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What age did you have your male neutered and what made that age your decider?

I had Guinness done at 1 year. I felt it was better for his overall health (bone structure especially). He really didn't do most of the male behavior, although his his eeyore toy got humped a lot. Neutering stopped that behavior.

Thistle is 10 months old and has finished 1 heat. I'll get her spayed at 1 year old as well.
 
Thank you so much for all the info. This is very helpful. Toby was so easy to potty train mainly because of the dog door. He hasn't potty in our home in months! This new "boy" thing is really scary LOL I will try the vinegar if he tries it again. I really try to keep a close eye on him. He is gated in only 1 living room in our home and has his playpen with crate in it too. With my daughters home though we were there for 10 min to pick up something and I let my eyes drift away..UGH!
We will see what happens as far at the age we neuter. If he can't mind his manners then we will have to go forward.
Becky
 
Bentley was born on Nov 26 and neutered on June 1 so he was just over 6 months. He had absolutely no problems; in fact, after being told to keep him as quiet as possible for 2 -3 days, I was horrified when he was out pottying he saw a cat and flew off the porch, chasing the cat into the pasture. I thought sure he'd be ripped open but there were no consequences.
 
gamefanz said:
Thank you so much for all the info. This is very helpful. Toby was so easy to potty train mainly because of the dog door. He hasn't potty in our home in months! This new "boy" thing is really scary LOL I will try the vinegar if he tries it again. I really try to keep a close eye on him. He is gated in only 1 living room in our home and has his playpen with crate in it too. With my daughters home though we were there for 10 min to pick up something and I let my eyes drift away..UGH!
We will see what happens as far at the age we neuter. If he can't mind his manners then we will have to go forward.
Becky
Click to expand...

Hi Becky,

personally I don't think you can blame marking behaviours entirely on him still being intact. Charlie will try to mark if we go to someones house who has a dog and he was neutered 16 months ago.

Its just what they do, balls or no balls, get him a belly band when you visit friends and he wont be able to pee on anything while you are there. Shannon makes and sells them I beleive.

You cant leave them on for too long but as long as you offer him potty breaks outside every now and again he will be fine.

The things to consider with early neuter vs late neuter are much more to do with character, maturity and growth.

I rescued Charlie at 9 months, he wasn't done at this point and he was still a very immature dog, very underweight, had no muscle mass at all and was a very unconfident little boy.
Yes I had to put up with the humping an so did poor Ruby, and the marking and peeing in the house but for that I just crated him when I couldnt supervise him.

I let him get to 16 months before he was done and my desision was mainly due to finding out about his grade 6 heart murmor and we co-insided the Op with his full heart work up, Xrays, Ultrasounds and blood tests all while he was under GA.
I wanted to get it done while he was still young/healthy enough to cope with a GA. If it wasnt for his heart defect I would have waited until he was 2 years easily as he still had some growing to do.

Ruby wasn't spayed until 20 months either- by this time she had gone through adolesence and settled in to her personality and calmed down alot. Her coat was fully grown and she had done all her growing and filling out.

Another important thing to consider is coat-- many people experience a massive change in their dogs coat after neutering. Rubys changed dramatically- went lighter, wavey and shorter.
Charlies coat also just wont grow anymore than it has- he has hardly any feathering, no slippers at all and when he has to be shaved for his Ultrasounds it takes months and months to grow back, it is short and wavey also!

I do agree with others when they say to wait until maturity- I just feel they need their hormones during adolecence to become balanced and confident in later life.

Try and bare with the little annoying things for the good of your dogs!
 
Thank you for the advice. The only thing I don't like about belly bands is it doesn't teach them anything. I want him to learn its not ok. Of course I don't know how to teach that when he does it after I turn my back. Its really not just annoying, we are renting and so is my daughter. I do not want to pay for someone else carpet or home because my dog was not mannered. I put myself in the place of the landlord and would hate my renters if their dog peed on my carpet. As my husband says though, thats what the dog deposit is for but for me I guess I care too much for everyone involved.
I will not make promises that I cannot keep but I will try to hold out as long as I can.
Becky



Karen and Ruby said:
Hi Becky,

personally I don't think you can blame marking behaviours entirely on him still being intact. Charlie will try to mark if we go to someones house who has a dog and he was neutered 16 months ago.

Its just what they do, balls or no balls, get him a belly band when you visit friends and he wont be able to pee on anything while you are there. Shannon makes and sells them I beleive.

You cant leave them on for too long but as long as you offer him potty breaks outside every now and again he will be fine.

The things to consider with early neuter vs late neuter are much more to do with character, maturity and growth.

I rescued Charlie at 9 months, he wasn't done at this point and he was still a very immature dog, very underweight, had no muscle mass at all and was a very unconfident little boy.
Yes I had to put up with the humping an so did poor Ruby, and the marking and peeing in the house but for that I just crated him when I couldnt supervise him.

I let him get to 16 months before he was done and my desision was mainly due to finding out about his grade 6 heart murmor and we co-insided the Op with his full heart work up, Xrays, Ultrasounds and blood tests all while he was under GA.
I wanted to get it done while he was still young/healthy enough to cope with a GA. If it wasnt for his heart defect I would have waited until he was 2 years easily as he still had some growing to do.

Ruby wasn't spayed until 20 months either- by this time she had gone through adolesence and settled in to her personality and calmed down alot. Her coat was fully grown and she had done all her growing and filling out.

Another important thing to consider is coat-- many people experience a massive change in their dogs coat after neutering. Rubys changed dramatically- went lighter, wavey and shorter.
Charlies coat also just wont grow anymore than it has- he has hardly any feathering, no slippers at all and when he has to be shaved for his Ultrasounds it takes months and months to grow back, it is short and wavey also!

I do agree with others when they say to wait until maturity- I just feel they need their hormones during adolecence to become balanced and confident in later life.

Try and bare with the little annoying things for the good of your dogs!
Click to expand...
 
My breeder,who is considered very reputable and health concious, recommends waiting until at least a year so their bone plates have developed.
 
I adopted both my Cavs from a rescue at 4 months of age and they had already been neutered. Has not seemed to effect the 18 month negatively at all. ( Second baby has just been neutered.) As for females there is research supporting having them spayed before their first season reduces the risk of uterian cancer later in life.
 
effects of early neutering

I would like to add that Windsor has a beautiful coat at 18 months and apparently is still growing new hair every day. I've read many places that donot recommend neutering early, but they were done when I got them, and I really haven't noticed any ill effects,although Windsor has never learned to lift his leg.
 
Thanks to everyone for all the feedback and sharing of experiences. Discussions like this really help to make informed decisions (y)
 
The one thing I neglected to mention was that the one time Max did mark inside the house it was several months after he was neutered so I'm not so sure the two are that strongly related.
 
When I first got Oliver almost 7 years ago, I listened to my vet who told me to neuter him at 5 months (at that point, I was still under the impression that vets know everything! LOL). My breeder had told me to wait until he was at least a year and the growth plates close, but I didn't listen to her, though I should have. Oliver TOWERS above any other Cavalier and when we go up to visit his breeder, who is a good friend, he towers over all of her Cavaliers, including his parents, sister, and grandparents. Now, I have no way of knowing for sure that it was the early neutering, but I am pretty sure that is why he is so tall. I also have two females, one was spayed at about 3 years old and one is still intact but getting spayed after her next season.
 
I'm pretty convinced that early neuter is why Max is so tall as well. There is nothing in his lines that would suggest he would be as tall as he is. I just hope he doesn't have problems when he is older as a result.
 
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