Neutering Your Male Dog – Pros and Cons
  (for FEMALE dogs, click here)

Puppies are adorable! But there are already too many puppies (and adult dogs) who desperately need homes. If you decide to not neuter your dog, please prevent him from breeding.

Have you been told that neutering is a must for your male dog? Absolutely necessary? All positives.... no negatives?

Also that neutering should be done as early as possible, certainly by 6 months old?

It sounds so definitive.

But current research on neutering shows that the issue is not so simple. There are a number of risks associated with neutering male dogs that pet owners are not being told about.

First, let's look at the positives – the advantages of neutering your male dog.

Good reasons to neuter your male dog

You can call it neutering or castrating, or de-sexing. All three terms refer to removal of the testicles so your male can't breed or sire puppies.

A dog who is NOT neutered is also called intact.

Neutering reduces leg-lifting and marking territory.

Intact males, driven by testosterone, usually lift their leg when they pee. This is called "marking" their territory. The higher they spray their urine, the more impressive they appear to other dogs. Some intact males become obsessed with marking territory and will tow you toward every tree and telephone pole. Some dominant bossy males will even mark inside your house.

Now, neutering isn't a cure-all, because testosterone is also produced elsewhere in the body, not only in the testicles. Many dogs, even when neutered, will still lift their leg, but less obsessively. However, a dominant bossy attitude will need to be addressed through Respect Training.

Neutering reduces dominance and aggression.

This is due to the reduction of testosterone, but remember, NOT ALL testosterone is removed by neutering. If your dog has inherited his dominance or aggression, or if caused by improper socialization or training, then neutering by itself won't be enough.

Since testosterone fuels the fires of many unwanted behaviors, neutering can be a first step. But other causes of dominance and aggression still need to be addressed through Respect Training.

Neutering reduces the risk of your dog being attacked by other male dogs.

Even if your dog isn't aggressive himself, being intact makes him a target for other intact males who might see him as a potential rival. So if your dog is frequently around other intact males, neutering can make him less of a target.

Neutering helps re-focus your dog's attention.

Intact males often pay too much attention to other dogs, as they may be on the lookout for potential mates and rivals. Neutering can break your dog's over-focus on other dogs and Respect Training will teach him to re-focus on YOU.

Neutering can reduce sexual behaviors.

Intact dogs are more likely to hump other dogs, pillows, stuffed animals, and people's legs or ankles. Now, these behaviors can also occur in neutered  dogs and can stem from over-excitement, lack of exercise, attempts to show dominance, or the dog simply not being taught that these behaviors are unacceptable. But neutering helps, too.

Neutering keeps your dog from chasing females in heat.

A female in heat gives off chemicals that can be scented from a mile away. An intact male who smells those chemicals can become agitated – whining, pacing, sometimes escaping his house or yard. Neutering puts an end to all that.

Neutering reduces the risk of prostate disorders.

Enlarged prostate occurs in 80% of intact male dogs past the age of five. There may be no symptoms, or the dog might have difficulty with urination or bowel movements. The good news is that it's very fixable. If you neuter at that time, the prostate will shrink quickly and the problems will resolve. Prostate cysts and prostate infections, though, can be a bit harder to treat.

Neutering prevents testicular cancer.

About 7% of intact males develop a testicular tumor. It seldom spreads and has a cure rate over 90%, but neutering prevents it entirely.

If your dog is a year old and still has one or both testicles tucked up inside his body (called cryptorchidism), the retained testicle is 14 times as likely to develop a tumor compared to a descended testicle. A cryptorchid dog should definitely be neutered.

Neutering reduces the risk of perianal fistula.

This is a painful skin disease where infected boils can develop around a dog's anus. It is extremely difficult to treat. It can appear in any dog, but is most common in intact German Shepherds, Irish Setters, and Leonbergers.

Neutering prevents your dog from breeding.

The dog population in the United States is out of control. Every day wonderful dogs are put to sleep because there are no homes that want them. If you breed your male dog, his puppies would take homes away from those poor dogs who are already here.

And what if your male dog passed along genes for a health problem to his puppies? Any dog who is allowed to breed must first be tested and cleared of specific health problems known to be hereditary. Imagine a puppy living with a dreadful health problem because your male dog had that problem in his genes yet was allowed to breed. You would feel sad and guilty.

