Sandra
I will leave the advice to the experts, but i must say what a little Belter he is, Smashing little Pup
Steve

 Quote: sandra faye johnson

thanks for your advise. that's a good looking dog you have there Natalya!

Thanks!

Hi,
My friend told me that dogs who aren't neutered have a greater chance of developing testicular cancer. Has anyone heard this as well?
I was thinking about getting my 3 year old male GSD neutered and I have heard conflicting reports. We will spay our female as soon as she's finished nursing this litter and we don't have to worry about Manto getting out. We're totally fenced in. Any comments?

 Quote: Francoise Sullivan

Hi,
My friend told me that dogs who aren't neutered have a greater chance of developing testicular cancer. Has anyone heard this as well?
I was thinking about getting my 3 year old male GSD neutered and I have heard conflicting reports. We will spay our female as soon as she's finished nursing this litter and we don't have to worry about Manto getting out. We're totally fenced in. Any comments?

This article discusses pros and cons quite well:

http://www.naiaonline.org/pdfs/LongTermHealthEffectsOfSpayNeuterInDogs.pdf

Connie,

Wow. That article was very interesting. I have only heard people who refer to the behavior modification spaying/neutering causes. That article focuses on the health effects, and that is really what we should consider when doing this to our pets, I think.

I want to mention here that my girlfriend and I are apartment hunting, and one of the places we called only allowed pets that were spayed/neutered. Can anyone here think of the reason for this? I think that it is a very intrusive policy, and it doesn't seem that it could be within the law, but I am sure it is somehow legally valid in our crazy world...

 Quote: rick miller

... apartment hunting, and one of the places we called only allowed pets that were spayed/neutered. Can anyone here think of the reason for this?..

I imagine that they are thinking of possible lessened aggression, lessened chance of biting, and lessened roaming in neutered males, and no bloodstains in spayed females.

I am not commenting on those issues; I am just saying what landlords probably have in mind.

That article is indeed nicely balanced and informative.

The following does not make me popular on working dog forums, and I'm not addressing working dog breeders whose litters are spoken for even before they are on the ground.

I think that responsible pet owners have to factor in the huge numbers of oops litters every year, to the tune of four to five million "surplus" dogs per year (dogs who are put down in U.S. shelters) --- about 375,000 every month. About 25% are purebred.

My own feeling is that after full growth is achieved, I would neuter shelter dogs, mutts, rescues...... because virtually every one of those "surplus" (killed) dogs was from a litter that a human had a degree of responsibility for, either by actually breeding or by allowing oops litters. That's harsh, but that's the way shelter volunteers think..... it only takes a few weeks in a shelter.

Again, I do *not* refer to breeding dogs, or working dogs, or young dogs who still have growth plates not closed, etc. (which isn't the same age from breed to breed).

So .... my personal view is that for pet dogs, this is one of the "health" factors.

I agree with Connie too. If the dog is to be a pet I would alter after it was full grown.

Thanks Connie,
That article really was helpful. It is hard to sometimes know without the research, both pro and con spelled out. If testicular cancer is treatable in most cases, and only less than 1% succomb to it, I'll probably go ahead and stick with my plan.

Thanks Connie. I completely agree with you. We are speaking for the general population and *most* people don't have the commitment or knowledge to own an intact dog and not have an oops litter in their lifetime. I have read a few threads on this forum asking for advice on an opps litter and these people know a bit more than the general population. I am talking about pet quality of course.

If you are not breeding, showing, or seriously competing with the dog, it should be altered. When you decide to have the particular dog altered is totally up to you. Either a vasectomy or castration, preferably the latter.

The health and behavior benefits outway the cons, in my opinion, for a companion dog. I very much (Respectfully) disagree with folks who say "Well, if you watch him closely, don't have him neutered".