Injection Instead of Castration?!

Hi,

As some of you probably know i have two lab puppies (a dog and a bitch) as well as their mum. We're planning on breeding from the bitch in future so wont have her spayed so we were going to have my dog castrated. However, someone we know who used to show labs says that we should take him along to training classes for show dogs (didnt even know about these!!) as apparently he's a very good dog and we should show him (opinion on that are welcome too!lol). We said that if we did that it wouldn't be a good idea to castrate him and she told us that it is possible for the dog to have an injection when the bitch comes into season to suppress the, um, 'urges'.

Id never heard of this, but it sounds like a good alternative if we are going to show him. I was wondering if anyone here had heard of doing this and if there are any problems connected to it and whether you think it would be a good idea or not. He's only 14 weeks now so we dont have to make a decision for a few more months but i was just hoping for any information/advice you all could give me!!

Thank You

Jessica

Many, many side effects ! So be very careful.

I thought there may be... What sort of side effects?

I did at one time have my male injected with a product called Tadart(Ithink) or something like that, I did it because he was going through an slightly dominance/aggressive/ sexed charged type of stage, he wanted to mount everything in sight anyway, it did not work, I would never do it again, your best bet is to seperate the dog and bitch completely, I have to put my bitch in a kennel down our garden that is completely secure, not let my male see her, and I have to put up with loads of moaning/whining/restless pacing from my male,while she is in season. its a pain but as I show my dogs and they need to be entire this is something I have to face, I know the KC allow you to show neutered and spayed animals with permission, but especially the males case tend to not do very well if not in tact, female you cant normally tell. good luck and get earplugs lol

MO

There is a contraceptive implant developed by Peptech Animal Health in Australia. It is inserted between the dog's shoulderblades, like a microchip, and the drug releases slowly over 6 months and tells the pituitary gland not to produce the hormones that signal the testes to produce testosterone. Supposedly there are no side effects and fertility returns when the treatment is stopped.

Well, the puppies mum is off to the vet next Thursday so we're going to ask them what would be the best idea, though that implant sounds quite good if its available here!!

I should have added - the name of the contraceptive is Suprelorin. If you look it up on Google you will find a lot of information.

The drug is called "Tardak" and is a chemical castration that lasts about 4-6 weeks. I have used it successfully on my males in the past and have had no problems.

Please make sure your bitch has had ALL relevant health tests before breeding, Labradors are in dire straits at present with all the problems they have.
Dawn.

"Tardak" is a chemical castration that is often used to see if the behaviour of the dog will change if he is castrated. it lasts approximately 4/6 weeks as Borderdawn has stated.

I do not know of any side effects and would be interested in any feedback if some people that used this did find problems. I have personally and I have recommended it in dozens of cases ever had any reported problems or side effects.

As a matter of interest I have found castration after 3 years of age rarely changes behaviour. And spaying in females that have shown dominant behaviour before the age of 6 months, actually counterproductive and can cause increased aggressive behaviour.

That is not to say I am against spaying and neutering that would be far from the truth. I am very much in favour, however we also must take into consideration the negative affects in some cases and do not expect behavioural changes in an adult dog.

Stan

In my earlier post I said there was no difference, I should have said they was only a slight difference, but in my dogs case that slight difference was not enough to warrant me using it for a prolonged time, I did in fact have my male done 3 times over a period, maybe its a malamute thing, I dont know, but in my case it did not help, so decided to stop wasting my money in the hopes, and worked out a different system for my dogs, which entails having to seperate them, if my dog cant see the bitch he is fairly Ok although very clingy to me, but as soon as he catches sight of her when she is in season, he goes balistic. Also it made no difference in his behaviour with regards to dominance or other male dog issues, apart from what appeared to be a little fear factor, he SEEMED more worried about males coming near him?

Mo