Would love to hear your opinions.

[Bentleysmommie]

Originally Posted by Britster

Meh, I think it's neither here nor there. You're going to find just as many health related problems due TO neutering as you will if you don't. Keeping an intact dog is not a cancer sentence. I think if one can responsibly own an unaltered male, there's no problem with keeping them intact. But yes you will have to be extra cautious and you may have marking. I personally will always neuter my future males (not before 7/8 months though, to let those growth plates close) because I'm lazy and don't want the added responsibility.

Love the post! And yes Im lazy too I can't imagine him marking everywhere. My mom Has an unaltered male and he marks his territory but outside only. He's only 5 months so I have some time to think.

[KazzyK810]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Our dog park has a sign that says no unaltered dogs.

So does our local dog park.

I've never had a male dog myself, but do unaltered males tend to escape/run more? I know they can smell a female in heat from far away. The number of FB shares I see of males dogs that escape their yard and are missing seems very high.

[Lovetodream88]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

So does our local dog park.

I've never had a male dog myself, but do unaltered males tend to escape/run more? I know they can smell a female in heat from far away. The number of FB shares I see of males dogs that escape their yard and are missing seems very high.

You know the more I think about it I see more lost males then female adds and posts but don't know if they are fixed or not.

[Maximo]

Originally Posted by Britster

Meh, I think it's neither here nor there. You're going to find just as many health related problems due TO neutering as you will if you don't. Keeping an intact dog is not a cancer sentence. I think if one can responsibly own an unaltered male, there's no problem with keeping them intact. But yes you will have to be extra cautious and you may have marking. I personally will always neuter my future males (not before 7/8 months though, to let those growth plates close) because I'm lazy and don't want the added responsibility.

I think for intact females the cancer risk is so high that it is essentially a cancer sentence. Males, not as high a risk. *please correct me if I am wrong*

Marking is a strong possibility.

There are pros and cons on this issue. I choose to neuter my pets.

[MomtoJasper]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Intact males can smell a female in heat miles away and they will lose there mind and do things that can really hurt themselves to get to the female in heat. Also with all the thefts of yorkies being intact would make him "worth" more money and he could get sold to a puppy mill. He also could get testicular cancer. Could mark and could have aggression with other males.

My opinion also. I plan on having Jasper neutered at 6 months.

[boomerstv]

I vote for neutering. The dog is living a life of frustration but doesn't know it. Neutering him will make his life much more enjoyable. If he were running free in the wild, it would be a different story. But, he's not.

Must my opinion. Thanks for the post.

[juliegibeault]

Mine marked everything- all over the house at 7 months before he was neutered. I was very strict and didn't let him get away with it but no amount of training would get him to stop. After neutering him at 7.5-8 months he mostly stopped marking

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Maximo

I think for intact females the cancer risk is so high that it is essentially a cancer sentence. Males, not as high a risk. *please correct me if I am wrong*

Marking is a strong possibility.

There are pros and cons on this issue. I choose to neuter my pets.

Kristin I believe this to be in-accurate, there are some other threads on here, where I posted the research such as I have come across.

And more research hopefully will be out in the next 2 or so years. There is a 10,000 Golden Retreiver study going on now. And has been earlier studies with a smaller group of dogs.

Even for females for example mammary cancer in un altered females that have not given birth is quite a bit higher then in altered - but still is not at 100% in fact far off that. And btw this cancer is easily detectable,and treatable.

My largest concern for females is pyrometra- an immediate emergency situation - death can occur in 24hours if left un-treated. And even with this risk the stats are no-where near 100% for intact females.

I will always spay females once they are retired, but I am looking at tubal ligation as an alternative to a full spay.

[gemy]

Originally Posted by Bentleysmommie

Hello my yorkie talk friends!! Okay so my husband and I are at a cross roads, basically I think we should neuter Bentley and he thinks there's no need to. My other chihuahuas are spayed and he doesn't come into contact with any other unspayed females. He's only indoors and walked strictly on leash. I would love to keep it as natural as possible, I don't like to so unnecessary surgeries. My main worry is him marking his territory. I don't want to wait too long to neuter him and have him already build bad habits. But I would love to let him be all natural. Would love to hear some opinions. Do you guys believe he will mark his territory if he's unaltered??

I vote for having an informed discussion with your vet. On your part you do the research on health benefits vs risks for male Yorkies, and then you book an appointment to chat with your vet about your particular Yorkie. Here I would look to see the overall health status of your Yorkie, at six months old a BATS should be done to see specific liver health status. BTW I have threads on here where I have posted the research I have come across.

You could explore the option of a vasectomy, thus keeping those important hormones intact.

I also recommend you do not neuter prior to growth plate closure. And there is no need to guess, you request a lateral view of the tibia be done let us say after 8mths old to see if this growth plate, which is the last to close has indeed closed.

[GeneaD]

I plan on having Louie neutered as soon as he's old enough. Although every dog and situation is different, I just don't want to take any chances with my little guy. I spay and neuter all my pets. In my opinion, it's just better for them
Genea

[Princes mom]

Originally Posted by Lovetodream88

Our dog park has a sign that says no unaltered dogs.

Most of the dog camps here have the same policy.

[Princes mom]

Originally Posted by KazzyK810

So does our local dog park.

I've never had a male dog myself, but do unaltered males tend to escape/run more? I know they can smell a female in heat from far away. The number of FB shares I see of males dogs that escape their yard and are missing seems very high.

Yes, they do.

[TxVicki]

Originally Posted by Bentleysmommie

A helpful reply would be explaining the risk of testicular cancer. That would be your opinion. You were a bit rude

[bjh]

Here is an article on the pros and cons of spaying and neutering. I know it is a touch decision. I hope this helps.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

[pstinard]

Originally Posted by bjh

Here is an article on the pros and cons of spaying and neutering. I know it is a touch decision. I hope this helps.

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongT...uterInDogs.pdf

This is a good article, but as it states at the beginning, it does not consider the behavioral or population control aspects of neutering. For me, the health aspects are even in pro and con, so what tips the balance for me is population control. Unless you are keeping the Yorkie for breeding purposes, I think it's a social responsibility to have it neutered, but only after it has reached adulthood and matured physiologically--maybe at 1 year of age. Note that I'm talking about male Yorkies here.