Calling all neutered male GSD owners
 

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....:o) 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 :)

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.

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

The breeder told me told wait until then, I just am not sure I could depending on how he is! But time will tell :)

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??

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?

Joey was recently neutered (he's 7 years old). He had an enlarged prostate that the doctor was concerned about.

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.

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 :)

My mutt male looked way more macho-er as an intact 10 month old than in his later years as a neutered male. He lost the macho look unfortunately after neutering.

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.