Need your feedback! My dog is going to be neutured soon.

1291 Views 22 Replies 13 Participants Last post by Hank, Mar 13, 2012

Dobbie23

Discussion Starter · Mar 12, 2012

I have a 4 year old male that is scheduled to be neutured this month.

What can i expect him to be like afterwards?

Will he still have the same energy?

Will he still be protective?

Will he eat more?

Will his personality change?

What have you noticed with your dog after being neutured?

I apprecate any advice.

1 - 20 of 23 Posts

Jenn

· #2 · Mar 12, 2012

Hey!
My little man was neutured about a year old.
His now roughly the same age as yours and his
Character is very much the same, the only thing id say changed
Is he doesnt have little man syndrome anymore which is great lol!
But that most likely came with age aswell so.
He felt sorry for himself for the first few days after, but my vet told me
To act complelty normal around him, no, feeling sorry for him !
That way he quickly thinks its the norm and gets on with it :]
Mine eats exactly the same, and his personality is still hilariously funny
Sometimes gets abit tired faster but nothing major! (he is a little guy tho)
As for protective i cant really say much he still barks, for warnings
But it was the same as before he was neutered!
Didnt change Raff much but sometimes it affects dogs differently

My friends dog was very territorial before his chop.
His now a very layed back dog nothing phases him so.

hope everything goes nice and smoothly which im sure it will be!

_______________________

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DogsR4Life

· #3 · Mar 12, 2012

Since your neutering late, nothing much is going to change. I neutered chase at 2.6years of age, he still marks like crazy, sniffs out girls, slobbers and chomps his jaws when sniffing pheromones, and attempts to mount females.

The only difference is that he acts like I starve him. He gets plenty of food, but he has developed almost an obsession and it can get annoying at times.

What method are you using to neuter? (laser or traditional) what pain meds will he be on? Good luck!

Reactions: 1

brw1982

· #4 · Mar 12, 2012

Dobbie23 said:
I have a 4 year old male that is scheduled to be neutured this month.

What can i expect him to be like afterwards?

Unable to produce puppies.

Will he still have the same energy?

He should. Energy is created by the body metabolizing food you ingest, not by sexual reproduction organs. If you notice a change in energy after neutering, I'd recommend talking to your vet as it likely indicates a problem with the endocrine system - i.e., the system that controls the body's glands, like the thyroid. (Note: the testicles are a part of the endocrine system in that they are glands, however their function within the endocrine system is something other than metabolism.)

Will he still be protective?

Why wouldn't he be? Testosterone is not what drives protective instinct, otherwise female Dobermans would struggle to be protective being that they produce far less testosterone.

Will he eat more?

Possibly. Testosterone burns calories rapidly, and neutering lowers the amount of testosterone production, so you might see he puts on some weight even with the same amount of food that he was eating before.

Will his personality change?

Personality is static and not controlled by sexual reproduction organs. Men who have a vasectomy do not change personality. Women who have a hysterectomy do not change personality. Only head trauma, brain injury, and some diseases (leading to brain injury) can cause changes in personality.

What have you noticed with your dog after being neutered?

I have two females, both spayed, and I've not noticed any changes in either of them due to spay.

I apprecate any advice.

I wouldn't expect any concerning changes in your dog due to neutering.

Reactions: 5

Dobbie23

Discussion Starter · #5 · Mar 12, 2012

Thank you for your advice.

I am really nervous about doing this. I love my dobie's personality so I was hoping it wont change.

I am doing this for his health, my vet is really encouraging me to do this because of cancer risks. I am also on the list to adopt another dobie from a rescue but he has to be neutured first.

I never wanted him to have puppies. I just never had the heart to drop him off at the vet. This is very hard for me!

Dobbie23

Discussion Starter · #6 · Mar 12, 2012

DogsR4Life said:
Since your neutering late, nothing much is going to change. I neutered chase at 2.6years of age, he still marks like crazy, sniffs out girls, slobbers and chomps his jaws when sniffing pheromones, and attempts to mount females.

The only difference is that he acts like I starve him. He gets plenty of food, but he has developed almost an obsession and it can get annoying at times.

