Strongly considering getting my dog NEUTERED, any thoughts ?

my apbt Fritz is basically 2 years old now, I am not intending on breeding him (i know i could prevent accidents easily). I am mostly considering it for health reasons.

If I do it, I read that it will help minimize the risk for certain cancers such as testicular and perianal..BUT I HAVE READ IT INCREASES THE RISK FOR OTHER CANCERS SUCH AS A CERTAIN BONE CANCER AND IT CAN CAUSE COMPLICATIONS WITH VACCINATIONS ETC.

Also I read that it could cut down on roaming behaviors , this could be an added perk

I read It can also help prevent him from being sexually frustrated & help him focus more when training etc IS THIS TRUE ??

In the big picture It just sounds like this could help keep my dog healthy and would hate to NOT DO IT and him not live as long or as healthy as he could. aka getting cancer or depressed due to no breeding.

I am thinking the risk of him becoming fat / lazy is minimal cause I should be able to control it with diet and exercise.

I AM quite a bit worried about him hurting himself after surgery like licking the area too much and whatnot ANYONE GOT ANY ADVICE HERE?

Anybody got any thoughts before I go ahead and do this, as it isn't like it is reversible and would hate to make a big mistake / regret anything later.???

 

My thoughts on the training are as follows:

If he is intact, he will be MUUUUUUUUUUCH more interested in the females, especially if they're in heat, coming into heat, or going out of heat. He would be TOTALLY FOCUSED on that and not you in your training.

My thoughts on increasing bone cancer and such :
Not sure, but I have not heard of that. My dogs are all fixed and I did not read that while researching.

In terms of being fat and lazy:

That depends on the owner. I don't think fixed dogs are lazier than intact dogs. I know my dogs are in great shape and have good drive and they're fixed.


Hope this helps.

Andrew

 

It's not that big of a deal. He'll be the same dog, just sans testicles. I suspect a lot of the "cons" of neutering come from doing pediatric operations. I've never had an intact male around females in heat, so I can't comment on the "focus" factor, but it would make sense that a neutered male would be less inclined to roam for females.

At 2 years, I doubt you'll notice any negative side-effects. Give him a day or so to rest up, and he'll be back on his feet in no time.

 

Get him Neutered!!! Good choice

 

If you don't have any plans to show/pull & it's something you want to do, I say go for it. I had 2 adult male APBTs neutered & saw no negative changes in them. I will say however, that neutering does NOT take away dog aggression. Some folks think it does, but in my experience in either dog it did not.

 

i say neuter aswell.
my foundation male was neutered at 11 years of age, so its never too late.
neutering wont make them lazy- and will NOT curb DA as stated.
basically if your dog is not the salt of the earth- just s/n
and fwiw- i have 3 dogs that are neutered and i still show/pull w/ them, you might not be able to compete in ADBA events-but there are more out there ( usually called "fun shows")

 

I will always encourage ppl to spay and nueter.

 

There are less issues if you neuter later in life as opposed to neutering young. Here are my two favorite articles on the issue:

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html
http://www.akcchf.org/pdfs/whitepapers/3-23-08DiscoveriesArticle.pdf

 

There really isn't much of a downside when you get a dog neutered after they reach full sexual maturity like you are doing. I had a dog (the dog in my avatar) who got neutered at 6 or 7 or so. He acted pretty much like an intact dog.

 

Great advise from the above posts, that's why I like this AWESOME board. Semo, keep us updated on Fritz's condition after the operation. I think you'll have a much happier and healthier dog after the operation. Good luck and thanks for doing the responsible thing for the breed.

 

My vote is "neuter."

Everyone has said what needs to be said.

 

I'd neuter him. The pros outweigh the cons.. and if you neuter him, please let him rest! There's two kinds of surgery, typical blade procedure which requires about 2 weeks of being quiet and confined.. and the laser surgery which is more costly, but a faster recovery time closer to a week. If you had your testicles removed would you go out for a jog two days later?? lol. Anyway, neutering is your best choice in all aspects if you have no reason to keep him intact. Plus people with pit phobias may not be as intimidated if they know it's a neutered male. For some reason a lot of people out there think a fixed dog is automatically a much calmer dog and/or less aggressive dog. I'd like them to meet mine!!