OK This is an unusual question. My sister has just adopted an 8 week old male lab mix pup from the county shelter, and per California law, he will unfortunately be neutered on Thurs before she can take him home.

Are there any supplements that can help increase his sex hormones so that he's less likely to have the health risks associated with early neutering?

Do you by any chance subscribe to Whole Dog Journal? I ask because I have read a detailed article there about how to be proactive against canine cancer, and I'd be happy to dig it out if you have the back-issues or want to buy the issue online.

It was five or six years ago, I'm thinking, but I can probably find it pretty quickly.

BTW, some WDJ recommendations are pretty much repeated in many places: protect the dog from second-hand smoke, lawn pesticides and herbicides, skin cancer, and over-vaccination; make sure the dog has regular exercise, which directly enhances lymph activity and the immune system; avoid a carb-heavy diet; avoid giving fluoride-treated water; include antioxidant-rich foods in the diet; include unsweetened coconut and extra-virgin coconut oil in the diet, etc.

The WDJ article has even more, as I recall.

Hi Connie - I don't subscribe but if you know which issue, I'll order it asap. Thanks!

My dog Dante and my sister's dog Ruben are 6 year old brothers who were also neutered at a really young age so this is a topic that really concerns me as they get older (in addition to her new pup).

Luckily, my female Bella wasn't spayed until 7-8 months.

OK, give me an hour or so. I have some work to finish up first.

 Quote: Connie Sutherland

BTW, some recommendations are pretty much repeated in many places: protect the dog from second-hand smoke, lawn pesticides and herbicides, skin cancer, and over-vaccination; make sure the dog has regular exercise, which directly enhances lymph activity and the immune system; avoid a carb-heavy diet; avoid giving fluoride-treated water; include antioxidant-rich foods in the diet; include unsweetened coconut and extra-virgin coconut oil in the diet, etc.

The WDJ article has even more, as I recall.

Sounds like a lot of good info. We're good about the vaccinations and raw food and salmon oil, but I didn't know about not giving fluoride-treated water and hadn't heard about the coconut.

Here it is ... March 2006.

http://www.whole-dog-journal.com/issues/9_3/

It's the bottom-listed article.



I would also read up on the very worst commercial dog foods. Here's one list from 2011 that I agree with each entry. (Note how often Purina is mentioned. Purina tops most crap-in-a-bag lists.)

Purina Beneful Healthy Harvest
Eukanuba Nautrally Wild Turkey & Multigrain
Iams Healthy Chicken Naturals
Nature’s Best Science Diet Chicken & Brown Rice
Rachel Ray Nutrish Beef & Brown Rice
Chef Michaels Purina Chicken
Purina ONE Smart Blend Chicken & Rice
Whole Foods 365 Performance

JMO!

from
http://www.fourpawsacupuncture.com/blog/2011/06/08/top-10-best-and-worst-dog-foods-by-whole-dog-journal/



My dogs get a little raw coconut oil every day. I also buy Zeal http://leerburg.com/zeal.htm ... it's expensive (it has expensive ingredients), and I don't feed it as the diet's base (I feed raw), but I do use it as a "side dish" or I make it up thinner than usual and use it as a gravy. There is so much good stuff in this food that I want to use it. Please note: It's an adult food, not a puppy food.

I didn't know that was California law. I assume it doesn't apply to breeders?

I think the sex hormones are a really complicated endocrine system and would hesitate to recommend testosterone or something additive like that. It is playing with fire- in my opinion. We haven't even perfected it in humans, much less dogs.

I actually got a pup from a breeder rather than a shelter because I didn't want a pediatric neutered pup due to of all the physical activity I do with my dogs. Unusual for me because I've always been 100% behind adopting mutts from the pound- my "heart dog" was a mutt from the pound. I was less concerned with cancer than with CCL and hip issues. I think the science is fairly clear that pediatric neutering results in increased orthopedic issues. Even vets who push me to neuter my current dogs agree on that.

And, sadly, my last dog showed all the signs (now that I know) of issues with early neutering, including being extra tall, and related orthopedic issues, and had some auto-immune problems as well. But a terrific dog in every way temperament and personality-wise.

I agree with Connie, keep the pup lean, healthy, and on a good diet. He'll probably be just fine and congratulations to your sister on the new pup!

Thanks Connie - great article. Like you, I mostly feed Honest Kitchen with raw as does my sister. I've never tried the Zeal but I like Thrive a lot. It sounds like I need to switch from using fluoridated tap water though.

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Hi Kiersten - yeah I think it's specifically a CA shelter law, though I know that the really small county shelter where I got Bella (not locally) said that they were exempt (though they had spayed her anyway, not long before I adopted her). My male, Dante, is extra-tall like you described, from being neutered really young. So far, he hasn't had any other issues though, knock on wood. His brother (my sister's dog) is smaller and more border collie-ish so didn't get the long legs as much, but he did have a severe auto-immune disorder for a while but has thankfully recovered.

I'll pass on your congrats - thanks! I haven't met him yet but he looks like a great pup in his picture.

I like Thrive too.

I use Zeal as an easy way to add things I want to add, and used as a "side dish," it's not nearly as spendy as it would be as the main food.

Also, one of my dogs hates fish (except canned fish ... go figure), and I'm not a big fan of giving them what they hate. There are so few foods any of these pig-dogs hate!

He likes Zeal just fine, though. (In fact, they all salivate when they smell THK rehydrating.)

I also give blueberries (and other appropriate antioxidant-rich foods). Blueberries are a powerhouse of anthocyanins and other antioxidants, like many dark purple foods, and they are low in sugar and low on the glycemic index. Also, the anthocyanin content is almost unaffected by freezing, so inexpensive bags of organic/wild blueberries (Trader Joe's is a great source) are a simple and cheap way to add these little dynamos of phenol, anthocyanin, and quercetin (and other) antioxidants. (Other dark-colored berries are also rich in antioxidants as well as dog-appropriate.)