Intact vs. Neutered?
 

Has anyone noticed a difference between intact vs. neutered dogs? Or dogs neutered after 18 months? Decrease in drive, etc with loss of hormone? New pup won't be neutered until at LEAST 18 months, but flirting with the idea of skipping it altogether

Just to note, I have NO desire to breed.

Seldom if ever see neutered dogs in the sport. I have not had any problem leaving my male intact, he'll be four soon(and I have no desire to breed either!)

No breeding here either & my soon to be 3 year old male is intact. This is my first dog so I have nothing to compare him against other than neutered males in classes we have attended.

The only thing that really stands out to me is alot of neutered males seem to not care for my boy. My trainer said she has seen that often with neutered males against intact ones. Not sure if there's any weight in the statment.

I think the decision to neuter is a personal choice...alot of things to consider.

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Edit:

Sorry, I didn't realize your question was in the Schutzhund section. I read posts by "new posts":)

Neutered males I work tend to be able take less pressure, longer to build confidence in an exercise, lower desirable aggression, higher likelihood they will slip into defense and avoidance. Neutered females don't seen to follow any pattern to me.

I have a female who was spayed a few months ago - no change in behaviour on or off the field.

She is still a strong female and possesses all the characteristics (good and bad... lol) that she had before being spayed. ;)

I have only worked one male and he is intact.

I noticed when I spayed Treue she lost her "edge" in protection. She was 4.5. Spaying Vala didn't change anything, but she was 7 when she was spayed. I didn't notice any change in Nike, but she was retired at that point. So, my experience with females has been mixed.

Personally I would only neuter a male if there became a medical reason to do so. I would leave a female intact at least through her early years of training and titling, but would eventually spay because I do worry about Pyometria.

I have never noticed a change in my females after spaying, except that I had one that used to fight with my older female when she was in heat--that stopped after spaying her.

I haven't ever worked a male in SchH, but in general I find that intact males have a bit more intensity than neutered males. Neutering doesn't seem to affect prey drive, but intact males seem to have an edge in their defense & fight drive. Neutered males are a bit easier to manage in the day-to-day for a pet owner, and they are definitely easier to groom. :)

Let me clarify that I was refering to males neutered before maturity. Males neutered after they have become adults, I'm told, change little. The foster that was neutered seem to become a bit more soft post neuter.

Freestep can you clarify this statement?

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

:thumbup:
Although I don't work my dog in Schutzhund, I'd like to add that as males get older there's many health issues they may come across while intact; we've seen many here in rescue.

Male intact seniors are prone to testicular cancers, perianal adenomas and prolapses, and they'll have enlarged anus as well.
It's difficult to cut out a perianal adenoma without losing muscle tone in that area, and of the intact senior dogs we've rescued, almost every single one (male or female) has had to be euthanized due to the high likelihood of some of these issues being malignancies. Even if we could have done surgery to prolong their life a little while, adopters aren't exactly looking for cancer ridden dogs.