Need Male Yorkie Opinions Please
 

I have posted (bragged) previously about our 2.5yr male yellow lab, Charlie, intact, doesn't mark, very obedient and full of energy. I'll try to be brief.

Charlie was indoors the first 2 years. He had a 10'x8' compound in the breakfast room, was taken out and exercised and then rested in that area most of the time. After being outside during the spring and summer months, he would just gaze out the glass door when brought in. We transitioned him from indoors to outdoors, and this is his first winter outside. Has two beds, elevated cedar house with porch, and is very happy.

My question is: We never intended for the yellow lab to have free range of our home as we intend with Bubba our yorkie. If after all of Bubba's potty training and no accidents, slowly acclimating him to other rooms in the house and allowing him on furniture, might be another year, I can't be sure. Should I concern myself with neutering him? I have considered leaving him intact, if, he doesn't lift his leg, if he responds to all training and I can trust giving him more freedom around the house.

I have spoken to my vet, he is from the school of, "if it ain't broke, don't fix it." His concerns for castrating Bubba are population control, if I am an irresponsible pet owner and male to male aggression in an already developed male. He tells me, look at Charlie, he's fine. I agree, however I have learned that each breed is different and I didn't have the guts to ask him how much yorkie experience he has :(

I would love your guys' take on this very common issue.

There is a lot of debate about the health benefits and risks of neutering, so there is no clear or easy answer. For my pets, I believe in neutering.

Neutering is not a guarantee against marking, but I believe the chance of an un-neutered Yorkie not marking is slim. You could use belly bands.

I am for neutering. I have heard some stories of the extent that a male will go to, to get to a female in heat and some times end up getting lost or hurt. With all these stories of yorkies getting stolen or if he ran away someone could pick him up and use him in a puppy mill. I also think its the responsible thing to do when you have a pet.

I'm not sure about why the concern about Lifting the leg; my understanding is that is pretty normal for male dogs to do.

I'm not clear if your vet is recommending neutering for your Yorkie or not?

but I have an un-neutered male BRT (which is a much larger dog than a Lab) and an un-neutered Yorkie male. Both co-exist peacefully in the house.

Are you planning on bringing in your Lab to the house? Is that your concern --- will the two males fight?

My Yorkie is much more apt to mark than my BRT, and BTW we have an intact female in the house too. Yorkie only marks when she is in heat; so he has belly bands once a year to wear. My male BRT doesn't and has never marked in thehouse, and nor have the two males ever gotten into "it" even with an intact, in heat female. I control the situation.

Thanks for all the info

I don't mind the leg lifting (except that it can lead to an unwrapped coat getting dirty :p). It's the marking inside the house that I couldn't live with. For breeders, it is a fact of life and I believe a number of them use belly bands.

I feel strongly about neutering not only for population control, but also for decreasing his chances of ever getting hit by a car. The number one killer of unneutered dogs is injuries sustained from a car accident. If you neuter before testosterone is pumping through his veins, he may never mark in the house. Joey marks outside, but never inside, unneutered dogs do have a tendency to do this, and many breeders use belly bands, but it's kind of inconvenient, you have to take them off when the dog needs to urinate.

I have both nutered and not - one maletse mix and one lab(lab not) and I have had no issues but I know that the smaller the dog the harder to train for marking. I agree - you can always use belly bands on them when they are inside - just incase.
Not to push myself but i - along with several others make belly bands. My discount is 10% just put YT10 in at checkout.

Keep us posted on what you do - Do what you feel best with. *hugs*

Take this advice from someone who left their first dog intact.
Neuter him.
my dog ran away all the time peed in the house and had a bad temper and was bitey, now this was also my fault for not putting in the time to properly train and discipline him.
Although there is so hard proof, leaving them intact has been suggested to increase the chance of testicular cancer.
Fixing your dog will remove the roaming tendencies searching for sex with intact females. It will reduce conflict with other male dogs as they will smell the testosterone and it creates aggression in males, do you want your dog attacked?
Do yourself a favour and do a bit of research.
I've grown up a lot since I was sixteen with my first dog and got Teegy fixed when the time came.

oh and Nancy, once again an awesome avatar

Why thank you! Those two love to go on a walk and mark the neighborhood!

First of course if they have testicles they can have testicular cancer. Recent research indicates that about .01% of dogs will die from testicular cancer.

I have two un-neutered males and they have never run away from me. Actually in my experience and in the research most aggression comes from neutered animals, not un-neutered. And that is equal for females and males who have been neutered.

As you have also indicated in your post ; you did not take the time to train properly.

Thanks everyone for your replies, opinions.

I was most curious as to whether the breed is more apt to mark or have aggression related to not neutering. If it comes down to diligent training and being able to leave both of my males in tact, that is what I will strive for.

Charlie my lab has been extensively trained, never ran off, but also not given any opportunity to do so. We have a few acres completely walled/gated in, Charlie's area is half back porch half grass, his potty area is a gravel/sand (100 ft x100 ft) that he has used since day 1.

I don't mind the training, the results are worth it, my question stemmed from never having had an intact male with free range of the inside of our home, but it sounds as though it is more of a training issue than a neutering issue. Still I am open to others experiences and opinions.

How old is Bubba? It seems to me that intact male Yorkies almost always mark in the house. I would neuter him by 6 months to prevent him from ever starting to mark. It is very difficult to get them to stop once they start, even if you neuter them after they start marking.

Bubba is 15 weeks old. Being crate trained, only allowed free time in a penned off area in the breakfast nook. Any other time around the house he is tethered to me.