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Calling all neutered male GSD owners

43K views 38 replies 25 participants last post by  SueDoNimm 
#1 ·
When did you guys neuter your boys?? Berlins time is coming up fast, he will be 7 months at the end of this month (I swear he was just 9 weeks old yesterday....:eek:) I know there is ALOT of personal preference and debate about when to neuter...but just curious as to when others did it. I want him to look masculine, so I am trying to put it off for a bit, but I dont want any of the behaviors (spraying, humping etc) to start. He dominance humps my other dog or little brother (LOL :rofl:) occasionally, but I have pretty much nipped that in the bud. When are males sexually mature? I do not want him going crazy over females (we have ALOT of dogs in our neighborhood) so ideally, I'd want to neuter him by then. Thanks in advance :)
 
#2 ·
If/when I get a male neutered I try to have it done no earlier than 18 months ... I have no maximum age except if there's a retained testicle then my maximum is 24 months.
 
#4 ·
The breeder told me told wait until then, I just am not sure I could depending on how he is! But time will tell :)

Delgado was neutered at 10 months, my contract with his breeder required by one year old. It wasn't hard keeping him but his drives did peak several times, if you're committed to a LOT of exercise and training it shouldn't be a big issue. They do need a outlet.

Otherwise anytime after 6 months is ok

For maturity most people say two years old for males. As for the "male macho" look - that's more genetics then hormones
Well I mean, the vet said the earlier you do it, it cuts off the testosterone so some of the males end up looking a bit 'girly', if that makes sense. I want him to not be girly! Unless thats a crock of **** with the testosterone, I guess I could neuter him whenever. Berlins drives are peaking right now, he has SOOO much energy. I do take him outside everyday and play fetch, and work with him training wise everyday. I have no plans to do it until probably February, when he'll be about 8 months, but if I am having no issues, I dont mind waiting longer.


What is the advantages to waiting over a year??
 
#3 ·
Delgado was neutered at 10 months, my contract with his breeder required by one year old. It wasn't hard keeping him but his drives did peak several times, if you're committed to a LOT of exercise and training it shouldn't be a big issue. They do need a outlet.

Otherwise anytime after 6 months is ok

For maturity most people say two years old for males. As for the "male macho" look - that's more genetics then hormones
 
#5 ·
We did Ruger at something over 1yr. of age, and he doesn't look girly at all.
I think appearance is as much genetic as hormones, since I've seen many intact boys who look feminine.
Longhaired are going to look feminine anyway, so I don't think it matters a lot?
 
#7 ·
My now 5 1/2 yr old male GSD I adopted when he was a recently turned 2 yr old and neutered him a few months later.

My now 2 1/2 year old Belgian Malinois I have had since he was 10 wks old and planned to wait until at least 18 months to neuter. However, shortly after he turned a yr old, he began having attitude/attempted dominance issues with other male dogs, including my male GSD mentioned above. Mounting him and the like. I ended up having him neutered at 15 months and the mounting and general attitude that had started to crop up with other male dogs went away quickly. Not all dogs will develop issues, and not all the issues are related to hormones vs training. In this case, it was not a training issue, and the neuter cropped the hormone issue before it developed into an established behavior.

Generally, I'd prefer to wait until 18 months, but I've been in the rescue world so long that I'm used to seeing them speutered young (8 - 10 wks) for adoption purposes, so I don't really have an issue either way.
 
#8 ·
I have never neutered a male German Shepherd before 2 years and never had a problem with marking or humping. I am on my 3rd male and he is 14 months now. We have a small rescue dog that was neutered at 6 months and he likes to hump the other dogs and mark his territory. He even attempted to pee on a man's leg about a month ago.

Oh, and I don't agree that male long-haired GSDs look girlie :)
 
#10 ·
I have never neutered a male German Shepherd before 2 years and never had a problem with marking or humping.
In the past I allowed humping other dogs because I considered it normal behavior among dogs. My teacher dog showed me that he never allowed it in his presence by the other dogs in our group so I took that lesson from him seriously.
WD only tried it once in the dog park and I immediately removed him for a time out and he hasn't attempted it since.
WD is 11 months old and doing OK; fingers crossed so I can leave him intact.
Working the young males hard throughout their adolescence saves a lot of trouble.
 
#11 ·
The title of this thread could be interpreted two ways lol.

Anyway, we waited until our male was one year old. I think he still has a masculine face/features. We never really had many problems with marking or humping, so I can't say whether the surgery did anything to reduce these behaviors.
 
#12 ·
I had Frank neutered at 8 mos. No problems with humping or marking.
He started having some aggression issues with other intact males when he would see them. Some would say it's a training issue, to me it's a training issue that is driven by the hormones, stop the hormones and the training is easier.
He will be 3 in April and is starting to fill out real nicely, nobody ever mistakes him for a female so I guess he looks male. His breeder said his father wasn't completely filled out till the age of 4, so he seems to be right on track even though he was neutered at 8 mos.
 
#14 ·
I neutered Bear at 6 months. My breeder suggested 18months, but I knew that he was going to do occasional doggie day care and boarding and they will not allow intact males beyond 6 months where I live to participate in day care if they are not neutured. The local Humane Society where we took classes also does not allow
unaltered dogs to take classes after the age of 6 months either.

