To Snip or Not to Snip
 

I have a male yorkie that is almost six months old. What are the pros and cons for neutering? I'm not planning on using him for breeding. Just a family pet. I've read things going either way.

I don't see why you wouldn't neuter. If you neuter he would not mark, not have a risk of developing testicular cancer, would not have the urge to run away every time he senses a female in heat...And probably many more reasons why you should neuter that I don't know about...

I say SNIP, SNIP, SNIP!! It will make him a healthier dog overall. It cuts down on marking, too. I could not imagine not snipping! The surgery is not too extensive and they really bounce back pretty quick! Good luck!

I think that the benefits of neutering are far greater than the benefits of not. Do you want him marking all over your house for his entire life? What if he runs away because he smells a female in heat? It's just not worth it to me, so I spay and neuter.

To begin with, he does not need them. They are for breeding and create hormones in his body that do effect his personality. He will be able to smell a female in heat from miles away and it will make him unhappy or even hyper and frustrated at times. Un-neutered males tend to try to roam at times in order to seek out a female so he may try to sneak out the door at times. Many dogs that are not neutered will lift their leg to "mark" their territory at the most inappropriate times. I have seen more people with problems with their males marking here on YT than I have ever seen in my life.

It is a very quick and painless procedure for the dog. He will not miss them. It is not as invasive a procedure as what a female has to endure.
If you wait until all his male hormones are in place it takes several months before the advantages of having him neutered will be noticed as it will take a while for the hormones to leave the body. Some of the bad traits are so engrained that they may never leave.

I have noticed that more male humans have a problem with having this done to a dog than females do. Some male humans think it is cruel and painful. The dog's sexual response is different than the human's. Dogs are all about scent while a human male is more about sight. As I said the dog will not have any pain except from a few stitches afterward and that will be gone within a couple of days.

I think as a responsible pet owner its just the right thing to do. Male dogs will also do anything to get to a female in heat if there not fixed and can get hurt or lost in the process. There has also been many yorkies stolen lately and an non fixed male would be worth more money for someone to sell and could possibly sell him into a puppy mill life.

My Ziggy is over a year old and I have yet to go get him neutered! I too do not plan to breed him. I have waited this long because
- His small size (he is 3lbs right now)
-I have once lost a puppy while being spayed (a german shepherd)
- I had two male german shepherds who were unneutered and lived long, happy healthy lives. (never had any offspring)
- Ziggy does not mark inside our home

My other dog, a rescued shelter lab mix is neutered. So I do believe in it, I just have fears. But I will be neutering Ziggy before the end of this year becasue
- He has an undescended testicle and I dont want that to make him sick
- I want to get him a baby sister early next year
- He has 2 retained puppy teeth

I think its a personal descision, but just weigh the pro's and con's of each. I spoke to my neighbor who had her yorkie neutered at my vet and she had only rave reviews:D I have my reservations about neutering, but I think it does have it benefits in my situation. I always assess my pets on individual basis (with the help of research and getting advise from others and my vet)

Only you can decide based on your research and your heart

Good luck with your decision:)

Did your puppy have presurgery blood work?

The only thing I'd suggest is be careful when you get the ol snip-a-roo done. Yes, it's true that he will not need, or miss his jelly beans once they're gone, but they do need the hormones for development. I know the popular age to have them neutered is 6 months, but I would wait and make sure his growth plates are closed before having the pup neutered. Another benefit to waiting until 8-12 months old to have them neutered is that you can have them neutered, extra teeth extracted, and microchipped all at the same time. You only risk putting them under once.

+++++1

Yes, yuu are so right about men not wanting to neuter their dogs. It's nauseating. Please read this very funny link from Cesar's Way on the subject - Spay and Neuter Myths | Dog Whisperer Cesar Millan

There's pros and cons. I think for the general public, neutering is the way to go. But just because you have an unaltered dog does not make someone an irresponsible pet owner either. A lot of people live and handle unaltered dogs perfectly fine, and I think too many vets try to push, well... not even really push, it's just become standard... for neuters/spays much too early. I'd wait until at least 8 months. I wouldn't ever own an unaltered male though personally....

http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

As Bob Barker used to say at the end of every one of his Price Is Right shows, "Help control the pet population. Have your pet spayed or neutered." And it's not just for that, but the other reasons others have listed. We had Jack neutered at around 5 1/2 months because he was starting to mark in the house, otherwise I would have waited until he was a tad bit older - he was very small at the time and I was worried but he also had some retained teeth pulled. He did great! The only thing, they didn't have a collar small enough for him, so they fashioned one out of a paper plate and tape! Poor little guy looked pretty silly. :rolleyes:

Oh, that is a great article.
OP, please read this article on spay/neuter. Great info.

yes, the puppy was checked over thoroughly and had blood work done. It was very sad and was the reason I didn't have the boys neutered (we got all three from the same breeder, girl first, then got the brothers after she passed).

But living a life based on fear is never a good thing. So after they passed away, I decided to not go for a breeder but rather rescue from a shelter, and ofcourse would then be forced to go through the neuter process again. Everything turned out well. Toby is 6 years old now, happy and healthy.

I think spay/neuter has a lot of benefits and its a great thing to do. But I do understand people who have fears or doubts and might not want to do it, I think thats normal as it is an "optional" operation. However, with my current situation with Ziggy, I will do it, and with my girl to come:):p.

