hi guys,
i don't know if i should neuter my dog or not. He is now 13 months old. any advice is appreciated.

No, absolutely not. Most of the rumors they mention in the public is just to keep the average dog owner from causing a rift in the dog population. Even if it did prolong life, it wouldn't matter simply because there's no point in doing it if it hurts the performance of your dog, which was the reason you selected the breed in the first place, I figure.

It will hurt the dog's drive! In the sport and protection dog field this is a ~must~ NOT to neuter. I wouldn't recommend it ever, but if you just "had" to then do it after it's at least two years of age. This way it will be fully developed mentally and physically. Hope that helped you out but I would advise against it.

I still don't understand this entirely.

It's quite a leap from...

No, absolutely not. to...

if you had to, then do it after it's at least two years of age. This way it will be fully developed mentally and physically. What exactly do these hormones do in terms of desirable behavior? And if that desirable behavior is achieved, and no appreciable change will result in a neutering at 2 years, what's the big deal? If this were a rhetorical question, it would cannibalize itself, for the consquential behavior wouldn't change...so why neuter (if not for a change in behavior)?

But it's not rhetorical...I am actually this ignorant. Is it just a matter of principle? That I can understand. If it ain't broke....

I'm with the if it ain't broke.... the only reasons to neuter a dog are.

1: A medical reason for which later more serious medical reasons will occur.
2: If your a dumb dog owner that can't keep your dog in the yard. (Spontainous breeding)

I feel that any other reason is just like a Hallmark Holiday... do it becasue it's recomemded by the SPCA to lower licencing fee's, and "Vet recomemded".
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One more to add to that Lonny. If you have a dog that's overly aggressive, it probably isn't a bad idea to have him neutered while he is young. Neutering a young dog can sometimes decrease some of the aggression problems.

Depends on your goals.
A male willnot develope secondary sex characteristics(larger head,overall masculine look) if he's neutered young.This is important to some people. My JRT was neutered after being bread once. He's still a cock of the walk,onery,trouble making,piss on everything in site,but lovable little s#!+. My Border has been bread numerous times, and is still the sweetest dog on the planet with people and other dogs. I will never neuter him because, under anethesia, when he was having a broken k9 tooth removed, he went into siezures. Both of these guys have drives to die for and I don't think drives are effected one way or the other by neutering.

Ok, I think if you don't have a protection breed it's fine if that's what you want. It'll probably makes things easier. I mean they’re finding out things every day and since I'm not a physician or a specialist I hate to say what's what as fact. BUT I've heard this from several protection dog experts on the board.

The reason I say don't do it is because I did this from the advice I got from my breeder. I was young, I didn't know any better, this lady wasn't near as knowledgeable as she thought. It was a mistake. It takes down their aggression. Plain and simple. The reason I say at least two years is because the dog is then fully developed, I'd wait a minimum of two years. Even my Vet told me he was glad my dog was neutered because it would be much more aggressive if it wasn't. I'm not saying I want psycho dogs, but I’m just saying what makes it great is that extra drive in the protection dog field.

It's kind of like this if you performed a procedure on a man when he was a child it would affect him, his drive, all the things men have in them that make them what they are. Now I will say that can be a good thing, lol. BUT what makes a protection or working dog good is the testosterone, without it I think it would dramatically hurt his performance. Now if you did this procedure on a man fully mature, it would have little effect. Chemically he has everything fully there, it might take down some things but not enough. It's much more dramatic of a result I would think if it was done to someone before the puberty stages. I say this because it's what I think would happen to dogs as well.

To answer Lonny, the reason I mentioned it is if your going to do it I would not do it at 13 months. Wait until the dog is fully mature. This way it won't hurt his drive. This is just my opinion, and I could be wrong. But like I said I've heard this before and I wanted to tell this guy that before he did it. Waiting until the dog is fully mature I think is important. If you then want to do it, it might be better for health. I can't say. If that's the case then you can do it.

Main thing as long as it's mature, it doesn't hurt to neuter after that.

Actually there has never been a study that proves that neutering a dog inhibits their growth or development (head size, height, etc) as far as I know. I've seen plenty of neutered males that developed just fine.

If it were me - I would consider your reasons for neutering. Are you planning to possibly breed this dog down the line? Are you planning to show the dog down the line? Does the organization you are trying to title your dog under prohibit neutered dogs from competing? Will the dog benefit from being neutered? Do you own any unspayed females or do your neighbors have unspayed females? etc

Also consider health issues. Neutering reduces risk of testicular and penile cancers, as well as hernias. Also, I read a statistic somewhere that 60% of intact dogs over age 5 will get an enlarged prostate.