i am neither . i am pro doing what is right for you.
I'm neither.
I am pro responsible ownership, and if that means an individual needs to speuter to prevent accidental breeding or to make management easier, so be it.
There are long term health and behavioral issues associated with early spay/neuter, so I tend to not be a fan of speutering puppies, but it's still better than having all sorts of oops litter due to people unable to manage intact animals.
S/N doesn't make someone responsible. It simply makes their dogs unable to reproduce.
For my own dogs, I'm not a fan of putting them through surgery, removing internal organs and altering bodily functions.
it's a complicated issue, and it *should* be. removing organs from an animal should be a big decision, not one taken lightly.
^
This. Very well said.
The thread being referred to may be the one I started about owning intact dogs. And I stand by what I said - I am capable of keeping an intact dog and will do so. Nothing has convinced me that neutering is necessary, for a dog I own. Strictly pro-neutering people won't agree, but I respect their choice and feel that this is a personal decision.
That being said, I will 100% recommend my neighbor across the street fixing her new male puppy when he matures. Why? Because her dogs have gotten out multiple times to run across the street, and none of her dogs are obedience trained. I am very glad my neighbor down the street fixed his Labrador Retriever male. That dog also tends to run out on the streets and has plenty of issues with other dogs as it is.
Now, I say that because these are my neighbors and I see how they take on dog ownership and the responsibility. I know they let their dogs roam the neighborhood for hours, many times without them realizing their dog is out. On the other hand, if I walked through Petco and saw someone with a mature intact male, I will not make assumptions about their ability as a dog owner and will not give it much thought.
I completely understand the viewpoint of those who will neuter all their dogs. If you do not want to deal with an intact dog, and believe that an accident may happen with your dog, then that in itself is a good reason to fix the dog. I am at a point where I can perfectly respect shelters and rescues for fixing puppies at 8 weeks old. For them, they can not guarantee what type of home the dogs will end up in and the owner's level of responsibility, no matter how choosy they are. And it's a precautionary step that, unfortunately, is justified with the type of Joe Blow dog owners we have.
I, for one, am not one to put my dog through surgery because I find it convenient to do so, because the inconvenience of an intact dog for ME is something I can handle... and I am perfectly willing to do so. But that's MY view and I do not try to force it on anyone.
I am still relatively undecided with females. I know that it is significantly more beneficial to spay a female than it is to neuter a dog, and as of now, I believe that I will likely spay all females eventually. But I do have an interest in conformational showing and will be keeping a bitch intact for that *unless* I find convincing and significant evidence to prove otherwise, or due to circumstance.
the only people with licenses to breed are running puppymills. if you are producing so many dogs that you need to be licensed, you're not breeding dogs responsibly.
Please correct me if I am wrong - but I believe that some small counties do require anyone with more than two dogs to have a license...? I do know for a fact that there have been multiple attempts to require breeders earn a license as well, but am not sure how successful that has been. I, for one, hope that this is not the case.