Pros and cons of snip?

Kato is booked in Thursday morning for the snip, ne needs some sexual healing
He is more and more in the mood for love and is trying to ride my black lab who is getting increasingly grumpy. Now having to have had to re-home my springer after 4 years of them fighting I want to avoid any issues like this again as broke our hearts.

He is a 9 month old Northern Inuit, I have spoke to my vet and said its fine but whats your personal experience, good idea or bad?

Hi, these documents might help you decide......

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

http://www.vomfelsenhof.com/spayneuter.html

Whilst I can understand you might be inclined to neuter early for other reasons, for a male, the minority view is to neuter no earlier than 2 years - or when he reaches maturity if later as with some breeds. This is because the testosterone is needed for proper bone development. Without testosterone, the joints are compromised.

There was a study of 1444 Golden Retrievers performed in 1998 and 1999 which found bitches and dogs spayed and neutered at less than a year of age to be significantly taller than those spayed or neutered at more than a year of age.

Here's the full article: http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

I would also say there are alot of people who say neutering can fix behaviour problems, although personally, I think it is a myth.

He is booked in Thursday but something niggling me, its just his sexual urge apart from that he is perfect. And his brother has severe hip dysplasia at 9 months and facong major ops,

I have never had a male dog but I know my vet recommends an injection which mimics castration but only lasts a certain length of time . This is to see if the behaviour will be altered by castration . I don't even know what it is called or if there are side effects but maybe it's something you could discuss with your vet ?

I had Noah castrated at 10 months as firstly he was cryptorchid... he was also causing friction with my bitch and cocking his leg inside the house, which he no longer does.

I do know how you feel, my boy was the most amazing escape artist and it was hard to put up with that for 2 years, but we did it and I have no regrets doing it.

I was determined not to neuter him before - I feel us human's are far too ready to reach for a pill or scalpel to fix "problems" that are just natural. Equate it to teenage boys if you will!!

If your female is none too pleased, then is it possible to separate them when unsupervised, and distract him with toys or training when you are around?

Was his brother with dysplasia neutered early? There are an awful lot of causes of dysplasia not just hereditary though.

Are you talking Castration or a snipping of the tubes to stop a dog being able to procreate?

IMO dogs should not be castrated unless there is some good reason, therefore if you have good reason it is the thing to do.

As to the snip if you have a bitch and are unable to separate them this would be a good way to go stop the ability to procreate but leave his hormonal system intact.

I wouldn't get too excited about the refererence quoted above.
It has come up before and I was going to examine it but someone beat me to it. Basically all the cons re bone changes are misunderstandings of the data that is out there.

http://www.sheltermedicine.com/docum...20rebuttal.doc

I forget her conclusions regarding behavior but I suspect sexually derived behavior will probably be moderated if not removed.

Anyway from the quick read of the thread I would think that a castration may well be the best option.

Our family dog was done very early, before 7 months, and he has a great temperament, coat, bones etc....no healthy issues and he is now 12 years old.

My last dog was castrated at ten years old, and we never had any issues with him. I do not know if it changed his personality as i only met him after his castration. In his previous homes he strayed regularly but we never had a problem with that. ...who knows whether this was due to the castration or just being happy in his new home.

Why not try "Tardak" or "Suprelorin" first? Then if you like the effects, once it has worn off, go for the permanent option. Id be tempted to let him mature a bit before making a serious decision.