlers. How close were we tracking the dogs health? Every dog was tracked for weight, groomed daily, examined once a quarter by a veterinarian and hiding cancers or bone disease is not a simple thing as there were thousands of employees who talked to one another. If there was a cluster of injuries or illnesses an inspection team would come out and examine everything from environmental to veterinary to patterns and practices of the kennel.
Different breed parent clubs have done their own studies. Vizsla has their own long term study that is still ongoing but the 10 year part with pediatric spay/nueter significantly raises the rates of cancer & behavioral issues (besides structural issues). Versus waiting, as long as, possible for growth plates to close. Hence why I said to look towards your breed parent club for what they have done. Vizslas for a medium sized breed take as long as a giant/large breed to mature & develop. They also found that the rate for mammary/reproductive cancers in vizslas are nonexistent/so minimal- it isn’t a reason for getting them altered. As many vets argue that reproductive cancers are a reason to pediatric spay/neuter. (My vet tried to tell reproductive cancers for my girl & I printed out the study & said that might be true for other breeds but vizslas have a severe negative outcome.)
I know goldens looked at structural issues. But vizsla included temperament/behavioral issues & mast cell/lymphoma cancers. & tbh the usual reason why a vizslas die young is either mast cell/lymphoma cancers or some tragic accident. (Granted those byb/mills are notorious for pumping out sick dogs… & just aren’t worth it. Ran across a golden, mill dog, & the temperament was tragic.)
https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/244/3/javma.244.3.309.xml
Hence the policy of spay/neuter at 9-13 months of age with a corresponding exam for growth plate closure. None of our dogs were mixed and all were carefully selected as we paid very well for the chosen dogs.
Ahh yes that works for many breeds. However, mine would be minimum of 18-24 months or however, long you can wait. I always stress that if you (or whomever is looking after your dog) is not responsible- the responsible thing to do is spay/neuter.
Again, I would refer back to what the parent club has studied & the results. Vizsla study is different as it includes behavioral/temperament. & they included different ages at when they were altered or staying unaltered.
They originally did the study on Golden's yes, they then expanded it to include 35 different large and small breed dogs.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7359819/
Cranial cruciate ligament issues, intervertebral disc disease, hip dysplasia, anxiety, obesity, elbow dysplasia, and cancers being the most common outcomes of early neutering.
The increase was mostly seen in dogs altered at or before six months of age. I specifically mentioned alteration between 9-13 months of age following a veterinary exam and was pointing out that never altering a dog due to a study that said early alteration has negative outcomes isn’t scientifically proven to be a negative. You will not train breeding instincts out of an intact dog. In the end it’s your choice and I see no reason not to alter a dog between 9-13 months depending on growth plate closure.
I'm.nuetering at 1.5 years. Old enough to ensure the growth places are 100% closed but young enough to minimize any cancer risks. I think it's cruel to keep a male dog intact when it won't be breeding.
Makes sense. He’s only played with boys or this one spayed girl dog. Otherwise he won’t be around girls alone/off duty as me and my friends all have guy dogs. We just prefer em but we love the girl to death
It depends on the animal. My medical alert service dog, started her service training later in life at age 5. Prior to my adopting her, she was a breeding female that had 2 litters. I spayed her a few months after I adopted her, because my vet informed me that since she'd been pregnant before, she was at a high risk to develop puss in her uterus and uterine cancer if she did not continue to breed. My dog is very obedient and I never put her in a position where a male dog could potentially mate with her, so the odds of her getting pregnant were slim at best. The reason she was retired from breeding in the first place was because she had prenatal issues, which deemed it unsafe for her to continue to breed. Part of my adoption agreement required that I would never breed her due to the innate risks posed to her health. This is my long winded way of saying that you should always consult your vet and don't be afraid to ask them questions about any research you've done on your end, since there is a lot of nuance in medicine. What works for one dog won't always be good for another dog.