It's a big responsibility to own an intact male dog. You must be extra careful to keep him away from unspayed females.

Possible reasons not to neuter your male dog

Most of the following statistics come from a 10-year study at the University of California (Davis) Veterinary Teaching Hospital, headed by Dr. Benjamin Hart.

Neutering triples the risk of obesity.

Extra weight leads to debilitating joint disease, arthritis, heart disease, pancreatitis, and diabetes.

Neutered dogs become overweight when owners feed the same amount of food as before their dog was neutered. Neutering, you see, changes a dog's hormonal make-up and metabolism so he doesn't require as much food.

Monitor your dog's shape and adjust the amount you feed so he stays on the slender side. Also provide plenty of exercise. Then your neutered dog will not become fat.

Neutering increases the risk of a deadly cancer called hemangiosarcoma.

Apparently the reproductive hormones (testosterone) offer some protection against this cancer.

Hemangiosarcoma is much more common in certain breeds, especially the Afghan Hound, Belgian Shepherds, Bernese Mountain Dog, Bouvier des Flandres, Boston Terrier, Boxer, Bulldog, Doberman Pinscher, English Setter, Flat Coated Retriever, French Bulldog, German Shepherd, Golden Retriever, Greater Swiss Mtn Dog, Labrador Retriever, Rhodesian Ridgeback, Rottweiler, Saluki, Scottish Terrier, Skye Terrier, and Vizsla.

Neutering triples the risk of hypothyroidism.

The loss of reproductive hormones appears to upset the endocrine system. This can result in low thyroid levels, which causes weight gain and lethargy. Fortunately it can be treated with a daily thyroid supplement for the rest of the dog's life.

Neutering increases the risk of geriatric cognitive impairment.

Old dogs can develop a form of "dementia" where they become disoriented in their familiar house and yard. They may interact differently with their human family. They may forget their training and housebreaking. Intact dogs are less likely to suffer this disease because the reproductive hormones are thought to help protect the brain.

Neutering is major surgery requiring general anesthesia.

Studies show that about 20% of neuter procedures have at least one complication, such as a bad reaction to the anesthesia, infection, abscess, etc. Fortunately, most complications are minor. Less than 5% are serious, and the death rate is less than 1%.

IF DONE AT THE WRONG AGE, neutering increases the risk of hip dysplasia, torn ligaments, and bone cancer.

Your dog's reproductive hormones help his bones and joints develop properly. If you remove those hormones too early, they don't have enough time to complete their valuable work.

• Early neutering causes the leg bones to grow unevenly. This leaves your dog more vulnerable to hip dysplasia and torn ligaments.
• Early neutering makes a dog four times as likely to get bone cancer, a deadly cancer that mostly occurs in large and giant dogs.

The moral is.... If you're going to neuter, don't do it before your dog's reproductive hormones have had time to do their valuable work. And when is that? We'll talk about that in a moment.

So....should you neuter your male dog?

Let me ask you some questions:

If your male dog is hard to control, increased exercise and Respect Training are your first steps.

1. Does your dog have any of these behavior problems?

• Does he mark (lift his leg) excessively?
• Is he aggressive toward people or other dogs?
• Does he mount/hump other dogs, or even your leg?
• Does he pay more attention to other dogs than to you?

If he has any of those behavior problems, I would increase his exercise and begin Respect Training immediately. If that doesn't solve the problems I would add neutering at the right age.

2. Does your dog interact with a lot of other dogs? If so, neutering would be wise. He will be less inclined to pick fights with other males, less inclined to be picked on  by other males, and less inclined to pester females in embarrassing ways.

3. Is your dog a German Shepherd, Irish Setter, or Leonberger? These breeds are prone to perianal fistula, and neutering can reduce the risk of that.

4. Does your dog have two testicles in his scrotum, or is one (or both) missing? Missing testicles are up inside his body. In a puppy, it's not uncommon for them to go up and down for some months. But if they have never dropped by a year of age, they're probably not going to. Since retained testicles can develop cancer, neutering is a must.

5. Is there a real risk that your male dog might hook up with an unspayed female? If so, you should definitely neuter him.

If none of the above applies to you and your dog, you might decide not to neuter.