There is always that one in a thousand chance of losing the patient when a pet or a human has surgery. It is not common to have a life threatening problem during surgery but anyone who goes under is taking a small chance.
I had a small Maltese puppy that was 6 months old when she went into heat. She nearly died due to a uterine infection she contracted during her cycle. It does not happen every time a dog goes into heat but there is a chance. So I guess life in general has it's dangers. As you said we cannot life in fear. To me it is far better to relieve the pet of dealing with hormonal issues throughout it's life time than to make it suffer with an issue so easily taken care of.

Snip! :)
 

Overall it's your choice to snip or not but even though Jaxson is only 3months old we've already(I've already) decided that we were going to get him neutered when he's old enough! My husband is pretty much set against it but I think it's a guy thing to him & he doesn't get that it's different! He feels he's protecting Jaxsons "man hood" but he'll come around in the coming months after I get the health benefits of it. :) Good luck on whatever you choose to do! :animal-pa

I personally don't like "balls" hanging in my face. I think it's gross. I always say snip, snip, snip!

:yelrotflm

This is also why I prefer a neutered dog! LOL...

Ball in your face???? Don't know the feeling... But I fix my dogs

Each owner needs to intelligently discuss with their vet the pros and cons, specific to their dog/breed to make the best health decision for their pet. Inteliigently means you have done your homework and research.

For example in Golden Retreivers one of the leading causes of death is cancer - actually a specific cancer, hemangiosarcoma. The risk of this cancer goes up significantly with early spay; ie less than one year old, and still the risk is elevated with spayed females.

I believe that Britster has linked an article, that actually references the studies, which support the writer's opinion/elucidation on spaying and neutering.

I will come from the basis not of POPULATION control, but from the basis of overall and long term health of the dog. My understanding of research thus far is, it pretty clearly points for "most" male dogs, there is no overweening health benefit to neuter. The situation for female dogs is unclear, and much more difficult for most breeds to show an overwhelming positive one way or the other.

There is of course an option, one is vasectomy, and the other is tubal ligation. One day perhaps if we the "owners" demand some options that allow the hormones to provide their protective benefits, and also have the "option" of preventing unplanned matings, we may actually have some easier choices.


Behavioural issues; the "norm" of belief is that neutering will for a male dog; eliminate marking, eliminate aggression. The research actually shows not predominately so, in either aspect.

Owners the fact of population control for your dog is quite simply; In Your Hands. It is your adamant responsiblity if you own an un-neutered pet, to not allow any chance of breeding.

As a breeder who does not want any of her pups bred, it would be easy for me to write here and say oh sure go ahead, clearly neutering is ALWAYS the best choice health wise. Unfortunately the research does not back me up. Paramount to me is the future health of my dogs.

LOL! I agree...Not that they were in my face but, I think a neutered dog looks better...who wants to see those things swinging around! :D I just had my little man done 3 weeks ago...,He had no problems at all...matter of fact I had to separate him from his sisters when I brought him home...he wanted to run and play. I agree with spay and neutering unless they are going to be used for breeding.

Yep, I totally agree with you. I think if an owner has done research and get a good vet, its a great thing to do for your pet. Especially for those of us who don't breed and yet the pet still has those hormones. It is a good thing to relieve them of these:thumbup:

Lol, I actually dont have a problem with it. In fact I have always had male dogs (apart for the female puppy who passed) so I think I prefer the balls than the mood swings! I have to deal with my own, and my ma's and my sisters! I'm surrounded by females:rolleyes::p

I agree with everyone

I don't know who is doing the current research on the behavior of unneutered dogs but it is my experience of a number of decades that unneutered dogs have issues. They tend to be territorial and restless. They do on many occasions mark. It is their natural instinct as a whole male dog to be territorial and to mark every where they go. Some, not all, can become aggressive and protective of their area. It can become an issue for a family that wants a calm friendly pet. If there is a female that has not been spayed anywhere within several miles the male will smell it and be effected by that odor. I don't think it takes a research scientist to realize what a whole male is going to want to do when it smells a female in season. Be a good neighbor and spay and neuter your pets.

I have seen way too many trends in scientific research change from decade to decade. What was good by one set of standards changes with the next group of people who get together to crunch their numbers. Use some common sense and do what is best for your family and your pets.

Lots of good information here. I think we have decided to get him fixed. We are going to talk to his vet at his next appointment in a couple of months. He is 6 months old. The factor that cinched it for us is our neighbor has a female pitbull that is not fixed, and runs loose. Even though we are very watchfull of our Dexter, this could cause a major issue. So if the vet says we are safe, I think we will move forward.

I've heard that male yorkie's really love to mark everywhere, and the surgery process for the male is a lot easier then the female dog, I always had females, but if I had a male most certainly would have him fixed. No doubt in my mind. I just had my female spayed, and wish I did it sooner. She had a dental cleaning too, and the vet told me her uterus was enlarged and had mucus in it, it was the start of a nasty infection that female dogs can get when not spayed, thankfully she is all done and will not get ill. I have a 3 yr old shs who will be spayed soon, always have the vet do prebloodwork before the surgery, this will give you peace of mind, it helped me feel better that her bloodwork was normal.

Oh, wow! That sounds like something that could be an awful situation with the pit bull. You have to wonder about people some times.:(