Animal specialists say that if you do not neuter your male pets, their testosterone levels will keep rising. When this happens, aggression usually takes over and this can be dangerous. Intact male pets will start fights with other male pets. People can take the brunt of this aggression as well.
If your male dog is not neutered until after he reaches maturity, there are health benefits, as well. Stopping testosterone production at a young age can mean an increased risk of hip and elbow dysplasia, as well as a higher likelihood your dog will tear a cruciate ligament in his knee.
Spaying and neutering do have some clear health benefits for dogs. Testicular and ovarian cancers are moot, and there's evidence that spaying lowers the risk of mammary cancer and uterine infections. Fixed dogs also live longer on average.
The average age of death of intact dogs was 7.9 years versus a significantly older 9.4 years for altered dogs.
In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behaviors.
After neutering, your dog will be healthier, easier to train, and more affectionate. You won't have to chase after your dog as he chases a dog in heat. You won't have to clean up the pee that your dog used to mark his territory on your futon. Your dog will be less stubborn and easier to train.
The recommended age to neuter a male dog is between six and nine months. However, some pet owners have this procedure done at four months. Smaller dogs reach puberty sooner and can often have the procedure done sooner. Larger breeds may need to wait longer in order to properly develop before being neutered.
Although veterinarians usually prefer to spay and neuter dogs when they are young, neutering or spaying older dogs, or any age dog for that matter, can be done with some careful planning.
Neutering is a reasonably safe process; however, you can expect sharp changes in your dog's attitude right when you bring them home from the procedure. These side effects can range from increased aggression, depression, anxiety, or even clinginess; however, they only last for a short amount of time.
Lack of cooperation. Resistant; an unwillingness to obey commands; refusal to come when called. Pulling/dragging of handler outdoors; excessive sniffing; licking female urine. Sexual frustration; excessive grooming of genital area.
If your male dog is neutered too young, the growth plates may take longer to close, making his bones grow longer and resulting in him being larger overall than he normally would have been. This can cause orthopedic problems such as cranial cruciate ligament rupture. This is of particular concern for larger dog breeds.
And unfortunately, fear-based aggression is often made WORSE (or even triggered) by castration. While it would be a nice story to say that dogs became anxious after castration because of the psychological trauma from the loss of their testicles, this doesn't actually happen.
While castration does not calm dogs down, it can reduce testosterone-driven actions such as mounting behaviour. It may increase a dog's focus or concentration.
Neutering has been implicated in increasing anxiousness in pet dogs (Kaufmann et al., 2017; Puurunen et al., 2020), with dogs neutered before the age of one year old presenting with exaggerated fearful responses (McGreevy et al., 2018; Stellato et al., 2021).
When to Neuter. The traditional age for neutering is six to nine months. However, puppies as young as eight weeks can be neutered as long as there aren't other health problems. An adult dog can be neutered at any time but there is a larger risk of complications.
But if your dog is healthy, there is no specific age limit to having the procedure done. Spaying or neutering is the process of removing the productive organs of the dog. It eliminates heat cycles and other events that the reproductive system influences.
To wrap things up, if you notice signs your dog needs to be neutered, such as getting overly aggressive, marking everything in sight, going on adventures, or trying to hump everything that moves and breathes - it might be a sign that they require to be neutered. Neutering your dog comes with a bunch of benefits.
An age of six to nine months of age may be appropriate for neutering or spaying a toy breed puppy or small breed puppy but a larger or giant breed may need to wait until they are near or over 12-18 months of age.
Neutering, or castration, is the surgical removal of the testicles. Removing the testicles removes the primary source of testosterone in the body, resulting in changes in sex drive, hormone-related behaviors, and hormone-related health concerns.
The suggested guideline for males is neutering beyond 6 months of age. Given the increased cancer risk for females spayed at a year of age, the suggested guideline is delaying spaying until beyond 2 years of age.
Benefits of Neutering (males):
Reduces or eliminates risk of spraying and marking. Less desire to roam, therefore less likely to be injured in fights or auto accidents. Risk of testicular cancer is eliminated, and decreases incidence of prostate disease.
If the dog is immature at the time of neutering, the empty scrotum will flatten out as he grows. If he is mature at the time of neuter, the empty scrotum will remain as a flap of skin. Sometimes the incision is mildly bruised.
Myth 1: neutering makes dogs calmer
It is widely believed that neutering will help calm boisterous, over-excitable adolescent dogs down. However this is often not the case.
Neutering does not instantly eliminate hormonal behavioral patterns in dogs. In these situations, patience is required. It usually takes around six weeks for a male dog's hormones to leave his system. He may still try to breed with female dogs during that time, and he might even be able to do so.
A dog may whine so much after surgery due to pain, reaction to anesthesia, or confusion. Some dogs may suffer from anxiety or experience a side effect of medication, causing them to whine longer.