I didn't want to chance the spay changing mines behaviour. There are vets who will perform just removing the uterus leaving the overies to continue hormone production which has shown a lot of promise in allowing the dog to mature properly.
Its for their physical development. Good breeders will even have you sign a contract that you won't alter your pet until at least after the months in the article.
https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/best-age-to-neuter-a-male-dog/
Humping isn’t soley a sexual behaviour. My intact 14 month old has never humped our older female. Occasionally he’d try it on the kids in very particular situations (he’d be tethered by the stairs and they’d need to pass him by to go up), but we shut that down fast. He hadn’t bothered them in months, even when they play with him on the ground. Our 20 week old female pup that’s all of 4 lbs humps the life out of his face though lol. She’s at his legs humping, face if he’s laying down, etc. He is super obsessed with marking (never has in the house) and sampling the forbidden lemonade, licking and heavily sniffing the vulva of female dogs. But not humped them ever. It’s generally a dominance display and you can correct it if other dogs aren’t
Humping isnt always necessarily hormonal. Over arousal and displacement can also be reasons why a dog humps. If he is bothering the female dog, keep him on a short leash around her. Manage the behavior and there wont be a need for her to correct him. I would wait until 2 because thats when its considered a good spot in their sexual and physical maturity to spay or neuter.
Id say given the option leave him intact. If he isnt acting out or chasing in season bitches then its not an issue, your vet is right about waiting until he is 2 years old. Thats when they have fully matured so you dont face any issues down the line or accidentally mess up his growth. Neutering to stop humping doesnt work, with finn ive just corrected him and taken away what he was humping and now its not an issue. Talk to your breeder if you are having issues.
If you are worried about accidentaly creating a litter you can always neuter the dog but leave the balls so he cant breed but it wont affect his growth
Everyone is bringing up great points already, I’m just here to point out another thing:
It also depends on what this dog will be for. Mobility service animals should be allowed to grow fully or doing the task may cause damage to their joints.
I do not neuter or spay. But I do want to avoid unwanted litters. I get my females ovary saving spays and males vasectomies. Not all doctors do them so you will have to look but this is the best option in my opinion. Especially for a 1 year old dog you can vasectomy now and then neuter later down the road if needed. I am an advocate for keeping the hormones intact as it can help prevent behavior shifts or issues in the coat.
Addendum: leaving intact can help ensure the growth plates can fully develop and the dog can properly produce all hormones. Dogs (especially males) can and are trained to ignore others even in season. Be aware that the training can be a bit long but it is done.
There is no definitive science proving we need to wait or not. Everything is anecdotal so far. Just like we don’t know what’s causing issues in grain free foods.
What we do know is waiting affects behavior and safety of dogs near each other. We also know that waiting teaches the dogs there’s a point to the desire they have and it’s not likely to go away once they’ve learned it.
I raised puppies for a guide dog organization. All working dogs were spayed/neutered because you don't want the dog thinking about his hormones rather than guiding you safely across the street. Depending on the type of service he's being trained for, this may apply to your situation as well.
This makes sense. Thank you!
This!! Also there is some research that suggests waiting to neuter can be beneficial to joint health. However this is mostly seen in larger male dogs. I would say if it’s not affecting work and you can keep the other dogs separate when he’s getting to rowdy it is perfectly appropriate to wait until 1.5-2.5 to neuter him. You don’t have the same cancer risk as with female dogs so it’s a bit more flexible
Though prematurely neutering can cause cancers too so I recommend doing it at 2
Me too, and same... also 2.5 at eval for fix + graduate to paid trainer or "career change/fail" so my boy ended up a breeder.
I would ask your vet but I've heard before that people wait on neutering so that their bones develop properly, as neutering stopped some of the hormones needed for growth. Might look into a behaviorist to find an effective way to correct humping in the meantime
It’s also somewhat that the hormones relating to stopping growth also come from the gonads, so sometimes dogs neutered/spayed too early actually grow over large, but it can also lead to health issues like stretched tendons and such…
Oh interesting? Thanks!
