Quote:
Originally Posted by bjh  Most of my experience is just with spaying females. I feel strongly that if a female is not going to be bred then she should be spayed after she is a year old. I have 3 spayed females and two of them did not gain that much weight and one gained some but she was on the chunky side before she was spayed. I would not consider her obese. I had one 9 month old male that I had neutered because he had one testicle. He was nice and trim before being neutered and he definitely put on some weight afterwards. A lot of how much they gain depends on diet and life style.
Now, as for personality change, I see no change in personality. It is a plus with females because you don't have to deal with personality changes that come with each heat cycle. As for males, it totally depends on the male and his personality. Just because you neuter a male does not eliminate his desire to breed, he could still have the desire to breed a female and he can still tie a female. The only good thing being that he could not get her pregnant. There are risks involved to male and female if they accidentally tie while unsupervised, whether he is neutered or not. That being said, if you have a male, whether neutered or not, it is wise to keep them away from females in heat, unless he shows absolutely no interest in the female.
There are many pros and cons to spaying and neutering. It is a tough personal decision that we all have to make and live with. Anyone who chooses to have a unaltered male and female in the house better be prepared to do all things possible to keep them apart. Be prepared for 3 weeks of barking, whining, crying and sadness when the female is in heat. If at all possible the best solution is to keep them in separate areas of the house.
Here is a good article that list the pros and cons of neutering: http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf |
Thank you for that article. I will be reading it later on, as it is 1am here. But i have it saved to my desktop. I have made a decision based on all the research I have done so far. And that is to not spay her until she is atleast 1 year old. She goes for her first vet visit (since I've had her) on Monday. This vet is closest and has the earliest opening so for now he will do. He's great\\