Neutering at the wrong age can have unwanted consequences for the rest of your dog's life. So don't hurry your dog off to surgery. Get all the facts first.

WHEN to neuter....

Remember, your dog needs his reproductive hormones for some time so his bones, joints, and tendons can develop normally.

How long it takes for the reproductive hormones to do their work depends to some extent upon breed,  but can be estimated fairly accurately by size.

• Dogs less than 30 lbs should be at least 9 months old.
• Dogs between 30 and 50 lbs should be at least 12 months.
• Dogs over 50 lbs should be at least 15 months.

Obviously I'm talking about adult  weight – the weight you expect your dog to be when he is mature.

As you can see, these time frames are far removed from the "Neuter at 6 months!" advice routinely given by many vets, animal shelters, and rescue groups. Their "hurry up and neuter" advice is predisposing young dogs to health risks that could have been avoided simply by waiting until maturity.

Even worse, some shelters and rescue groups are actually neutering puppies as young as 8 weeks (!) because they don't trust the adoptive parents to follow through with the surgery at a later age.

The intentions of these groups is good. They're trying to ensure that their dogs don't end up adding to the overpopulation problem.

Unfortunately, the owners who adopt those dogs will be forced to deal with the resulting health problems later on. And if those owners are responsible people who would  have had their dog neutered (at a safer age), they're understandably upset at seeing their beloved dog now struggling with a health problem.

Some breeders  have also hopped onto the "pediatric spay and neuter" bandwagon. Mostly their motives are aligned with the animal shelters and rescue groups – honestly trying to curb pet overpopulation.

Other breeders, however, do not have entirely pure motives. From a marketing and financial perspective, it's better for them  if they're the only ones producing a given breed in a given area. So it's good for them  to require their buyers to neuter every pup an early age. But again it's the new owners (and of course the unfortunate dog) who will have to deal with the health problems caused by the too-early surgery.

Does neutering solve behavior problems?

No, neutering by itself does not solve behavior problems. It does decrease the chances of some behavior problems developing in the first place, because it removes testosterone that pushes some dogs to be bossy and disrespectful. But once bad habits have been established, behavior problems require training.

"Will neutering stop my dog from lifting his leg when he urinates?"

Sometimes. Sometimes not. Whether or not a neutered dog lifts his leg when he urinates is influenced by these factors:

• His personal levels of dominance and territoriality. The point of leg-lifting is to spray urine as high as possible. If your male has a Top Dog On The Totem Pole  attitude, he may lift his leg, whether neutered or not.
• His personal level of hormones. Testosterone is produced elsewhere in the body, not just in the testicles. So a neutered male still has some male hormones. These may or may not be enough to compel him to lift his leg.
• Habit. If he had been lifting his leg for some time before neutering, it might be enough of a behavioral habit that he will continue to do so, at least sometimes.

Safe surgery and anesthesia: 7 questions to ask your vet

Neutering is major surgery requiring general anesthesia, and general anesthesia is never routine.

There are steps your vet can take to make anesthesia much safer and more comfortable for your dog. But many vets won't take all these steps unless you specifically request them.

1) Ask the vet.... "Which gas do you use as the anesthetic?"

You want sevoflurane (see-vo-FLOOR-ane), isoflurane (eye-so-FLOOR-ane), or desflurane, all of which are inhaled gases.

The gas is delivered through a tube down the dog's windpipe and the dog just drifts asleep. The vet can continuously adjust how much anesthetic your dog is getting by turning the vaporizer knob.

As soon as the vaporizer is turned off, 99% of the gas in your dog's body is quickly exhaled through his mouth. He will be awake within a few minutes and moving around within a half hour.

This is a huge improvement over older gases such as halothane, which hung around for hours, delayed recovery, and eventually had to be processed through the liver, where it could do damage if your dog got too much.

Sevoflurane, isoflurane, or desflurane. Those are the only acceptable answers for me.

2) Ask the vet.... "Which sedatives do you use for induction?"

Inducing anesthesia means "getting it started." You can't just turn on the gas and aim the nozzle at the dog's face! Instead, the dog needs a tube down his throat, through which the gas can be continuously administered.

The problem is, to insert this tube, the dog must be very relaxed. One way to relax a dog long enough to get the breathing tube down his throat is to administer a short-acting sedative, either by injection or through an IV.

