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Questions about neutering


imported_nea

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I'd like to get Bir neutered. Will he try less to be dominant, or does that have nothing to do with it? Will he stop marking so very much? It is ok to neuter a 2 year old, isn't it? Will he be less likely to dislike other male dogs, or not? Will he become calmer? In what other ways will he change? What are the downsides to getting him fixed?

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[quote name='nea']I'd like to get Bir neutered. Will he try less to be dominant, or does that have nothing to do with it? Will he stop marking so very much? It is ok to neuter a 2 year old, isn't it? Will he be less likely to dislike other male dogs, or not? Will he become calmer? In what other ways will he change? What are the downsides to getting him fixed?[/quote]

Neutering a male at 2 may or may not affect his dominance. It may or may not have an impact on his reaction to other dogs. It may or may not "calm him down". It also may or may not stop his tendancies to mark.

Many folks do neuter in hopes of having a positive affect on just the items you've listed. Many times it does but, there's no guarantee. I think there's a better chance when the dog is neutered earlier in life before the things you're concerned about become a "habit".

That said, neutering will do two very important things. It will prevent him from getting testicular cancer and will prevent him from siring unwanted pups. It will also help him avoid prostate problems later in life.

I don't know of any down sides to neutering aside from the surgical risk that is involved in any surgery. It's not a new or complicated surgery and I wouldn't let that stand in the way of having a dog neutered.

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[quote]Can't you show a neuterd dog? [/quote]
No you can't in proper breed shows (kennel club rules) stupid isn't it ! :roll:
[quote]The most important thing is that Bir has a happy healthy life, and if getting him neutered will do so he won't get cancer, then who cares about anything else?[/quote]
Exactly right !
And if you wanted you can still do the exemption/fun shows anyway :)

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As a veterinary technician assisting with surgeries every day, I can tell you the risk for a neuter is pretty low, all things considered. Since he is older it can be a tad more challenging as I'd suggest getting bloodwork done by your vet prior to surgery to be sure all the organs are functioning roperly, and that he will be able to withstand the anesthesia with little or no problems.
As someone has stated prior, it's not only an overpopulation issue, but also a health issue. Spayed and neutered animals live longer and have a lot of cancers eliminated. His health and well being should be number one, and if that's the case there is no better choice that neutering him.
Neutering is the most beneficial when done at 6 months of age. With aging they come to get into bad habits- spraying, agression, no to mention countless other behavioral problems. It's an almost absolute guarantee that those habits would be broken(actually more often than not they haven't even started by the age of neutering) after the procedure at an early age. Either way, neuter your pup, he'd thank you if he could. Yes, you can neuter him at 2. One of the only reasons neutering wouldn't be done is if he was too old. That's far from age 2 though:)
Good luck, and I really do hope you get him neutered if only for health reasons. He deserves it, and you as an owner and protector should want nothing more than the best for your little guy;)

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[quote name='ellieangel'][quote]Can't you show a neuterd dog? [/quote]
No you can't in proper breed shows (kennel club rules) stupid isn't it ! :roll: [/quote]

Actually it isn't stupid at all.
Conformation is solely for evaluating breeding stock. What point would there be in parading altered animals around a ring, which requires little talent on their part? It is a way for reputable breeders to see what other reputable breeders are breeding, and to see how your dogs stack up against others of its breed.

As you mention, all dogs are eligible to compete in all other aspects of competition, which are many: field trials, earth dog trials, agility, tracking, obedience, rally-o, flyball, freestyle frisbee, doggy dancing, search and rescue, water sports, retrieving, gun dog trials, herding trials, and I am sure there are more that I have left out.

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Nea, believe me, neutering your Bir will have much pore positives than negatives :wink:

The reason there are so many unwated pets in this worl is because there are so many pets that aren't getting neutred! :o You will be helping the world and the pet overpopulation problem, plus, youll be helping Bir! :D

The only downside I've heard about nuetring a Cocker is that they're coat get coarse and fluffy, not silky... :-? Is this true? It sais so here in my dog book, but I'm not sure... :-? Ofcourse, if my dog turned into the BIGGEST fluff ball in the world because of neutering him, I wouldn't mind! :P

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Hi Nea, congratulations with Bir,- he looks absolutely adorable!!

