What should I do with Houdini?

I know I've posted about this subject before, but I need help more now than ever.

Last night my Mom and I had a disagreement over whether Houdini should be neutered when he turns one year old next month or not. I do not want to neuter him because there is really no medical reason, nothing is wrong with his testicles, he is a perfect young gentleman, especially seeing as he is a Siberian husky. My mom believes that he should be neutered as soon as he turns one year old because "that's when he'll start acting mean and aggressive and he'll start peeing on everything in the house." I told my mom that Houdini was a sweet boy and wasn't going to change the moment he turned one year old just because he wasn't neutered. I told her that some male dogs to develope unwanted behaviors, such as aggresiveness or territory marking. I tried to tell her that even if Houdini does start to lift his leg in the house, he can be taught not to do so, its all a matter of training and keeping a close eye on him.

But Mom regains her confidence and says that the older Houdini gets the meaner he'll get. I got angry with her at this point. I said that I know of 14 year old un-neutered dogs who are the sweetest things in the whole wide world and were never "mean" in their entire life! Then she goes back to him peeing on everything in the house. I had to tell her once again that this wouldn't be a problem; it could easily be fixed.

Oh but she wasn't finished yet. She said that he was going to start humping everything in sight because his hormones were raging. This could happen, yes, but only because he turned a year old? I explained to her, once again, that this behavior is not a major thing if caught early enough and that Houdini can be trained not to hump anything or anyone.

Oh yeah, she also said something briefly about him never being used as a stud dog, so what's the point of not neutering him. I just rolled my eyes at this comment and kept my mouth shut.

So pretty much my point is, my mom wants Houdini to be neutered right away for behaviors that probably won't even develope. I don't want to neuter him as he is a perfectly healthy, beautifully tempered young dog and I don't think its right to neuter him for any reason other than a medical problem.

Should I go with my mom and get Houdini neutered when he turns one year old next month? Or, should I stand my ground and not neuter him unless something happens, medically wise or seriously bad behavior wise? What should I do? Thanks for any advice!

-Tara

Personally unless something is wrong with his health or behaviour, i wouldnt neuter him, stand your ground

Sorry I agree with your Mum.
Your dog is lovely at the moment, and he could possibly stay that way. but once he gets a whiff of a bitch in season he WILL change and the dammage will be done. If you are not planning to use him as a stud dog/which i personally wouldnt recomend and your not planning to show him at KC reg shows as they need to be entire. then Yes definatly have him castraited. you will not notice the difference if he is already a well behaved dog. so you wont lose out. and as he matures sex wont be in his volcabulary so he wont recognise smells of bitches in season and want to cock his leg up people who own bitches. or break out the garden, run away when he smells them. I am sorry to say that boy dogs can be very unsociable once they mature, getting them castraited can make the difference to some dogs staying in the home most dogs that end up in shelters are not castraited befor they arrive. This in my opinion adds to why they may have ended up there in the first place. Please reconsider, you wont regret it.

sorry i agree with gems .....

I dont know your breed but can say that my last staffy lived to the ripe old age of 14 and a half and was never neutered- his behaviour never changed when he reached one or any other age.
Gus is now nearly two and also isnt neutered- his behaviour hasnt changed either

Whilst I think the argument for having a bitch neutered holds more weight than a male (assuming neither are going to be bred obviously) If it were me I would have any male dog "done" if I were not going to breed him but thats jmo.

At the end of the day though its your decision and only you can know what is best and what suits you best, find out as much as you can from both sides. Not nec from a vet though as they always seem to want to neuter every animal regardless lol.

Laura

Murph is 3 he isn't neutered -he isn't 'mean' he doesn't hump he doesn't mark in the house and he's never pee'd up anyones leg -my friends have a couple of bitches and they regularly visit ( friends not bitches ) he has a sniff and thats it -Personally I don't agree with it as a matter of course

Unless there's any behavioural or medical reasons, then leave him entire.

All my mums dogs weren't neutered, and we never had any trouble with them. The only time one of them wandered off was when we moved house, and he kept going back to the old one

If you do not intend to breed or show I see no reason for keeping a male intact.

Do some thorough research into the pros & cons so that you can come to an informed decision based on non-emotive, impartial, empirical evidence.

Same here, Jas is entire and we've had no problems even when we had a bitch in season he never marked, never got aggressive, never wandered off when there was a bitch in season around. Infact anymore laid back and Jas would be horizontal

It's up to you tho as to what u feel is best for you and your dog. Neutering as far as I'm aware has no effect on a dogs behaviour anyway. If I'm wrong someone will soon correct me tho