Fern was neutered to avoid health problems, and we certainly didn't want him bred with his HD problem.

But the change in him was remarkable, prior to surgery he always tried to 'lay' everything he could get into, and seemed really stressed out about it and edgy.

But since his op his stress has totally gone, he seems much happier and calmer dog. Really surprised, did it for health reasons and got an even better tempered dog back

Surely, though, just because you have this written into the contract, doesn't mean that the new owners will comply? How would you know if they did or not?

Well yes some trust does have to come into it, but I do my utmost best to encourage new owners and I can say that nearly all of the pet puppies I have sold have been neutered. Of course I never lift the KC endorsements on pet puppies at any time though there is nothing I could do if they bred unregistered puppies. Sadly we don't live in a perfect world and as a breeder I can only do my best.

Dita

I'm in favour for neutering because:

"A report conducted by GfK NOP on behalf of Dogs Trust, released today, shows that 101,586 stray dogs were found in the UK last year, and 7,743 dogs were destroyed for want of a home*. At the current rate of decline, it will take 350 years until the stray dog problem is a thing of the past." Ref: Stray dog survey 2006

Plus, http://www.dogsey.com/forumdisplay.php?f=138 all these dogs are STILL needing homes

and last but by far not the least, all the benefits outweigh the disadvantages as set out in Shadowboxers article http://www.dogsey.com/dog-articles.php?t=12202


All my dogs are done and Katey will be spayed as soon as she is old enough, irrelivant of the health risks. There is no way on this earth that I will ever be responsible for adding to yet another 'just one litter'! http://justonelitter.com/litter.html

Also to add: Kim and Sam were both the result of an accidental litter.
Luke neutered post adoption (although we were told by rescue that he had been done, but had one undescended testes) No sound sensitive, nervous pups coming from that big guy!
Micha was neutered immediately after adoption and with her HD it was the best decision yet.

I am very pro spay/neuter if your dog is not ever going to be shown and doesn't have a health problem that prevents it from being altered. That being said, I don't believe in spaying or neutering before the age of 6 months. I believe that dogs should be given the time to mature as best a possible up until that point as hormones are a huge part of proper growth (in my opinion). I prefer not to spay my dogs until they're between a year and 18 months old, but I definitely wouldn't recommend that to the average pet owner as dealing with an intact dog can be stressful and a lot of work at times.