Neutering: 12, 18 or 24 months?

[JacksonsMom]

Honestly, I think 12 or 18 months would be fine. With the smaller breeds, I think waiting until 12-18 months is good enough personally. I am 95% sure I will always neuter my males. It's just a preference. I just think the risks and benefits are pretty equal on both sides and I don't want to have to worry about problems that come with having an unaltered male personally.

Jackson got neutered at 7 1/2 months and while now I would've waited until about 10-12 months, I don't believe he's had any ill effects from it (but he was not neutered super early)... he continued to fill out a lot, for a little dog, until about 2yrs old.

 

[Bruschnazzy]

I'm getting a Miniature Aussie this coming week and was debating this as well. I'd like to get it done earlier, honestly, but not too early, so I'm probably going to go with the 12-18 month range, myself.

I just have to throw a quick rant in, at my current job (which I quit about 3 weeks ago, so soon to not be current job. ) they are very big on s/n, and I can't count the amount of times I have to listen to them going of course by the "6 months is the best time to do it". I don't bother even trying to throw my 2cents in, as we have two workers who work at vets there as well, and that is the age it's said to be perfect, and it seems that was the initial thought of everyone when I went into it.

THEN, today I saw an ad for the s/n deals we have around here for lower income, and it's get your puppy (and kitten), fixed for $20 the month of June from the age of 8 weeks - under 6 months. I can admit most people around here need their pets spayed that young, ha, but just....under 6 months is just...no....to me and especially as young as 8 weeks!

 

[Laurelin]

24 months is the soonest I will alter any future dogs.

 

[FG167]

Any time after a year if I'm not caring how "masculine" they are. Limit was neutered after a year and Kastle hasn't been neutered. Kas has changed a ton physically from 2 years to 3 years and I anticipate more change and I want him to look as masculine as possible. Everyone else is intact...well Eden is spayed.

 

[JazzyTheSibe]

18 months & no earlier.Unless something comes up.

But,24 months is more preferred,& my Nextdog won't be altered before 24 months.

 

[SpringerLover]

I assume 18 months would be fine, but I generally say 24. And like everyone else has said, just play it day by day! Most vets don't book out more than a couple weeks for a neuter procedure.

 

[AmandaNola]

Oh, I know how long it takes to book. LOL! I'm just trying to get a feel for how long I'll be dealing with...balls.

 

[ThoseWordsAtBest]

I really don't like intact males. IMO they have a stronger smell, the teeth chattering is horrid, the salivating over females in heat (my neighbor has 3-5 coonhound girls so there's almost always a bitch in heat), plus I just don't want the extra stress. Not to mention I'll be moving in a couple of years, and the complex requires all animals to be altered.

Just never happened with Shambles, and he survived two females in heat separate from them. Sometimes he gets into the business of my gals (all spayed) an teeth chatters, but if I call him off he's done. There must be a female in heat in my neighborhood as sometimes he paces the yard, but otherwise he is nothing. He refers to other dogs and doesn't have problem with any altered males (except Jack is a bit of a jerk to intact males) and we've never had an issue coming across any males in public.

I mean, sure, there have been humans that comment on his balls, but to no fault of his own. I considered neutering after he turned 2, but decided I can manage Jack and we mostly hike and bike s no issues. His playmates outside of the house are 6 neutered males who don't care in the slightest.

 

[Laurelin]

I think it depends on the dog. Beau was one of those really jerky horny intact males that was obnoxious. Settled down a TON after being neutered.

Nard is 6 and intact and is and has always been a sweetie pie. He's all about snuggles and is very laid back about everything. He has lived in the house with in heat females and he behaves the same as usual. He never humps, never marks inappropriately. He's just very soft tempered and sweet.

Trey was also very easy when he was intact. He had like 0 interest in Nikki when she was in heat. SHE was a bit of a pain in the ass while she was intact (moody heats, phantom pregnancies several times, etc) but he wasn't.

 

[Shai]

Oh, I know how long it takes to book. LOL! I'm just trying to get a feel for how long I'll be dealing with...balls.

With how fuzzy he is you may not even notice them. When Webster (who is much more plush than generally comes across in pictures) was intact they were virtually invisible even when he was laying on his back because they were tight and so fuzzy and just blended into the rest of his coat.

Probably TMI, but hey if it's a concern... not all boy dog, especially fuzzy ones, are obvious about it.

As for my current intact boy, well, Mira came into heat weeks after he came home and he was showing interest at only 11 weeks old so...pray for me? Ha.

 

[StillandSilent]

There have really only been a handful of boys that bother Gimmick, and he's in daycare 5 days a week so he meets a lot of them. Actually the worst issue we have is some of the bitchy females being obsessed with him and not leaving him alone. One of them has to be closely watched or she will herd him off to a corner and refuse to let him leave! Its a little fatal attraction.

That said, Gimmick is the definition of wuss, so maybe the other males just don't consider him to be worth it.

 

[*blackrose]

You don't really notice Abrams' balls. When DH found out that I wasn't planning to neuter him at 6 months, he said, "Oh, God, does that mean I have to stare at his balls all of the time?" Now he says, "Oh, look at his cute little fuzzy testicles." :rofl1: You don't notice them when he's walking around, the only time you see them is when he's flopping over on his back.

