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To chop or not to chop? That is the question! Should we whip off every male dog’s gonads willy nilly ASAP no matter what? Is the problem of unwanted puppies first and foremost what we should think about? Is this just a logical black and white argument, or are there some grey and grizzled areas to examine?
The answer my friends, seems to depend a lot upon where you live. This is indeed one of those topics where opinions are varied, even between vets, and for good reason. So, I live in a relatively affluent part of the world (on a global scale) where stray and street dogs don’t exist and the vast majority of pet owners are responsible and aware and know where their furry family members are all day. This means that the chances of a “misalliance”, as we vets call an accidental sexual encounter of the reproductive kind, a doggy dalliance, a furry fling, a hairy hanky-panky, a canine carry-on, a mongrel mounting…… Um….I digress …..yes well, what it does mean is that the above list is not actually a huge issue for us here and we do not have too much of a problem with unwanted litters. Lucky us, right?
I’ve worked in places where the opposite is true and as a student remember feeling utterly nauseous while watching the poor vet on duty at a rescue centre euthanasing a mother and her 8 puppies one by one since there just was not the space nor the funding to support them and little hope of adoption. So do I support blanket early neutering in these places? Hell yeah!
But back to my present day situation: Hell no. It is now understood that male dogs do not really benefit in terms of health outcomes and my opinion is that the decision should be based on the individual case. The most common bad outcome I see is obesity. Yes, me again, the pet fat-shamer on the soap box, here I go. But seriously….enough with the overweight pets already (See my earlier post ) and when you take away the testosterone, as most middle aged men will attest to, it ain’t that easy to keep that trim waistline. Ho hum.
On the other hand, if the individual is affected negatively by his testosterone levels, I have and always will advocate for castration and have seen many dogs go from being an utter nightmare for their family to becoming the pet they had always wanted and, very importantly, avoiding being abandoned at a shelter because of unwanted behavioural traits. I’m talking about aggression (towards people and/or other animals), hyper/ crazy over-excited behaviour and untrainability, peeing endlessly in the house, the street, the front doorframe, etc, resource-guarding out the wazoo, humping the cushion, the toddler, the boss’s wife at the dinner table……you know what I’m talking about: It’s not just dogs in this world with out of hand testosterone-induced behaviour that we can all do without, am I right, LADEEZ?
Contrary to what the owner who identifies as one of these “High value MASCULINE men” and comes in with the big muscles popping out of the shirt for 10 year old boys, will tell you, Butch will NOT miss his testicles. He has not studied Biology 101 and has no idea why they are there. He will wake up from a well-performed castration operation with adequate analgesia and feel a mild bruise and a skin wound with stitches and will be feeling chipper well within 48h max (usually within 2-4 hours in my clinic…..smug boasty grin) If it’s going to mean a better, more loving and devoted relationship between owner and pet, then it’s a no-brainer.
There is a theory held in doggy behaviour circles that castrating a scared or nervous boy dog can lead to worsening of aggression if he suffers from fear-based aggression and thus, cases should possibly be referred to a bevioural specialist if there is a concern about serious aggression. One great solution these days is the possibility of having a “temporary castration” in the form of a hormone-blocking implant that lasts 6-12 months and will mimic the effects of a castration so that the decision is an informed one. It is completely reversible and we often use it as a trial run to be sure the effect on the dog’s behaviour is the desired one, before opting for surgery.
There are a lot of theories and studies coming out regarding health pro’s and con’s associated with neutering in general that I won’t go into here but your vet should be able to advise regarding risks and advantages and you need to work out what’s best for your specific dog, your family, your lifestyle and your personal philosophy. What I will say is that for me, the “risk” of the actual surgery on a healthy dog is negligible and should be a very small factor in any decision making. As far as health concerns go, by far the biggest concern for me is possible weight gain and not so much the miriad of very scary-sounding health issues being bandied about the internet to terrify everyone. Remember that many studies that quote supposed disease links can be skewed or easily misinterpreted and exaggerated and are best talked through with your vet and NOT online with keyboard warrior dog breeders and self-appointed “experts” who claim they know it all and have….cringe….”dun their resurch”.
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