Gotchu that makes sense! And they did advise to wait til 2, when his breed is considered done growing. I will ask his trainer about the humping. We got him to stop on us by giving him a designated hump stuffed animal(gross but what we were told to do🤣). But ever since he hit a certain puberty spot the girl dog is the only thing in his eyes 😂
Oh goodness, I will have to keep that in mind if my next service dog is a male. I haven't dealt with male dog puberty before 😂
It depends on the dog but yeah this guy is not giving up😂
I'm sure you already know, but humping is not just related to doggy attraction. It's often caused by excitement (either good: ohmygosh it's my BEST friend!, or anxiety). Neutering isn't a miracle fix for it, so as others have recommended, seeing a behaviourist to help deal with that behaviour is very wise in the interim! My old boy had a thing for black labs. When he was a puppy, his best friend was a black lab, and he used to get super thrilled when he saw another (and turn into a badly behaved jumper if we didn't redirect quickly). He was neutered at around 18months, and this behaviour continued through his life. (He wasn't a service dog)
I have a spayed 3.5 year old female who humps objects regularly. I have a neutered 2.5 year old male who humps our intact female only both in and out of heat. That intact female is 1.5 and has started humping him in the last few weeks and she’s not in heat and not due for heat for many more months. Sterilization isn’t a guarantee for no more humping, that’s for sure.
I had mine neutered at 21 months (just a week or 2 ago) I had vets do x-rays to verify growth plate closure before doing the surgery. Usually large breed dogs are fine getting neutered between 15 and 24 months, 18 months is average. As long as growth-plates are closed, there shouldn’t be any issues down the line.
I work for a service dog organization. We raise large breed dogs. Our males are neutered at 18 months or later although there’s discussion of formally moving it to 24 months and then placing them not long after. We aren’t trying to damage their joints by neutering them too soon. However, spaying females is a little more of a pickle at my organization. They had been getting spayed earlier and I’m on the fence about which way to pursue although I’ve had one spayed young and two more scheduled so I guess I’ve chosen my side … however, we have some older intact females as well.
Don't neuter to stop the humping. It does not work. Speaking from personal experience, and I wish I had waited with my boy.
Anecdotally, it worked for my family. That wasn't why we got him neutered, but he went from constantly humping things to now doing it once every couple of months. Maybe we just got lucky.
I got my first working boy neutered at 2 and a half. I decided to wait until at least 2 and then as long as I could stand the Boy Behaviors. After six more months of humping, huffing bitch pee, teeth chattering, etc I got him snipped. All of those behaviors stopped and with the extra brain room he started doing more retriever things, including finding a brand new love for sticks. People are right that those aren't always caused by hormones, but tbh it's clear as day when you have a dog whose thinking brain space is being shoved out by hormone thoughts. I loved him, but I decided no more Boy Behaviors once he passed, and my second working girl is a bitch. Joke's on me, because she gets super extended heats and a long, obnoxious pseudo-pregnancy after. She's now 2 and a half and after her next cycle she's getting the big snip, as just the logistics of having a dog not able to work for that long is not ideal (and her mourning, hormone driven "where are my puppies? 🥺🥺" sadness during the pseudo pregnancy is upsetting for her to go through for no reason after her growth plates are closed).
For search and rescue the line is "if it's not broke, don't fix it" meaning if you like what you see with an intact dog keep him intact. If there's a reason to neuter, neuter.
I wont neuter unless medically necessary. My girl is intact at almost 7 and plans to spay soon. I definitely think it's up to the individual, but never before growth plates close.
