Jump to content
Dogomania

Neutering Age?


Guest Anonymous

Recommended Posts

Guest Anonymous

Hello Everyone.
This is my first post here and I want to say thank you for the information that is on this site.
I have a 7 week old Carin and the breeder is going to take him to the vet tommorrow morning to get neutered. I do not have any plans on breeding him and she stated that neutering him at this age will cause him not to "lift his leg". I used to raise Carins and had a problem of the males marking everything in the house. Now we are in a new home and this is our first dog. Is there any truth to the breeders story? She also stated that he will be up and around sooner than if he was older. And had "experiences". Thank you.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Guest Anonymous

I can't belive that they will do that surgry on a pupy at 7 weeks old.. i thought the earliest was 3 months... i think it is VERY dangerous for her to have this done to such a young puppy.... what kind of breeder would do it at a young age> most will send home with a contract that YOU will fix the dog when it gets tot he right age...

i wouldn't get a dog from her..... JMHO..... good luck

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Rasting pc ..had a reply typed out anyway here we go.

Right 7 weeks is far too young and endangers your puppies life as far as anaesthesia goes. Where I work we neuter dogs from 4/5 months onwards if both testicles are descended. By waiting the surgery is less intrusive as at 7 weeks old the testicles will not be descended and intrusive surgery into the abdominal cavity will be required.

As far as the leg lifting goes, all dogs are different. My friend is studying Laterality in canids at Manchester uni so this is her area. Dogs behaviour is more heavily influenced by learned than hormonal behaviour. Your dog may still learn to cock his leg if he is in the presence of other dogs (My bitch learned to cock her leg watching her brother as a young pup).

Some dogs regardless of being neutered or not never cock their leg, so what i am saying is that there are no rules set in stone. Its the environmental influences that will shape your pups behaviour.

Good luck whatever you decide.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

7 weeks? The breeder must be NUTS! The others are absolutely right about the testicles. No puppy should be in surgery until it's older. I say 4-6 months would be a good time to get him neutered. Ask your breeder for a contract and say you'll do it yourself at the RIGHT age. And tell her that neutering a dog that young can be harmful.

Also, nothing can garuntee anything. If that makes sense.. I had a dog neutered when he was young, and he's still 'active' even though he's 10+ years old! Why don't you want him to cock his leg for? That's completely natural for a male dog and you shouldn't have to want to change it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Sounds kind of sketchy to me. My pup was done VERY young, but that's because I adopted him from the SPCA and they neuter all the dogs before they're adopted. So, not that I agree with the practice at all, but Oscar was done at about 7 weeks and he is fine now .... but I do think it's a big risk with such a tiny pup.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I did extensive research on this and 7 weeks is NOT too young. Shelters and rescues do it all the time.

The breeder is correct in all that she told you. The only long term effect found in multiple studies on both dogs and cats is that the early s/n often ended up being taller. In the absense of the hormones it takes the growth plates longer to close and causes to grow slightly taller. Some also believe that pups neutered early get "puppy brain". Basically they think removing the hormones too soon effects mental maturing. Depends on the owner if this will be a problem.

Recovery time will be almost nil, the new anesthesias used now are much easier to measure and administer in small doses.

In fact the ONLY reason (except for thats just what they learn in school) most vets say to wait is because of the administration of the anesthesia. Many feel it is too difficult and unsafe to administer the anesthesia in such small dosages. Years ago, with the form of anestesia they used, this was true. However, new anesthesias are much easier and complications are rare.

I think you have found a fabulous breeder and you should be glad this will already be taken care of. Congrats on your new carin. I LOVE terriers and have 3 JRT's. Welcome to Dogo

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would never nueter a puppy at seven weeks of age!! I'm sure she's doing it to prevent him from being bred, but still!! and he may still lift his leg...my SPAYED FEMALES lift thier legs. And I have heard that a male dog who never sees another male lift his leg may go years, or his whole life, not lifting his leg, even if he is intact.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='Mei-Mei'][quote]Shelters and rescues do it all the time.
[/quote]

Hmmm, not too sure about this. Isn't it the case that most shelters and rescues won't let a puppy go until it is at least 8 weeks of age?[/quote]

Where I am, our shelters will let pups go at 6 weeks. Often they do not have the mother there anyway and they need the space for other dogs. A good friend got a little spaniel/lab mix at 6 weeks and she was already fixed. She is a fantastic dog.

Does anyone have any proof that it is dangerous to s/n before say 4 months? I really did research this a lot with my last pup. Being my first male, and every male I know marks inside, I was really worried about it. I looked into the early s/n which is from 6 weeks to 5 months. I read many studies performed by many different bodies and they all had similar results. The progress made with the new anesthesias completely alleviates the risks once associated with early s/n.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Shelters do s/n very early. At the SPCA here, they guesstimate the age of abandoned litters that are brought in at about 8 weeks really most of the time. Oscar couldn't have been more than 5 weeks old when we got him, but they claimed 8 weeks and he was already neutered. I've heard that this goes on at virtually all the shelters in our area.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

What I have seen from early spay/neutering is spay incontinence (leaking of a sort) as the pup gets old, bladder infections (more than normal) and taller and leggier dogs.

I also do not agree with early spay/neutering, but it is being done more and more with little problem to the dog/bitch except for what I mentioned above.