I have two English Cockers myself,- hope you'll have as much joy with Bir as I've had with mine (I've had 5 all together),- they're a wonderful breed!

I see that you live in Sweden, I live in Norway myself. I don't know if you've been to the vet yet, but I thought I'd tell you a bit about how the vets look upon spaying/neutering, at least here in Norway (guess it's the same in Sweden). Usually, the vets here are not very happy to spay/neuter healthy dogs, unless there are some specific behavioural problems. I wanted to spay one of my cockers, Lily, since I have one boy and a girl, and I felt they were very unwilling to do so, since she was healthy etc, and it was only for practical reasons.

Hopefully this kind of "politics" will change, but thought I'd let you know. Good luck with you new, beautiful boy!

Mille

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Thanks everyone! I was thinking of showing Bir, since it turns out that both of his parents and his siblings that are shown all do really well, but I guess I won't do that. Some of those other things seem a whole lot funner, too. I don't really care if his coat changes a little, his fur is going to be kept pretty short anyway so it isn't so hard to take care of.
Millie, thank you for telling me that! I hope it isn't that way here, but I guess it most likely will be. Why don't they like neutering dogs? It seems so stupid! Unless they hope the dogs will get cancer so they can earn more money or soemthing. :x Vets should be the ones encouraging spaying/neutering! I sure hope they became vets in the first place to help animals, and if they did they should see the benifits of spaying/neutering! :evil: But there isn't any law saying that you can't have a healthy dog done, right? If there isn't, they'll have to do it, weather they like it or not!

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[quote name='bk_blue']It's been 21 years since I lived in Sweden and I can't understand a word :cry: :cry:[/quote]

Aww! I haven't lived in Sweden ever, but I can speak it grait! :D (In Finland we speak Finnish and Sweedish :wink:) I would like to move to sweden one day, but... that's sometime in THE FUTURE. :D (try moving to another country with (soon to be) two dogs) :-?

/Crest

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[quote name='bk_blue']Hey Crested, I know they are all different countries :wink: I didn't know though that you spoke both Swedish and Finnish in Finland, they are very similar to look at though :) does everyone speak both languages? is it taught in school?[/quote]

We do have both Finnish and Sweedish in school, but there are people in sweedish schools that can't speak finnish and in finnish schools who can't speak sweedish... Heh... It's pretty funny... the people in sweedish schools think it's totally unnessesary to know Finnish and the ones in Finnish schools think there's no use in knowing swedish! :D

But there are many who speak both languages. My mother's mother tounge is swedish and my dad's is finnish, so I guess I got the best of both. It's pretty funny when I talk to my mom, we can talk swedish one moment and suddenly change it to finnish and then back again without even noticing it... :D

/Crest

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[quote name='Rowie-the-Pooh']Nea, believe me, neutering your Bir will have much pore positives than negatives :wink:



The only downside I've heard about nuetring a Cocker is that they're coat get coarse and fluffy, not silky... :-? Is this true? It sais so here in my dog book, but I'm not sure... :-? [/quote]


Absolutely false.
Of all the cockers we've spayed/neutered I've never seen one where their coat turned coarse as a result. That's due to other influences.
I've known (and still do) many adult cockers who are altered and every single one has a silky , healthy coat - unless do to other conditons.
It worris me that there are such literary pieces giving out false info. Unreal.

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[quote name='alicat613'][quote name='ellieangel'][quote]Can't you show a neuterd dog? [/quote]
No you can't in proper breed shows (kennel club rules) stupid isn't it ! :roll: [/quote]

Actually it isn't stupid at all.
Conformation is solely for evaluating breeding stock. What point would there be in parading altered animals around a ring, which requires little talent on their part? It is a way for reputable breeders to see what other reputable breeders are breeding, and to see how your dogs stack up against others of its breed.....[/quote]

Actually Alicat there are other reasons for wanting to finish a dog in conformation.

I think they should allow an altered class, there are plenty of people and breeders out there that have absolutely no intention of breeding but they have to make arrangements to make extra sure that there bitch doesn't get pregnant or their dog get with female. They do it because they love the sport or because the line is to good not to finish and it penalizes the dam and sire if they don't finish the litters. You have to have a certain amount before your dogs are given a Register of Merit, and that means more behind the name than a whole slew of abbrev's in front of the name.