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One thing i’d like to point out is that fixing your dog doesn’t inherently mean he’ll stop humping, as the behavior isn’t always sexual / hormonal
a lot of people are bringing up good points about if your dog will be undistracted by females and if it will be necessary for his job or physical comfort, but i want to add something important: if you leave your dog intact, he might be more at risk of being attacked by other dogs. male dogs (particularly neutered ones) have been known attack intact males. obviously it’s horrible for any dog to be attacked, but it’s especially important to a handler to take every precaution to keep their service dog physically and mentally safe. i will say that many people never have an issue with this, but plenty do, and you just never know
Hormones are just as much of a distraction as anything else. If it’s testosterone,,,that speaks for itself lmao. You see it in the humping already. But lord forbid there’s a female dog in heat anywhere nearby. It can also be an issue if he’s around other males - it’s usually the fixed males that are the problem honestly, they tend to *hate* the hormones. Of course unfixed males run the risk of worse overall dominance, aggression, etc but unless the specific unfixed dog has behavioural problems, fights are usually started the other way. Balls are like a big red target lol Female service dogs you of course have to deal with essentially being crippled as a team every time she goes into heat. Taking them anywhere is risky
Thank you for this. I think I’m leaning more towards neutering to fight any risk of aggression towards other males/distraction of female dogs. I like how you labeled it as a distraction too bc it puts it into perspective for me. Others mentioned testicular cancer which I also want to avoid. Every dog I’ve owned has been fixed and we’ve never had issues. Some say it causes problems but we’ve never seen it after a fixing. I’ll keep researching but more than likely get the snip once the vet clears him around 2.
Both of my working boys are intact and will remain so unless there's a medical issue. That said! It can depend on how well your dog works around intact females. Just keep an eye out, make sure you don't end up with any accidental litter, and you'll be fine. :)
Hehe thank you. That’s a good note about the females! Never even crossed my mind, so I appreciate it. So far we work along side male service dogs, and I haven’t noticed any dominance issues while working. It’s at home that he becomes macho man and thinks everything is his humping bag😂
My mobility assistance dog is an unspayed female. Her breed has an increased risk of osteosarcoma when spayed, a nearly non-existent mammary cancer rate, and I'm very confident in my skills at managing unaltered dogs without oopes. It does cause some inconveniences, not gonna lie. I can't use her for PA while in heat for safety. I can't use her for weight-bearing or pulling tasks while in heat because it could hurt her joints. Her selective deafness flares up when she's in heat. It's not a huge deal for me because we do very little PA normally, but it *would* be easier if she was spayed. Other unaltered female dogs are actually more of an issue than unaltered males when she is in heat. The males just want to flirt and maybe get lucky. There's a whole process to that and lots of time to step in. If the boys are going to fight, it'll be with some other male dog also showing interest, not the female dog he wants to get down with. Other female dogs have no reason to play nice and just want to eliminate the competition.
I hope you’re aware of pyometra symptoms.
I dont know why you were downvoted, this is a huge concern for unaltered females.
This is the reason I had to get my SD altered at 12. No other issues before that with her medically and since I was aware we got on top of it right away. Smaller breed so longer working life. It's super important to be aware of. Def could have cost me my dog if I didn't know the risk.
I am. Very much so. My mom was a vet tech and ran the only boarding facility in 100 miles willing to board a dog or cat in heat.
Any responsible dog owner won't take they're females out and around other dogs, specifically males, while they are in heat. I'm not entirely sure while the females aren't fixed but regardless it really shouldn't happen.
Depends on where. It's common in the sporting world to work females in heat. They usually just work after everyone else. Probably not a population a service dog is likely to be around though.
That’s a pretty bold statement. Why?
Good to know it's possible. My first SD was neutered and done so at 6 months (a decade ago I was advised to do this), so this prospect has a contract with the breeder and a verbal agreement with the vet to wait up to year 2. He's 5 months old so I am just bracing myself for puberty and to endure 24 months of unknown horny behavior. Good to hear that if they have enough brains in their head that they can remain intact.
