Intact vs. Neutered?

[msvette2u]

Originally Posted by pfitzpa1

Thought totally unrelated to OP's male question, there has been some well accepted research that shows that bitches get more agressive after spaying. The hormone imbalance due to the lack of calming estrogen makes them tend aggressive.

I've seen studies, and basically, they "might" get aggressive, they've noted it with regards to other dogs, not humans, and finally, there's a huge chance of bitch-bitch aggression anyway if left intact, so it's difficult to say if aggression would have been there anyway.

[Anubis_Star]

I not only work in the veterinary field, but I happen to work in an emergency practice that also has internal medicine, surgery, and oncology departments. Needless to see, almost every patient we see is geriatric and riddled with problems, usually cancer. And 95% of these patients are intact. So I am not concerned with my intact male being more prone.

Someone else was right. Testicular cancer is an easy fix. As far as anal sac adenocarcinoma - chi's are predisposed, intact or not. As are females, intact or spayed. And even that has a fairly decent outcome. Early detection and removal can give the dog another year+ prognosis.

Osteosarcoma and prostate cancers are both increased in NEUTERED males. Consider yourself lucky if you've never seen these cancers, because they are heartbreaking. Sudden onset, no great prognosis. Otherwise happy healthy dogs euthanized because of one tumor.

That rant being out of the way :P thank you for the advice everyone. The more I read, the more I think I'm leaning towards staying intact. I have no doubt that I can be responsible, both in monitoring health and keeping my dog away from others - in heat females, for example.

[Anubis_Star]

I'm sorry, I meant to say 95% of the patients we see are NEUTERED. NOT intact. Rarely do we see intact patients anymore, everyone neuters. Yet every geriatric patient we see is riddled with health problems. Probably because, eventually, that's what kills them all. Cancer or organ failure.

[Freestep]

Originally Posted by N Smith

Freestep can you clarify this statement?

Do you mean easier for a professional groomer to groom? Or easier for an owner to groom?

Originally Posted by Liesje

I'm guessing because their are no testicles, so easier for both? I have a long coated, THICK coated mixed dog that is neutered and thank heavens because when I do his sani-trim I am literally just poking my scissors into gobs of fur and cutting (once I get the majority of the hair off, then I clean it up and brush). There's no way I could trim him the same way if he were not neutered. I would have castrated him the first time!

Originally Posted by N Smith

All of my males have stock coats (Husky, GS and Chi/Pom mix), and I have never had a problem grooming them intact or not, so I just thought it was a wierd statement.

Then I thought, maybe for professional groomers? But then show dogs are always intact, and there doesn't seem to be any issues there. And for my personal dog, he did all his health testing with no sedation, so he would definitely accept a groomer handling. But maybe most intact dogs don't behave at the groomers??

Yes. The intact dogs that I see are generally more difficult to handle, as a professional groomer. No one around here has intact dogs that are also trained to a high level like a show dog or SchH dog would be--they are generally either backyard breeders, or people who "don't believe" in neutering for whatever reason--but the point is, if they don't *train* their dogs or get them used to grooming at home, they can be monsters on my table. I don't notice much of a change with females unless they are in heat--it's really a pain to groom a bitch in heat. Intact males are, as I mentioned, a little bit stronger, a little bit edgier, a little more likely to fight with me if they don't like something--whereas neutered males are a bit softer and more compliant.

And yes, there is also the matter of testicles getting in the way of certain things! And I hate clipping the testicles. It's difficult to do, the skin is easily irritated, and some dogs are sensitive to it. Usually I just leave the hair if I can get away with it, but if the dog is a total shave down because of mats or whatever, you can't leave a hairy scrotum on an otherwise smooth dog!

It may or may not be easier for the owner to groom their own dog at home, depending on the relationship between dog and owner. I'm just giving my perspective as a professional groomer.

[DorianGrayFFM]

Zeus is almost four years old now and will be remaining intact. No difference in behavior. He has tons of drive, generally gets along with all other dogs and displays none of the negative effects the neutering crowd likes to associate with intact males.