Sally has a absolutely wonderful brother that is in a pet home, now he is one of the best in the whole litter and we can't show him because he was neutered since the owner never wanted to breed him, he was placed with her because he had the best temperment for her household and that is more important than him being put in a show home just because he was that great. Oh, and if he hadn't been fixed and he finished he would have been finished he would have given momma dog her ROM, as it stands now if we show the rest of the litter and they all finish, momma dog will be 1 CH short a ROM and since she was spayed after her litter she will never get it.

:angel:

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[quote name='RescuerAndVetTech'][quote name='Rowie-the-Pooh']Nea, believe me, neutering your Bir will have much pore positives than negatives :wink:



The only downside I've heard about nuetring a Cocker is that they're coat get coarse and fluffy, not silky... :-? Is this true? It sais so here in my dog book, but I'm not sure... :-? [/quote]


Absolutely false.
Of all the cockers we've spayed/neutered I've never seen one where their coat turned coarse as a result. That's due to other influences.
I've known (and still do) many adult cockers who are altered and every single one has a silky , healthy coat - unless do to other conditons.
It worris me that there are such literary pieces giving out false info. Unreal.[/quote]


Don't take this as me dissin' you or anything, but you are wrong.

According to the top Cocker show people, there is indeed such a thing as a "spay coat." The coat can indeed change after they've been altered. It has to do with chemical changes. Rowie was right. Besides, I've handled several Cockers, personally, that had significant changes in the texture of their coats after they were altered.

However, it's certainly no reason for anyone with a pet that isn't being shown in conformation NOT to have their dog spayed/neutered.

Don't be so quick to dismiss information you were previously unaware of. All it takes is a little research to prove/disprove what someone is saying instead of belittling someone just because the information provided isn't something you're familiar with. In other words, yo, why go dissin' on Rowie that way? 8)

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[quote name='RescuerAndVetTech']Horesefeathers-
I speak nothing but truth, and from experience.[/quote]

Don't kill ME... I'm just the messenger.

Still, you are wrong. Your experiences are limited and can't account for ALL scenarios. My experiences and training say otherwise. Just because you haven't experienced something (or are unaware of it) doesn't mean it ain't so. My VET (not tech) is willing to admit that he's constantly learning things he didn't know of before and wouldn't dream of belittling someone just because they threw an idea out there he wasn't familiar with. No vet knows it all (just ask some about nutrition...). Even now, if you are interested, you could do a little research and KNOW that spaying can affect coat (instead of just saying that you haven't experienced it, therefore it ain't so).

I'm not trying to be argumentative. I guess that just belittling Rowie for passing along info that even SHE said she wasn't sure of kind of rubbed me the wrong way. She wasn't trying to pass off erroneous info... it was just thrown out there as a thought and ANYONE was free to research it to find out if it was true or not rather than just accuse her of passing off bogus info. If we respond so hastily and venomously to those with differing views, some people will become too afraid to post valid info for fear of reprisal and then what kind of forum would we have? Let's debate info and not make personal attacks.

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Thank you HF. 8)

I have also read from an English Cocker Spaniel breed club website that spaying (not neutering) a cocker can on occasion produce a spay coat (however IMO this is not an excuse to leave a bitch entire!). I was very young when we had our cocker so I don't know if her coat was different to an entire cocker's coat though. :-?

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[quote name='Rosebud']Actually Alicat there are other reasons for wanting to finish a dog in conformation.
:angel:[/quote]

Yes, there are reasons for *wanting* to show in conformation, but that is besides the point really. Not trying to say you are wrong, what you are missing is the reason that conformation started. What would be the point in showing an altered dog? If you want to finish dogs you won't be breeding, finish them prior to having them altered. However many breeders look down upon people showing a dog that will never be bred. It's like a tease LOL. The entire point in showing conformation is evaluating breeding stock and for breeders/exhibitors to be able to look at other lines as well as show off the results of their breeding.

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Actually you can SHOW NEUTERED's in the UK.

I dont think many males win top honours

But a spayed bitch HAS WON A GROUP at CRUFTS.

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