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.

***
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.

 

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.

 

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.

 

Neutered males are a bit easier to manage in the day-to-day for a pet owner, and they are definitely easier to groom.

Freestep can you clarify this statement?

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

 

No, the ones we've had were, as best I can remember, a Border collie, Golden Retriever, a Golden lab, a Pointer, a Min Pin and some Chihuahuas; there's been a few others but every time we've had an intact senior, and I'm guessing, 10-12yrs., they've had reproductive tract (or mammary) cancers.
That's not to say spayed/neutered seniors are more 'healthy' per se, but they don't have reproductive tract cancers and their issues were less "severe" if you will, well, less life-threatening. I mean...fixable issues (not malignancies).

The biggest issue with altered seniors is either cardiac, skeletal or dental, and I'm guessing dental issues can lead to the other issues.
My (spayed) Libs is going on 11yrs. this spring; I've kept her teeth very clean, and she has no skeletal issues or heart issues :shrug:

Let's just put it this way...any more, when we are asked to take seniors, it's not "do they have bad teeth", it's "are they altered".

 

No, the ones we've had were, as best I can remember, a Border collie, Golden Retriever, a Golden lab, a Pointer, a Min Pin and some Chihuahuas

Sorry, I know this is totally off topic...but I can't help myself, since this is a personal pet peeve. There is no such thing as a Golden Labrador Retriever. The breed comes in Black, Yellow or Chocolate. The Yellow color can be a pale yellow that is almost white, or it can be a much darker yellow that is golden (or even darker, almost red). But they are ALL Yellow Labrador Retrievers. Not Golden Labrador Retrievers.

Sorry! Carry on.
Sheilah

 

Depends on what you want to do with your dog...

Mines not neutered...I used to love going to dog parks...we go less and less now because I can't trust other males not to react to him (be it neutered or intact). Mostly other intact males, and just dogs with questionable temperaments seem to take issue with other males that are intact. So I don't trust the off-leash environment because if another male tries to dominate my dog or reacts to him, my dog will not take it lying down and then the big bad shepherd becomes the bad guy.

A small minority of dogs at my GSD club are neutered. We have plenty that don't like other males, gets annoying because their owners want the same rights as those of us with friendly males. They like to tell US to get away from their dogs even though THEIR dogs are the problem.

So although some people will tell you that you will have more problems with neutered males...I've seen that intact males are the bigger issue. I'm also not one to neuter my dog just because other dogs react to him...so he'll never be neutered. I've just adjusted my visits and instead of going to the dog park we go to a regular county park where there are much less dogs and due to me having off lead control I can be relaxed there.

 

hunter, I'm not here to debate s/n.
I'm giving my experiences, and my experience has been, I've not seen any bone cancers, or prostate cancers. I've been at the vet clinic when dogs had issues with prostate and were still intact, in some cases fighting for their lives and losing, and I've seen more than my share of reproductive tract cancers.

Many folks seem to feel there's nothing wrong with leaving animals intact into their golden years, and I really feel it's irresponsible (of me anyway) to just say "go for it" without adding my experiences.

 

I think it's fairly safe to assume that a lot of older dogs that end up in shelters are they just because they have health problems. It's like saying there's a lot of sick people in hospitals. Shelters populations are skewed towards dogs with issues (especially on the older side) so it's hardly representative as an average sample.

 

I could be way off, but that's what came to mind. However I'm talking about trimming these 8 inches of butt fluff, not a stock coated GSD (my GSDs never go to the groomer, just normal bathing and brushing).

 

Overall, more dogs are in shelters.
It doesn't negate the fact I've seen a lot of cancers only in older dogs with intact reproductive tracts.

 

Exactly, that's what I am saying, nobody sends a healthy (older) dog to a shelter.

 

This is the Schutzhund forum and the question was about loss of drive in neutered males. The constant sermonizing about testicular cancer and over crowded animal shelters is not relevant to the question. Quite frankly it is pretty annoying as well.

To the op. We have a Mal in our club that is neutered and is still over the top in drive. However, he is a Mal and not a GSD so it is hard to tell how much less drive he has verses if he was intact.

 

^Good Post!

I have only worked one neutured male. As Hunter said, he slipped into defense very easy and really could only work in defense.

I have the only females in my schH club and they are intact and all the females in my SDA club are intact so I can't help you there.

As for if it kills drive or not. I don't think there is a way to test that.

Oh and for what it's worth, every dog I have ever had including child hood dogs have died of cancer and they were all altered. So don't let the fear of cancer change your mind. Think long and hard and decide if an intact dog is something you can handle and be responsible for. Good luck!

I worked a spayed APBT and there was little to no change in her drives and attitude. I feel it actually made her more aggressive in general.

I currently am working another spayed APBT and it has had no affect on her at all.

Personally, I will never neuter a male unless medically necessary as I do feel that it changes them, at least in the males that I see on a regular basis.

Actually, my vet breeds hunting dogs and he does not recommend neutering a male that you plan on working or hunting with!

 

^Good Post!



I worked a spayed APBT and there was little to no change in her drives and attitude. I feel it actually made her more aggressive in general.

I currently am working another spayed APBT and it has had no affect on her at all.

Personally, I will never neuter a male unless medically necessary as I do feel that it changes them, at least in the males that I see on a regular basis.

Actually, my vet breeds hunting dogs and he does not recommend neutering a male that you plan on working or hunting with!

My Gf and I also have an APBT. A neutured male. He does'nt like to work though. We tried, all he likes to do is cuddle and play but mostly cuddle haha. He's a big baby. So all he does now is lay on the couch

 

I have only worked one neutured male. As Hunter said, he slipped into defense very easy and really could only work in defense.

I have the only females in my schH club and they are intact and all the females in my SDA club are intact so I can't help you there.

As for if it kills drive or not. I don't think there is a way to test that.

Oh and for what it's worth, every dog I have ever had including child hood dogs have died of cancer and they were all altered. So don't let the fear of cancer change your mind. Think long and hard and decide if an intact dog is something you can handle and be responsible for. Good luck!

 

Um, yes they do.
There's billions of reasons why dogs end up in shelters.
Right now more than ever.

 

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 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.

 

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.

 

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.