I have read so many discussions about if it's right or not to neuter a dog.
I spoke with many people and friends.
Obviously the first reaction is: NO!
It's against the nature, poor dog,we cannot choose for them and so on.
Then I start thinking how many abandoned animals live out there.
How many are put to sleep, just because nobody want them.
We didn't neuter our first dog.
I don't know exactly why, we were new to dogs and maybe we didn't have any strong advice to neuter him.
I know that around 2 years old he became aggressive with male dogs.
Maybe he would have also if neutered, but usually it helps to avoid aggressiveness.
Unfortunately we had to neuter him when he was already older for a testicular cancer.
He recovered and had no problems, but obviously it's always better to have surgeries when the dog is younger.
He was also started to have some prostate issue.
I neutered Jago when he was 6 months old.
First of all because I don't intend to use him for breeding.
He would not have had any sexual active life.
And he would have suffered.
My previous entire dog was suffering so much when there was a dog in heat.
He was crying for days even if the dog was living quite far from us.
Medical benefits of neutering are
- Testicular cancer.
- Prostate problems.
Neutering doesn't change the dog behavior.
He will be playful, energetic and happy, but less likely to develop some behavior like for example aggression toward other males, urine marking, roaming.
And the most important part is to avoid the birth of unwanted dogs.
Jago mother was very young when she had him.
His owner thought to wait a bit before spaying her.
They went on holidays, she had her first heat and came back pregnant.
She had 8 puppies.
The family couldn't cope with all those puppies!
They could re-home some of them, but not all! They were about giving the 4 males to the pound.
Usually neutering male dogs is a very easy surgery.
I brought Jago to the vet in the morning, he had all the blood tests and I collected him in the evening.
I was really stressed and scared.
I was expecting Jago tired and sad after the anesthetic but he was ready to play!
And hyperactive 6 months old Setter X.
The vet told me I didn't need the cone.
He was prescribed some pain killer and nothing else.
The morning after the surgery he wasn't able to walk and suffering a lot.
Unfortunately he started licking the wound.
I brought him to the vet and they gave us a plastic cone that he destroyed in 10 minutes.
They told me to put it on only sometimes, that usually dogs don't need it etc etc.
They told me to keep Jago quiet, but not in the crate.
Yeah, easy.
Jago was running and jumping even suffering and still trying to lick the wound.
I bought a soft cone, much much better than the plastic one.
James Marketing Comfy Cone Large 25-33cm
After one week, when usually everything is fine, Jago was prescribed antibiotics, pain killer and the cone 24 hour.
It took 2 weeks to recover.
It has been really hard, he was suffering but still wanted to play, to jump, to run off lead.
We had been allowed quiet walks on lead after one week.
It's funny how he started playing with the tennis ball using the cone to throw it!
They can drink and eat with the soft cone and it's not that bad to sleep with it :)
Anyway, so happy to run again free when he recovered!
It was a sunny day and we went celebrating to a nice park!
I am pro neutering, just be careful, if the dog is young, hyper active and licking the wound, please, use the cone!!
It will be a lot easier and faster the recovery!
