Originally posted by rosep:
Does spaying or neutering a dog affect its protection ability?
I have protection trained several neutered males very successfully. One Dutch Shepherd had just been neutered when training began; another, a GSD, had been neutered for two years; I don't know about the other dog. I hope this helps.
My experience has been that it didn't make that much of a difference. I have been paying attenetion to dogs that were very sound to begin with. After neutering the dogs that were dog agressive still were, the ones that were fear biters still were, and the dominant ones still were.
The book on it is that it will decrease drive, and aggression. That is why most PDs don't neuter their males. I haven't seen it. I think the fact that there are a lot of males making the descisions on this may have something to do with the status quo.....
If you can't be a Good Example,then You'll just have to Serve as a Horrible Warning. Catherine Aird.
I've spoken to trainers who will spay or neuter but they wait until the dog is at least 2 years old so it has no effect (their experience). They said it was more alert to protecting their 'pack' if it was intact or at least fully mature.
I have seen some evidence in the Veternary Liturature that a male neutered young will grow taller and heavier than an intact male. They were looking a dogs neutered prior to 10 months (I think) and after 18 months. So there is a difference there.
If you can't be a Good Example,then You'll just have to Serve as a Horrible Warning. Catherine Aird.
Well, if you wait to spay a bitch until she's 2 yo, her risk of breast cancer has increased, it goes up w/each heat cycle. Why would spaying have an impact on protection, other than making her less fuzzy headed during her heat cycle?
Richard,
Interesting...I'll have to check that out.
Joy,
I know you've seen far more dogs than I but I don't know anyone with a well trained intact female that has seen any change of personality in their dog when she's in a heat cycle. Trainers with female protection dogs I've spoken to have no issues with them being "fuzzy headed". In fact, they believe they're better PPDs for not being spayed. BTW, these are not Dogmen people I'm referring to here.
Could it be a training or handling issue with intact dogs?
They were just discussing this on another list I am on. Here is the chunk of information posted and it includes a reference.
"There have been a couple of studies on this subject. The most definitive of these was in the April 1, 1991 issue of the AVMA Journal, by Salmeri, et al.) Dogs were studied who had been neutered at 7 weeks and at 7 months of age compared to intact dogs. The dogs who were neutered at 7 weeks had the latest closure of their growth plates and grew to the largest size. The dogs who were neutered at 7 months of age were larger than the intact dogs and smaller than the dogs neutered at 7 weeks of age. So there is evidence that up to the age of seven months, there is a difference in size between dogs neutered and unneutered. I do not know what the difference might be in the time between 7 months and 1 year of age, though."
Hope that helps.
If you can't be a Good Example,then You'll just have to Serve as a Horrible Warning. Catherine Aird.
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