[107barney]

Athletic yorkies? ROFLMAO. I have a bunch of couch potatoes at home. Actually, I'm kidding, my dogs are very active and have a nice musculature to their lean bodies.

In regards to early neutering, I have a beautiful almost 14-year old male that was early neutered. Too early by today's 6-month common practice. He has been a predominantly healthy yorkie. He was diagnosed at 8 weeks of age (before he was neutered) with bilateral medial luxating patellas (grade I on one side and grade II on the other).

At age 11.5 he jumped off a bed onto a hardwood floor. He fully tore his CCL, tore his medial meniscus and knocked his knee out from a grade II to a grade III. His doctor said that this was a catastrophic injury...an accident.

We all know that a medial patellar luxation (MPL) is a GENETIC issue. Because of this genetic issue it sets the stage for a tear of a CCL. Dogs who have genetic MPL like our yorkies have a medial rotation of the tibial crest which in turn, causes a tension on the CCL. This is what predisposes Yorkies with MPL to tear their CCL. It makes sense that the worse the MPL, the more medial rotation of the tibial crest there will be, and thus more tension on the CCL leading to a tear. It's why many older dogs with MPLs tear their CCLs -- they've had a lifetime of tension on the CCL. Thus, it is GENETICS and TIBIAL FORCES (coupled at times with age) that tear CCLs in these yorkies, regardless of neuter status.

My beautiful Barney is now almost 14 years old. He not only survived his early neuter, but he has aged very well and almost everyone who meets him cannot believe he is 14. He could easily pass for a much younger dog. Yes, he tore his CCL, but that's a result of poor breeding and a MPL that set the stage for tibial crest rotation and tension on the CCL over his lifetime. A jump off the bed was the "event" that caused the catastrophic injury. The last straw, so to speak.

I can't change his genetics and I certainly can't change the hearts and minds of breeders who don't want to eliminate dogs from their lines that should not be bred (note that my other dog has at least 6 medical problems and 5 are genetic conditions, and that is VERY wrong). Despite this, I can decide how I will take care of my dogs to help offset the very core problems that they were born with. I want nothing more than a few more years with my senior dog, but know that I don't decide the day or the hour or the minute.

I wish you all the same enjoyment of many years with your yorkies. I would not change one thing with mine, including the decisions to neuter them.