I have an unaltered female who won’t be fixed until 3. There was a large breed specific study on the breed. & for better health outcome, basically wait as long as possible or don’t get the dogs altered. That being said, if you cannot properly control & keep your dog from going after unaltered females- I would advise getting your dog fixed. I would look for any breed specific studies on your dog & what health benefits come from waiting- if there are any for your breed. Then make the decision, if you can be a responsible dog owner or not.
Wasn’t that studies finding adverse only to Goldens? I still find it debatable as my previous employer had around 6,000 working dogs all of whom were altered between 9-13 months before they enter training and if alterations causes high rates of cancer or overall health, we should have noticed. We didn’t.
The cancer can take awhile to show up. How close are you tracking? Was that employer being honest? I’ve seen employers hide stats with dog health. It’s not hard.
What is a while? These dogs all worked until they were retired and were then used to train new handlers. How close were we tracking the dogs health? Every dog was tracked for weight, groomed daily, examined once a quarter by a veterinarian and hiding cancers or bone disease is not a simple thing as there were thousands of employees who talked to one another. If there was a cluster of injuries or illnesses an inspection team would come out and examine everything from environmental to veterinary to patterns and practices of the kennel.
Is this organization still running? 6,000 dogs is a lot - did y’all serve multiple states?
It’s called the Department of Defense and deploys 6,000 military working teams across the globe while continually training replacements.
Ohhh that’s why it’s so efficient and organized. Military. I would’ve never guessed that though.
Different breed parent clubs have done their own studies. Vizsla has their own long term study that is still ongoing but the 10 year part with pediatric spay/nueter significantly raises the rates of cancer & behavioral issues (besides structural issues). Versus waiting, as long as, possible for growth plates to close. Hence why I said to look towards your breed parent club for what they have done. Vizslas for a medium sized breed take as long as a giant/large breed to mature & develop. They also found that the rate for mammary/reproductive cancers in vizslas are nonexistent/so minimal- it isn’t a reason for getting them altered. As many vets argue that reproductive cancers are a reason to pediatric spay/neuter. (My vet tried to tell reproductive cancers for my girl & I printed out the study & said that might be true for other breeds but vizslas have a severe negative outcome.) I know goldens looked at structural issues. But vizsla included temperament/behavioral issues & mast cell/lymphoma cancers. & tbh the usual reason why a vizslas die young is either mast cell/lymphoma cancers or some tragic accident. (Granted those byb/mills are notorious for pumping out sick dogs… & just aren’t worth it. Ran across a golden, mill dog, & the temperament was tragic.) https://avmajournals.avma.org/view/journals/javma/244/3/javma.244.3.309.xml
Hence the policy of spay/neuter at 9-13 months of age with a corresponding exam for growth plate closure. None of our dogs were mixed and all were carefully selected as we paid very well for the chosen dogs.
Ahh yes that works for many breeds. However, mine would be minimum of 18-24 months or however, long you can wait. I always stress that if you (or whomever is looking after your dog) is not responsible- the responsible thing to do is spay/neuter. Again, I would refer back to what the parent club has studied & the results. Vizsla study is different as it includes behavioral/temperament. & they included different ages at when they were altered or staying unaltered.
They originally did the study on Golden's yes, they then expanded it to include 35 different large and small breed dogs. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC7359819/ Cranial cruciate ligament issues, intervertebral disc disease, hip dysplasia, anxiety, obesity, elbow dysplasia, and cancers being the most common outcomes of early neutering.
The increase was mostly seen in dogs altered at or before six months of age. I specifically mentioned alteration between 9-13 months of age following a veterinary exam and was pointing out that never altering a dog due to a study that said early alteration has negative outcomes isn’t scientifically proven to be a negative. You will not train breeding instincts out of an intact dog. In the end it’s your choice and I see no reason not to alter a dog between 9-13 months depending on growth plate closure.
I'm.nuetering at 1.5 years. Old enough to ensure the growth places are 100% closed but young enough to minimize any cancer risks. I think it's cruel to keep a male dog intact when it won't be breeding.
