To neuter/spay your dog, yes, or no, and why??

I really dont understand why people decide to keep their dogs entire if they do not intend to breed. I have two male dogs both are desexed as I don't want to breed with them. A fair few people seem to not want to desex their dogs on here but claim to not want to breed, so I guess I would just like to know why not neuter/spay then?

I say yes yes yes to spay and nueter for all the obvious health reasons and to make certain your dog can never even have the chance of causing or bringing more unwanted puppies into a world where there are already too many.
I know most people on here are very responsible, but the majority of Joe public these days are not and the majority live in built up areas, with lots of people who really don't care what thier dogs do or produce.
I still say though however responsible and careful you are you can never be 100% sure there is not that tiny chance that one day something could go wrong and along comes another litter of poor pups.

All my girls are spayed, and the rescue i work for neuters all dogs before they leave our care, because i have all girls i tend to end up with the Bitches that come in, in season and i find it a complete pain,, having to keep them on lead and away from other dogs for 4 weeks. Now the dogs every single entire dog that has come in to my house has marked everywhere and at some point tried to hump the girls, Personally the benefits of neutering far outweigh the negatives. However i think its a personal choice and our rescue doesn't insist that other dogs in the house are neutered before we will rehome to them.

Having had both entire and neutered dogs and bitches, I would agree that entire bitches are a pain! However, Rio will not be spayed whether she is mated or not as I don't want her coat affected. I'm planning to have Rogue spayed when she is an adult, as she isn't intended for breeding. I would spay pet bitches, but wouldn't routinely neuter male dogs, I'd take it on a case by case basis. I've never had a problem with males marking indoors and I think that's as much a training issue as anything else. I believe neutering shouldn't be done for 'health' reasons. It can cause as many problems as it prevents.

However, as Madmare has said, a lot of people are not responsible enough not have their dogs neutered, and they breed from anything to make a bit of money. I do think all rescue dogs should be spayed and neutered, and crossbreeds too.

Well Moxie was a rescue so naturally I had her fixed. She was one unwanted dog, the lucky one that didn't get pts. So I certainly wasn't going to breed from her. Even if it hadn't been compulsory I would have spayed her anyway. Pyometra is a nasty beast and easily preventable.

As for neutering dogs I think it depends on the situation and the dog. But ALLL rescue dogs should be neutered.

yes, yes, yes!!!! For goodness sakes, there are far too many unwanted dogs already. I hate backstreet breeders who are trying to make a quick buck

Only a VERY select few dogs should be bred, and by professionals who do it for a living, who do all the right checks and tests for the sake of our wondeful breeds, not your typical family pet owner who 'give it a go' - absolutely discusting.

I think this is a complicated subject and each case should be looked at individually.
I`d be considering-
Behaviour - timid dogs and reactive/ aggressive bitches may be made worse by neutering.
Age - growth plates may not close if neutered before maturity.
Health - can the dog withstand a major operation?
Relationships - will it upset how other dogs in the home relate to the dog?
Breed - is the dog less likely to be stolen if neutered
Prevention - are health risks significantly avoided by neutering? This is not as straightforward as some people would have you think BTW - do your research.
Social reasons - which is why most dogs are neutered - because it is easier to manage a spayed bitch and control a neutered dog
Do I want to breed this dog? - if not, there are ways to avoid it, including neutering.

I will always have my dog(s) neutered unless there is a medical or behavioural reason not to.
I personally think this should apply to all dogs unless they are going to to bred from and obviously then only the healthiest, well tempered dogs should be bred from in excellent conditions and complete back up only.

I have only ever neutered my dogs for medical reasons, or when they had to be rehomed.

This may sound strange but there are a few reasons, firstly I always showed my dogs and although you can still show them with permission from the kennel club, a dog that is without testicles will get placed down the line to one of equal merit that is still entire, there's no getting away from it. Although you cannot tell if a bitch has been neutered, apart from the coat, so as long as you have permission then they shouldn't be penalised in the ring.

I also bred from some of my stock and some of my boys were used, sparingly, at stud.

The most important reason for me though is that the English Setters have glorious long coats that take a lot of looking after. Once they are neutered it turns into a candy floss like substance and to keep it looking anywhere near decent you have to keep it quite short...not much point in having such a glamorous dog if you aren't going to keep it looking like that, you may as well have a short haired gundog to start with.

When my girls and boys have had a medical problem that has necessitated neutering I haven't hesitated, and have dealt with the coat as best I could, but you can tell just by looking at them which dogs have been neutered and which haven't.

I fully understand that some people that have no control over their un-neutered pets are adding to the numbers in rescue and I strongly disagree with their attitude, I also agree that if you are rescuing a dog it should be neutered. The only difference is that mine were from a line that I had established and wanted to continue, albeit cut short with my illness.

Kira will be spayed after her 2nd season (which is due int he next couple of months), It's been left until then for 2 reasons, partly financial (i'm still in college atm) but mainly because i wanted to give her time to fully develop and mature before the hormones where taken away.

She's definately not going to be used for breeding and anyone who asks is told she's spayed, because we get so many stud offers... I'm careful when she's in season, she's always on lead anyway so our walks dont really change (except we go later at night), she can still play with her boyfriend (a staffy x) because he's been done and doesnt even notice she's in season i dont think! lol

When i have a male he'll be neutered around a 1 to 1+1/2 years, again, to give him time to fully develop