A vasectomy is not a bad idea, IMO. I think that it's more expensive though and you have to find vets who will do it.
Neutering may or may not help marking. He's still young enough where I think it actually could halt the behavior (but hormones take 2-3 weeks to get out of their system after surgery). I know someone who had a 5 or 6 year old dog neutered and they almost immediately stopped marking. It really just depends I think.
There's pros and cons to both. I lean more towards... just neuter him. He's old enough now that for a small dog his growth plates are closed, etc, I think 8 months is actually a good age and prefer it to the 4-6 month age range. And there's enough research on both ends of the argument that to me, the benefits/cons are pretty equal, leaning towards more benefits. JMO. |