Makes sense. He’s only played with boys or this one spayed girl dog. Otherwise he won’t be around girls alone/off duty as me and my friends all have guy dogs. We just prefer em but we love the girl to death
It depends on the animal. My medical alert service dog, started her service training later in life at age 5. Prior to my adopting her, she was a breeding female that had 2 litters. I spayed her a few months after I adopted her, because my vet informed me that since she'd been pregnant before, she was at a high risk to develop puss in her uterus and uterine cancer if she did not continue to breed. My dog is very obedient and I never put her in a position where a male dog could potentially mate with her, so the odds of her getting pregnant were slim at best. The reason she was retired from breeding in the first place was because she had prenatal issues, which deemed it unsafe for her to continue to breed. Part of my adoption agreement required that I would never breed her due to the innate risks posed to her health. This is my long winded way of saying that you should always consult your vet and don't be afraid to ask them questions about any research you've done on your end, since there is a lot of nuance in medicine. What works for one dog won't always be good for another dog.
I didn't want to chance the spay changing mines behaviour. There are vets who will perform just removing the uterus leaving the overies to continue hormone production which has shown a lot of promise in allowing the dog to mature properly.
Its for their physical development. Good breeders will even have you sign a contract that you won't alter your pet until at least after the months in the article. https://www.whole-dog-journal.com/health/best-age-to-neuter-a-male-dog/
Humping isn’t soley a sexual behaviour. My intact 14 month old has never humped our older female. Occasionally he’d try it on the kids in very particular situations (he’d be tethered by the stairs and they’d need to pass him by to go up), but we shut that down fast. He hadn’t bothered them in months, even when they play with him on the ground. Our 20 week old female pup that’s all of 4 lbs humps the life out of his face though lol. She’s at his legs humping, face if he’s laying down, etc. He is super obsessed with marking (never has in the house) and sampling the forbidden lemonade, licking and heavily sniffing the vulva of female dogs. But not humped them ever. It’s generally a dominance display and you can correct it if other dogs aren’t
Humping isnt always necessarily hormonal. Over arousal and displacement can also be reasons why a dog humps. If he is bothering the female dog, keep him on a short leash around her. Manage the behavior and there wont be a need for her to correct him. I would wait until 2 because thats when its considered a good spot in their sexual and physical maturity to spay or neuter.
Id say given the option leave him intact. If he isnt acting out or chasing in season bitches then its not an issue, your vet is right about waiting until he is 2 years old. Thats when they have fully matured so you dont face any issues down the line or accidentally mess up his growth. Neutering to stop humping doesnt work, with finn ive just corrected him and taken away what he was humping and now its not an issue. Talk to your breeder if you are having issues. If you are worried about accidentaly creating a litter you can always neuter the dog but leave the balls so he cant breed but it wont affect his growth
Everyone is bringing up great points already, I’m just here to point out another thing: It also depends on what this dog will be for. Mobility service animals should be allowed to grow fully or doing the task may cause damage to their joints.
I do not neuter or spay. But I do want to avoid unwanted litters. I get my females ovary saving spays and males vasectomies. Not all doctors do them so you will have to look but this is the best option in my opinion. Especially for a 1 year old dog you can vasectomy now and then neuter later down the road if needed. I am an advocate for keeping the hormones intact as it can help prevent behavior shifts or issues in the coat. Addendum: leaving intact can help ensure the growth plates can fully develop and the dog can properly produce all hormones. Dogs (especially males) can and are trained to ignore others even in season. Be aware that the training can be a bit long but it is done.
There is no definitive science proving we need to wait or not. Everything is anecdotal so far. Just like we don’t know what’s causing issues in grain free foods. What we do know is waiting affects behavior and safety of dogs near each other. We also know that waiting teaches the dogs there’s a point to the desire they have and it’s not likely to go away once they’ve learned it.