Personally, I wouldn't do it. If you are uncomfortable, tell the breeder you do not want the puppy and find another breeder.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Personally, I would find another breeder. I have had both neutered and intact male dogs and NONE of them have marked in the house. They learned from puppyhood that peeing in the house is NOT allowed. IMO, marking in the house is NOT a hormonal issue, it is a TRAINING issue. I also know a lot of breeders (of various breeds) that have breeding males that do NOT mark in the house.

And saying that neutering him this young will KEEP him from lifting his leg is also a load of CR@P.

I have had males that were neutered young(meaning 6 months, NOT 7 weeks) and everyone has been a "perpetual puppy". (Meaning that they never matured "upstairs".) IMO, that alone is reason enough to wait to neuter. Why would I want an adult dog that acts like an idiotic puppy it's whole life?

And as far as those that say, "well the shelters do it". BFD! They also do a lot of other things that any "sane" pet owner wouldn't do!

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Actually ....... as a counterpoint to BlackGSD ..... I have two males, one intact and one neutered.

The neutered one is the most mature dog I have ever seen or know. The intact male at 4 years old acts like a dopey puppy.

Neutering has no effect on personality that I have ever seen and I've had them both of female and male gender.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have not done personal research, just info from our vet here, whom I trust. His preference is to spay/neuter two weeks after all shots are complete. We were placing a stray cat in a home and wanted it spayed before it went and he was willing to spay her and she was just under three months.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[b]
I cant belive that some one or even a vet would do it at 7weeks,the earliest I've every seen or heard of is 6months,some will do it at 5months at a push,but 7WEEKS.ARE YOU SURE ???????????.the poor little thing,its bad enough at 5/6months.I think I will look into that one.[/b]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Not that I have an opinion as to whether it's "right or wrong," but here's just what I've seen of early neutering and spaying.

Not only does our shelter do it, but my vet does it with the orphaned rescues that he often adopts out, puppies as well as kittens. I've seen them done as early as 7-8 weeks. I've never once seen a problem. What does stand out to me is that the recovery of these young animals is amazing. From what I've seen, by the time the sutures come out, there is barely even a visible scar. Seriously. They heal so amazingly fast and the ones I've seen come back as adults seem no different than any other dog... it doesn't seem to affect their personalities at all.

It may or may not be the best thing, but IMO, I believe it is the lesser of the evils. I have to be honest and admit that if I had a litter of puppies that I needed to place for whatever reason, they would all be neutered/spayed before they went anywhere, if it meant doing it at 7-8 weeks. I don't trust contracts and limited registrations. There are too many scam registries willing to paper anyone's dog if they can't get the original AKC papers and, besides, many people don't give a crap about registration papers, anyway. If I had a nickel for every time I heard someone say, "well, they're not SHOW dogs..."

I honestly have no problem with this breeder wanting this puppy neutered prior to leaving. It sounds to me like this breeder may have been burned once or more by someone who didn't honor their contract. As mentioned before, if it makes one uncomfortable, there is the option of choosing another breeder. I just personally don't have a problem with it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

the problem with young male dogs is the testicle having been completely dropped...and with any young puppy, because of the anesthesia...

Young dogs dont always handle the anesthesia well, which is why some vets recommend waiting till they are at least 3 months old. With males, a good vet will recommend waiting until the testicles have fully descended.

some dogs can handle it at an early age, but I, personally, would not recommend it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Although I don't think dogs should be neutered/spayed at a very young age, Zebra was neutered at 10 weeks. Since we adopted him there was nothing we could do about it because it was policy that all dogs had to be fixed before given over to there owners. Even though he was neutered at a very young age I have not noticed any problems with him. And recovery for him was....well...i mean he was perfect after the surgery, just being his puppy self. :lol:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='courtnek']the problem with young male dogs is the testicle having been completely dropped...and with any young puppy, because of the anesthesia...

Young dogs dont always handle the anesthesia well, which is why some vets recommend waiting till they are at least 3 months old. With males, a good vet will recommend waiting until the testicles have fully descended.

some dogs can handle it at an early age, but I, personally, would not recommend it.[/quote]

Even if the testicles haven't dropped they are not that hard to find. Its not like they are bury deep in the abdomen. It is recommended that older dogs who have one or two that didn't drop properly be neutered, the surgery is no more difficult.

As far as anesthesia, the older ones were very difficult to measure accurately. They were so potent, and therefore the amount you should use so small it was difficult to be accurate at small dosages. However, few if any vets should be using those kinds any more. They have many other dangers associated with them as well. I can pull names if you would like to know. New anesthesias were created with this in mind.

What about breed size. A yorkie is 5-7 lbs full grown. Many large breed dogs can weight that at 7 weeks, what is the difference in neutering? The amount of anesthesia is based on wieght therefore age is not a so important. In fact, just as in children (think tonsils), the younger often recover much much faster.

At one time, yes neutering early was somewhat dangerous. However, with the advances in medicine over the last decade, this is no longer true.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

[quote name='3ofakind']

Even if the testicles haven't dropped they are not that hard to find. Its not like they are bury deep in the abdomen. It is recommended that older dogs who have one or two that didn't drop properly be neutered, the surgery is no more difficult.

[/quote]

This is NOT necessarily true. They CAN be deep in the abdomen. And if they are, the surgery IS more difficult as they have to go in and LOOK for them since they are not where they "should be". The surgery can actually be more along the lines of a spay if they have to go digging around inside the male in order to find the missing testicle.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...