What method are you using to neuter? (laser or traditional) what pain meds will he be on? Good luck!

Im not sure on the method yet. I will talk to my vet about that. Im glad you guys are bringing all this information up so I know what to expect.

Dobbie23

Discussion Starter · #7 · Mar 12, 2012

brw1982 said:
I wouldn't expect any concerning changes in your dog due to neutering.

Thank you for all this great information!

Tollers-n-Dobes

· #8 · Mar 12, 2012

I would exoect absilutely nothing to change unless he's been displaying behaviours directly caused by hormones. The only things that changed with Ripley after he was neutered (at almost 2yrs old) were:

- He started eating.
- He could play with the girls like a normal dog without getting over excited and start humping the air.
- He could live in the house like a normal dog rather than obsessing over sniffing and licking everywhere the girls sat.

He wasn't a tyrant intact by any means, and I could have kept him that way longer (except for the whole not eating/starving himself thing), but he's definitely nicer to live with now as I found the above behaviours rather annoying and was tired of telling him to knock it off. It'd have been different too I think if he didn't live in a multi dog home. He was such a pest with the girls. Part of it was his age, but a huge part of it was just that he thought they smelled too good.

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mmctaq

· #9 · Mar 12, 2012

Dobbie23 said:
I am doing this for his health, my vet is really encouraging me to do this because of cancer risks. I am also on the list to adopt another dobie from a rescue but he has to be neutured first.

Which cancer risks, specifically? Intact dogs, obviously, run the slight risk of testicular cancer. In dogs, testicular cancer tends to be very slow to grow and metasticize, and castration usually provides a complete cure. The risk of the majority of other cancers (osteosarcoma, hemangiosarcoma, prostate cancer) is actually higher for neutered dogs. Overall, balancing risk and benefit, males are healthier left intact.

The reason I don't and won't own a rescue dog is that I am not a fan of being put in a position of having to make a medical decision for my animals in order to satisfy a social agenda.

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Jenny

· #10 · Mar 12, 2012 (Edited)

prostrate cancer is the other one I can think of off the top of my head.

ETA: I believe that if nuetered after one year of age their risk of prostrate and bone cancers goes down. . . I could be remembering things incorrectly.

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Hank

· #11 · Mar 12, 2012

Tollers-n-Dobes said:
- He could play with the girls like a normal dog without getting over excited and start humping the air.

This was the only changed I noticed when we had Hank neutered at 2 years.
Before when we took him to the dog park he would get WAYY too excited.
Obsessive sniffing/licking/air humping

That all stopped a few weeks after the neutering.

Reactions: 1

Hank

· #12 · Mar 12, 2012

brw1982 said:
Men who have a vasectomy do not change personality.

IMO you cant really compare a vasectomy to total ball removal lol

mmctaq

· #13 · Mar 12, 2012

Jenny said:
prostrate cancer is the other one I can think of off the top of my head.

ETA: I believe that if nuetered after one year of age their risk of prostrate and bone cancers goes down. . . I could be remembering things incorrectly.

The risk of prostate cancer for castrated dogs is about four times higher than that for intact dogs. Unlike in humans, prostate cancer in dogs is very aggressive, fast and deadly.

I do not know whether the risk for developing prostate or bone cancer is lessened by waiting to castrate until a dog is older than one... gotta go to work, so no time to consult Dr. Google.

EmilyB

· #14 · Mar 12, 2012

mmctaq said:
The reason I don't and won't own a rescue dog is that I am not a fan of being put in a position of having to make a medical decision for my animals in order to satisfy a social agenda.

Gawd yes, it would make so much more sense for rescues to send those animals back out into the world to procreate even more wouldn't it.......

It is a socially responsible thing to do, not an agenda in my opinion. Too often we forget most people just wouldn't have the necessary skills to keep their dog from breeding either unintentionally or intentionally.

OP, it will only make your boy nicer and easier to live with ime.

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Tollers-n-Dobes

· #15 · Mar 12, 2012

Not sure what happened with my spelling in my last post. That's embarrassing! Guess that's what happens when you try to post something right after waking up, haha. Oops.

