My decision was neuter

[Movin64]

Well it was a long and thought process , with many google , and many posts on here , and many reading books, at 10 months 8 days we have decided to neuter Max . It was really hard to take him down today , and hand him over to a person with the knife, was not planning on neutering him at all, talked with my vet and explained to them that i read that waiting until he was fully grown, that it would effect his growth having him fixed at 10 months old, we popped him up on the scale to find out at 10 months he was 94 lbs , with a big head, and very large neck,and chest. the vet said he is pretty much full grown , and will still grow with the feet he has, and his height being at the height of my 22 month female, he will still grow bigger be neutered , It was the hardest thing I can say i ever did besides taking my female in to get spayed . People say why would you buy 2 peer breed GSD , and have them fixed? Well that was my question also to my wife, but having my female fixed and then getting a male, it was not about breeding , it was about having a good dog , and a companion for us and for our female . I just hope we both made the right choice

[FlyAway]

Don't worry about it. I threaten to neuter my intact male every day when he pees on the refrigerator door. LOL! He hasn't in a long time, but I put a piece of foam core board in front of it.

[Shade]

Delgado was neutered at 10 months, to me he had already had a good dose of testosterone and there was no need to wait further. It was only two months earlier then my original plan.

The whole "neutered males always look like girls" is a bit ridiculous to me, genetics play a much bigger role in deciding what a dog looks like in the end.

[shepherdmom]

Took my 6-7 month old Wiggles in today to have her spayed. No hard decision for me. I don't want puppies! Would have done it sooner but vet wanted to wait for her first vaccines to take effect.

[Courtney]

You made the choice that was best for you & Max. Sounds like alot of thought went into your decision.

I wish for a speedy & safe recovery for your boy...your girl as well shepherdmom

[TrentL]

My breeder said that fixing the male doesn't affect the growth of the dog... Draven is currently about 7months I don't have a great picture of his head, but I wanted to wait, my breeder is saying "Should get him fixed soon don't want him getting more dominant than he is"

I want him to get a good size and a good head and look "male" but now I'm split, I don't want him getting more dominant or agressive (Not that he is at the moment but its my first dog... I don't want to have to get into dominance games if it comes to it)

I'm wondering what types of papers did the OP read up on? What books / sites....

I want him to do some protection work (not really bite work but more guarding the house, barking for intruders, notifying us etc, at the moment he thinks every person in the world is the SUPER BESTEST THING ON THE PLANET")

[Movin64]

Just did alot of google , And have read books on Neutering it wont change their size its all in genetics from what my vet said also , also in protection , My Males father and grandfather are level 4 protection k9s both are 140 lbs So my male will be that size even neutered. and again its all in their blood and how they are trained and raised them. I was real anti neuter person but I decided what was best for dog and not for myself on what I wanted . they will be just as loyal to you neutered as they would not neutered. I waited until he was 10 months to grow alittle mature . But have read and talked to sevaral vets and waiting until 18-24 months then you have all those bad habits that they have picked up to that time . but again make the choice that is best for your dog and pack not whats best for you

[wolfy dog]

Originally Posted by Movin64

the vet said he is pretty much full grown , and will still grow with the feet he has, and his height being at the height of my 22 month female, he will still grow bigger be neutered

This sentence does not make sense to me. Full grown means "stopped growing" IMO.

[jocoyn]

.... the bad habits can be alleviated by training. Not going against your decision but saying it is not a given if you choose not to.

It is a fact that EARLY neutering (like before 6 months) causes a delay in the closure of the growth plates and can result in a taller lankier dog, but at close to a year your pup is mostly grown (I think the plates close around 16-18 months-but I saw nothing in height gains after a year)

But these decisions are difficult and we are each doing what we think is best for our own dogs. There are, of course pros and cons and the answer is not black and white. Pretty much like that with everything.

[Movin64]

[QUOTE=[I]To know if you are doing things right, you should be willing to trade places with your dog]


This sentence makes no sence to me also
[/I]