I personally, if the situation was different would have waited, but I am not unhappy that I did it sooner and IMO Bear looks very masculine if you ask me. :)
 
#15 ·
Stosh was neutered at 21 mos. My vet advised me to do it just before 24 mos or not at all. He didn't display any bad boy behaviors so I was tempted not to neuter at all, but since we go to herding trials I thought it was better to be safe than sorry. He still doesn't lift his leg to pee and he's 3 yrs old
 
#16 ·
I had planned to have Keefer neutered sometime after a year old, but no more than 2 years old, with no particular set point within that range. I ended up having it done at 15 months old. I never noticed a change in HIM as he matured, but I was starting to notice that other dogs were reacting to him differently, and I didn't want that to have a negative effect on his behavior.

We would go to the off leash park every weekend to throw balls for the dogs and let them swim, and he'd always been very social around other dogs. One day he was snarked at by other dogs 4 times, and I know that none of was because of anything he did. One of the times he was charged when he was in the middle of pooping, and another time I know he didn't even see the other dog before it was suddenly in his face. Whether or not it had anything to do with his hormones I can't say for sure, but I was concerned that if if continued he might develop a "get 'em before they get me" mentality, and since he was close enough to a year and a half old I went ahead and made the appointment.
 
#19 ·
#22 ·
NO:eek:...how the heck could that happen for providing links about the pro's and cons so the OP can weigh on a decision as opposed to only opinions (and I don't mean the members)....

was it locked b/c an arguement broke out...i've seen that happen
 
#23 ·
well considering it's a public forum and it says calling all neutered owners...I have a male and he is neutered (at 15 months, would have waited longer, but some vet told me it would reduce his reactivity - nonsense)...I think if she is going to make a decision about altering her dog, the more info she has the better to make the decision....the rest is up to her.

Why can't you stand others presenting a side? Policing others threads is not your responsibility.

Why not just stick to what you have to say and not what I have to say. K?
Cheers:)
 
#24 ·
I adopted my guy at 8.5 months and had him neutered 10 days later... I visited with him for 2 weeks before bringing him home, and during the visits he was too focused on sniffing/licking my neutered lab/shep mix. When I brought him home he immediately started humping my roommates bulldog...

If it weren't for those behaviors I would have liked to have waited until at least a full year, which is my normal "protocol". Two sides to everything-vets will tell you to do it young(this makes their lives easier; less bleeding, quicker heal time..). Breeders say to wait and let them grow/develop.


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#25 ·
My husband and I had a male that we neutered at 3 years old. As far as neutering making training easier, I don't think that's always the case. Yes it can,but we didn't have any problem with him listening even when he wasn't neutered. I think that just depends on the dog.
 
#27 ·
My Sting, who has never been mistaken for a female, was neutered at 5 months at his vet's recommendation. If I were you, I would talk to your vet about your concerns and go by his/her recommendation.
 
#31 ·
My Hex was neutered at 7 month, I waited that long because he had a retained testicle and it actually did drop - usually I would have had him done earlier but didn't want to go through 2 big surgeries within 2 month (he had elbow surgery at 4 month). When his testicle did show up we decided to neuter him because he had to go under anaesthetic for follow up X-rays anyway :D
He was very very sore after the neuter, way more so than my Kelpie cross who was done really early, the vet put it down to his testicle being reasonably large at 7 month so there was more bleeding and bruising.
 
#32 ·
I had Gunner neutered at 13 months. There isn't a darn thing girly about him and he grew (and grew) just fine. :D
Oh and as for the humping? Yeah, the neuter didn't stop that. ;)
He still humps one of my kitties.
 
#33 ·
Jerry was neutered at age 2.5. If he had been my dog from a puppy, he probably would have been neutered at a younger age since I'd never heard anything about advantages to later neutering until I joined this board.

No one has ever mistaken Jerry for a female. He has a very masculine look. He's also big - 30 inches tall and currently 89 pounds. I've never seen him attempt to hump anything, but his foster said he would try to hump her dog but this was before he was neutered. He does want to mark everything.

The only issue I've ever had with him is that he does not like intact males. I have no idea if this is from neutering/late neutering, but it is something I have to be mindful of. He gets along with all dogs and just wants to play with them, but he can see an intact male from 100 feet away and immediately get hostile.
 
#35 ·
I had boy littermates. Big one 2nd in from left (Buddy) was neutered young the smaller male 2nd from the right we waited on. Personally I think Buddy has always had the more classic "male" look to him.
Thanks for the visual! All beautiful dogs :) Buddy def does look like a classic male to me, glad that I dispelled that myth about neutering earlier.

The only issue I've ever had with him is that he does not like intact males. I have no idea if this is from neutering/late neutering, but it is something I have to be mindful of. He gets along with all dogs and just wants to play with them, but he can see an intact male from 100 feet away and immediately get hostile.
Maybe he is jealous? Haha, i've read that if you own more than one male, and one is neutered and one is not, the neutered one can get jealous of the other..

I had Gunner neutered at 13 months. There isn't a darn thing girly about him and he grew (and grew) just fine. :D
Oh and as for the humping? Yeah, the neuter didn't stop that. ;)
He still humps one of my kitties.
haha! I can't even picture a big ol GSD humping a little kitty! :wild:
 
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