Anyhow, as far as health goes, there seem to be a lot of contradictory statements out there. But it seems to me that when you spay or neuter a dog, some cancer risks decrease while others might increase. But the same can be said for dogs who are kept intact. For me, the benefits of spaying and neutering outweigh any possible risks. I don't like having to live with an intact dog any longer than I have to, even though I am fully capable of keeping an intact dog responsibly. I just don't have the desire to.

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ladyballplayer

· #16 · Mar 12, 2012

Tollers-n-Dobes said:
I would exoect absilutely nothing to change unless he's been displaying behaviours directly caused by hormones. The only things that changed with Ripley after he was neutered (at almost 2yrs old) were:

- He started eating.
- He could play with the girls like a normal dog without getting over excited and start humping the air.
- He could live in the house like a normal dog rather than obsessing over sniffing and licking everywhere the girls sat.

He wasn't a tyrant intact by any means, and I could have kept him that way longer (except for the whole not eating/starving himself thing), but he's definitely nicer to live with now as I found the above behaviours rather annoying and was tired of telling him to knock it off. It'd have been different too I think if he didn't live in a multi dog home. He was such a pest with the girls. Part of it was his age, but a huge part of it was just that he thought they smelled too good.

Diesel is 2 and was neutered 16 days ago.
I hope for all of the above!

Max was neutered at 12 months and he never bothered the girls again afterwards and became more layed back and relaxed.

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RedFawnRising

· #17 · Mar 13, 2012

The only "studies" I've read concerning possible negative effects of neutering involve either pediatric neuter--which of course is not a concern with a four year old--or they aren't real "studies" and don't control for other variables such as weight gain and other factors.

Correlation doesn't necessarily mean causation, and I've not been impressed with the research methodology so far.

OP, neuter your boy without guilt, and enjoy him for the nice pet he is.

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mmctaq

· #18 · Mar 13, 2012

EmilyB said:
Gawd yes, it would make so much more sense for rescues to send those animals back out into the world to procreate even more wouldn't it.......

It is a socially responsible thing to do, not an agenda in my opinion. Too often we forget most people just wouldn't have the necessary skills to keep their dog from breeding either unintentionally or intentionally.

You really think it is the folks who choose to acquire a rescue animal that are a potentially significant part of the problem? When, if their intention was to breed dogs, they could acquire a less expensive and registerable animal with a minimum of Google-Fu, and make more salable puppies? Not to mention that most of these folks are vetted as thoroughly as most good breeders vet their puppy buyers. It is condescending to be deemed worthy of owning most of a dog, but not all of it's bits... if a home is not good enough to own the whole dog, possibly they should not be considered good enough to own the dog, at all.

But, that wasn't even what I was talking about. I am going on the assumption that the rescue dog will be speutered, and that DOES make it an issue of imposing a social agenda to require that the dog in residence be neutered as a precondition for being approved to buy the rescue animal. I had some cat rescue folks tell me that I would not be approved to get a kitten because I owned an intact dog... how is this NOT the imposition of a social agenda?

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Cathy43

· #19 · Mar 13, 2012

Pullo was neutered at 3 yrs of age and there was no change in behavior whatsoever. He was a good boy always but he did love the ladies to the end.

There was no pain or laying around either. He was ready to rock and roll as soon as I picked him up at the vets.(and he was a , ahem, big boy)

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Dobbie23

Discussion Starter · #20 · Mar 13, 2012

Another question I have... will he ever forgive me for leaving him at the vet? LOL

They literally have to have two vet techs come and pick him up out of the waiting room cause he hates going in the back. The last time he went in the back to have his nails cut witout me he srcreammmmmmmmmmmmmmed like a girl so they brought him back immediatly and were afraid to cut them LOL.

So Im just afraid he will panick and not forgive me for leaving him there.

Oh and someone asked which cancers. The vet did not mention any they just said he could get growths on him which could contain cancer.

This is a very hard decision. I love love love his personality now but he is annoying around other girl dogs. And I would just love to rescue a girl dog a give her a nice home!

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