The induction sedative I prefer is propofol (PRO-po-fol). My second choice is a combination of diazepam (also known as valium) and ketamine.

Some vets use other sedatives such as acepromazine, xylazine, or medetomidine. These can work well, but I'm less comfortable with their safety profile and would prefer they not be used on my dog.

No barbiturate sedatives. Barbiturates have al  at the end of their name: Thiopental. Thiamylal. Methohexital. Pentobarbital. Barbiturates are too easy to overdose, too hard on the liver and kidneys, and recovery time is unnecessarily long.

What about the "masking" technique, which avoids any induction sedatives?

It is possible for the vet to sedate a dog (just long enough to insert the tube) without using an injected or IV sedative. For some dogs, the best "sedative" is just the inhalant gas (sevoflurane or isoflurane) itself.

Yes, the inhalant gas can be used as BOTH the sedative and the actual anesthetic. Here's how:

The gas mask is held over your dog's face for a few seconds. He will breathe in the gas and doze off enough for the vet to insert the breathing tube. Then the dog can be maintained the rest of the way with the regular inhalant gas from the vaporizer.

This technique is called masking.  The vet might say, "I won't need to give him a sedative if I induce by masking."

So instead of this: sedative → throat tube → gas, the vet does gas → throat tube → gas.

A potential problem with masking  is this:

Some dogs struggle when the gas mask is placed over their face. A struggling dog can be hard to control and his heart rate and blood pressure will go up. Fear and stress are not what you want right before surgery!

However, masking can work well for calm, quiet dogs. Ask your vet if your dog is a candidate for masking with gas? If he is reluctant, and if he has propofol or ketamine/diazepam for the sedative, that's fine.

3) Ask the vet.... "How will you maintain my dog's body temperature during surgery and afterwards in recovery?"

Anesthesia and surgery cause your dog's temperature to fall, sometimes dangerously low. Therefore it's very important that your vet take precautions to keep your dog's body temperature UP.

Typically this is done by performing the surgery on a heated table, and/or by wrapping your dog in thermal blankets both during the surgery and during recovery. Make sure this will happen.

Ask the vet.... "Which monitoring devices do you use during surgery?"

Your dog is less likely to die under anesthesia when the most modern technology is used to monitor his vital signs. These are the monitoring devices I want my vet to use:

• pulse oximeter – monitors pulse rate and oxygen level
• ECG heart monitor – monitors heart rate and heart rhythm
• blood pressure monitor
• body temperature monitor

My dogs don't go under anesthesia without those monitors.

And speaking of monitors, ask the vet...

"Will there be a vet tech in the room watching the monitors?"

Major surgery should not be a one-man job.

Ask the vet.... "Will you run a blood panel before surgery?"

Running a blood panel  simply means drawing blood to make sure your dog's liver, kidneys, and other vital organs are healthy enough to withstand the double stresses of anesthesia and surgery.

The blood panel can be done the same day as the surgery if the vet has a testing lab right there at his office. Otherwise the blood will need to be sent to a third-party lab and the results will take a day or two to come back.

Always, always, always have your vet run a blood panel before anesthesia and surgery.

Ask the vet.... "Can I bring my dog home the same day?"

If your dog did fine through the surgery, and

if your dog wakes up normally, and

if you will be home to watch over him for the rest of that day and the entire following day....

You SHOULD NOT need to leave him at the vet's overnight.

Think about your poor dog. He will be feeling discomfort from the surgery. He will be feeling confused and anxious. Even if there IS someone at the vet's office overnight (and often there isn't!).... that person would simply check your dog's vital signs and move on.

No, I take my dogs home, where they feel calm and secure in their familiar surroundings. For overnight, I put them in their crate right on (or beside) my bed, so they know I'm there.

"But my vet told me it was office policy for all dogs to stay overnight after neutering!"

Yes, some vets have office policies that are one-size-fits-all, and most owners follow them without question.

But YOU are a special owner.

YOU have done research that other owners haven't.

YOU are more involved in your dog's safety and welfare.

YOU don't just hand your dog over and wave goodbye, giving up all participation in decisions about what's best for him.

Unless your dog did poorly during the surgery and needs ongoing treatment... or unless no one will be home at your house to watch over him... he doesn't need to stay at the vet's overnight for "routine monitoring."