[Phoenix321]

I want to know what people think about what age to get their puppies fixed. My male Dobie is 5 1/2 months old now and I was told to wait until 9 months because then the stress of his ears will be finished and with his growth plates. Does getting them fixed before 9 months really make them stop growing so much? I'm just wanting to know what people think about age for a male.

Also I told vet I feel like the male dominate dogs at the park pick on my dog more because he is not fixed yet. My dog was very rudely put into his place when he had no interest in interacting with this other dog at the park yesterday. Is this just because other dogs are jerks and try to dominate everyone or am I bringing a walking target to the park? I was told that it has nothing to do with phoenix because he doesn't even know he is male yet but I know its not my dog because he isn't the one trying to be dominate.

 

[MeadowCat]

I'm not a fan of dog parks in general, and especially not for most Dobermans. You just can't control or predict the other dogs, and people bring a lot of dogs to dog parks that really shouldn't be there. My girl was attacked as a puppy by an adult Rottweiler at a dog park. He was very aggressive to every dog there and should never have been brought there.

There's a lot of opinions on neutering age. You can use the search function here to look for those debates if you want (I find the advanced search more helpful that the general search). I don't think neutering will solve your dog park issues, though, especially as your dog matures. Many male Dobermans are intolerant of other males of any breed, regardless of whether either dog is neutered. There are lots of other places to exercise your boy; I'd personally stop using the park.

 

[vivienne00]

I want to know what people think about what age to get their puppies fixed. My male Dobie is 5 1/2 months old now and I was told to wait until 9 months because then the stress of his ears will be finished and with his growth plates. Does getting them fixed before 9 months really make them stop growing so much? I'm just wanting to know what people think about age for a male.

Also I told vet I feel like the male dominate dogs at the park pick on my dog more because he is not fixed yet. My dog was very rudely put into his place when he had no interest in interacting with this other dog at the park yesterday. Is this just because other dogs are jerks and try to dominate everyone or am I bringing a walking target to the park? I was told that it has nothing to do with phoenix because he doesn't even know he is male yet but I know its not my dog because he isn't the one trying to be dominate.

Getting a dog fixed early does not stop them growing. There is at least one study that says that they may grow their long bones a tad more than they would normally be if they get neutered early.

Growth plates don't close until around 12-18mths of age. I see no big deal in getting him neutered at 9 mths or even now if you want. It won't make much difference to him except that he won't learn adult male behaviors. My red male who was neutered at 18 mth continued to lift his leg and be interested in females in heat for the remainder of his life. My other male who was neutered close to 12 mth doesn't lift his leg or show any strong male behaviors.

Dogs at dog parks are often jerks - at 5 1/2 mths he is not mature and is not giving out breeding signals or probably even lifting his leg. Just stay away from jerk dogs. btw, the word is dominant as in "trying to be dominate" should be "trying to be dominant" (I have a word fetish, sorry ); dominate is the verb.

If you are not participating in show ring or hard physical performance sports with your dog, then it probably won't make any difference if you get him neutered now or later except he won't have adult behaviors. I am not convinced that there will be affect on his ears. It will be easier on him now than later IMO.