Monday 19 January 2009

To be or not to be (castrated)

That is the question. I am glad I don't know anything about this, but for the record I am going to the vet on Thursday for my annual innoculaton and Daddy is going to ask her when is the best time. He has read that it should be when a dog is mature and I am not yet. My trainer and my vet recommend it, and Pawstretchers won't mind me now until I am "done".

While researching this subject, Daddy has found the following articles of interest:

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
http://www.neutering.org/
http://uk.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080727041938AANpdu0
http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf
http://dogtime.com/spay-neuter.html

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

We have not had any of the four dogs I grew up with over the years castrated (except one when he was very old for medical reasons) and we never had any problems or issues with any of them in terms of agression or other undesirable behaviour. I don't think it's necessary to castrate dogs just because it's now the accepted thing to do at a certain age. If there's a good reason then I'm sure Dexter will be fine, but if you aren't sure if it's the right thing to do I would say don't be talked into it by vets and trainers. Good luck Dexter ;-)

Anonymous said...

I agree entirely with the earlier comment. Over recent years there seems to have developed a bit of a bandwagon about this issue. And if your trainer is recommending castration as a training solution I would suggest you find another trainer! If you are having behavioural issues then please discuss these with Dexter's breeder or another experienced flatcoat owner. Male flatcoats can be exhuberant as adolescents but castration won't necessarily cure this. Castration can, however, be a solution for undesirable male behaviour such as aggression or roaming. Ultimately I am sure you will do what is best for Dexter.

SCCG Webmaster said...

Dexter says, just to clarify, his trainer and vet were not recommending castration to address any behaviour problems in him but as a general opinion. He says he is typically exuberant - life is fun - and we wouldn't want to change that. See later post for further discussion.