Or this picture, that was totally ruined by his balls:

His urine doesn't have an odor. He lifts his leg only half the time. He does tend to mount new dogs, but I think that has more to do with him being an idiot than it does him being intact. He had a spell when he was first going through adolescents that he would try to mount guests, but that was nipped in the bud really quick and he doesn't do it anymore. The only thing he does that really annoys me is that he teeth chatters when he smells another dog's urine. He especially likes Cynder's urine, for whatever reason. Just this morning Michael asked me, "Um, why is he foaming at the mouth?" "Because he is a gross boy dog." "Oh." He doesn't fixate and redirects super easy, but even I've redirected him and he's focused on something else he may still be chattering. Drives me batty, but it isn't horrible. I do hope that when I do neuter him that habit doesn't stick around. LOL

(That all being said, had he had any behavioral issues that were affected by him being intact...I would have neutered him. But for now, he's fine and I'm fine, so I'm not worrying about it.)

 

[MrsBoats]

Both the rottie boys are intact....Ocean is 2 and Lars is 6. Truth be told...they aren't any different than my neutered rescue male I had before them. Both boys have been at shows where conformation happens as well and where in season females can be shown. The only time I have seen them teeth chatter is where they smelled the ground where a female in season peed earlier. That's it. Neither dog has given me a reason to neuter them and I won't unless it's absolutely medically necessary.

That being said...if I were neuter a dog, I would wait until the growth plates are closed. 24 months would be where I would wait to alter a dog.

 

[Elrohwen]

Personally I would wait until 24 months. As other have mentioned, you don't have to commit to anything now - if his behavior really starts to bother you it's easy enough to do earlier.

Watson is intact and will be 2 in August. He does have some annoying boy dog behaviors and I joke about chopping off his balls, but it's not unmanageable by any means. He can get really into sniffing other dog's pee, and is a bit dog obsessed and wants to lick their private areas. The past month or two he has been very distractable and his brain falls out in certain training facilities with lots of dog smell around. He's also a target for neutered males - many are just a bit obsessed with him, but others have been mildly aggressive. Female dogs don't seem to have a problem with him. He's also kind of rude and obnoxious and will make direct eye contact with other males, so that's a big part of his problem and wouldn't be fixed with neutering. He doesn't hump, he doesn't smell bad, and he's able to behave himself at dog shows (though he did start acting like an idiot when a female in heat was directly in front of him going around the ring).

 

[Kootenay]

I think some males are worse than others. I was going to wait until 24 months or more to neuter Ripley. But he was gross and obsessive over sniffing and licking my girls or anywhere they sat, nevermind peed, and I got tired of telling him to knock it off and go away all the time. The constant "my mind is gone" teeth chattering look, salivating, happy air humping was too much for me and so at 18-19months, off he went to be neutered. These weren't training issues, and he was fully capable of being a good boy, but these hormonal behaviours were beyond irritating for me and I felt like I sounded like a broken record constantly managing him. I had no reason to keep him intact, so for my sanity and his, away they went. And yes, he was a huge target for other dogs too, which was also unpleasant.

I definitely agree with this, I had a very similar experience with Yarrow. I wanted to wait a good long while to neuter him, didn't have a specific age in mind, but he ended up getting the chop at around 18 months. He was getting super obnoxious with Onyx, and she wasn't even anywhere near her first heat yet (trying to deal with him intact during her heat would have been brutal! Even neutered he was intense). I really can't stand that mindless look, teeth chattering, dripping saliva - he is already a distractable dog and it was just too much.

He also started becoming SSA around that time, which being intact didn't help with. He has improved slightly in that regard since his neuter.

So I can't really recommend an age, I think it just depends when it ends up being right for you. As long as you can last?

 

[Taqroy]

That being said, bitchy females who hate all other dogs LOVE him.

This is really interesting to me because the ONLY dog that Mu has warmed up to immediately is a Tibetan Terrier that still has his balls. He is everything that she loathes in dogs - spazzy, annoying, fast, completely out of control - and within 2 minutes she was play bowing at him. It was insane. I need an intact male so Mu can have a friend. :rofl1:

24 months is the soonest I will alter any future dogs.

I think this is my plan as well - male/female you get to keep your bits until at least 2 (males possibly forever or I'd look into the zinc neutering). There's a HUGE difference in muscle and body structure between Mu and Tipper. Mu was spayed at 6 months, Tipper at 2 years. I really really wish I'd waited longer for Mu.

 

[DJEtzel]

If you're going to alter, I would do it for a dog that size at 12 months.

 

[Linds]

This is really interesting to me because the ONLY dog that Mu has warmed up to immediately is a Tibetan Terrier that still has his balls. He is everything that she loathes in dogs - spazzy, annoying, fast, completely out of control - and within 2 minutes she was play bowing at him. It was insane. I need an intact male so Mu can have a friend. :rofl1:

It's such a funny thing! Females who dislike almost all dogs end up acting just like you said Mu does, play bowing and flirting like crazy. Even Hannah, who disliked most dogs would take every opportunity to engage Traveler in play and flirt like mad.

 

[Shai]

It's such a funny thing! Females who dislike almost all dogs end up acting just like you said Mu does, play bowing and flirting like crazy. Even Hannah, who disliked most dogs would take every opportunity to engage Traveler in play and flirt like mad.

I am sure Trav and Mira would have found each other delightful if they had actually registered each other's presence during the couple hours they spent together, haha

It was interesting how so many of the strange dogs were al up in Trav's business whereas Mira was ignored and Didgie was ignored both times I've gone with you to the dog park. Poor guy.

 

[BostonBanker]

I can always tell when an adult male is intact by how Meg reacts to them; they get much, much more leniency than a neutered male.