Castration

Does a dog being castrated affect the developement of it's physical stature because of the reduction in testosterone? When do they reach full physical maturity?

Yes it does - here are two good links:
http://www.caninesports.com/SpayNeuter.html

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

I think it's hard to say for sure about the full physical maturity thing but I certainly wouldn't recommend to alter a dog unless it's older than 14 (preferably 16) months old.

Thanks, so is a vasectomy an option?

It depends on the reason you're neutering him. A vasectomy will stop him fathering pups, but nothing else. His testosterone levels will be the same & he'll still show the same level of interest in a bitch on heat!

What do you think is best?

What's your reason for neutering? When were you think of getting him done?

I have read various case studies etc on this subject since yesterday and now I'm confused as to why I originally assumed I would have him neutered. I think I was under the impression that it was the right thing to do.

I visited the vets this morning about a couple of things and asked them for advice. I wasn't prepared for the judgemental attitude from the nurse who started telling me that most dog bites are staffs, and that they have more of a need for castration because of aggression and lots of other negative things.

I will admit I didn't represent myself in the best possible light... I had rolled out of bed to go to the shop in a hoodie and joggers, but I still don't think that's reason enough for it to take me 10 minutes of well informed discussion to convince her that I wasn't just another thug with a staff!

It made me think twice about taking Tate there to be honest, but I won't let one overly opinionated member of staff put me off.

Back to topic, I'm not sure I want him neutered now. I know I have a long time to think about it but unless he has real agression problems I can't see it happening, even then I'd like to think we could train it out of him. We'll see I guess.

J&L wrote:I visited the vets this morning about a couple of things and asked them for advice. I wasn't prepared for the judgemental attitude from the nurse who started telling me that most dog bites are staffs, and that they have more of a need for castration because of aggression and lots of other negative things.

Well, that's total codswallop! If you have a friendly dog, there's no reason that he would turn into a biter, whether he's a staff or not!

The main reasons usually are aggression, health & interest in the opposite sex. If it's aggression, you won't know what he'll be like until he's at least a year old, possibly more! And even then castration may not make any difference. There are health benefits involved in castration, notably prostate cancer, but you would have to weigh up the pros & cons involved. Interest in bitches can be managed generally as long as you have trained your dog properly, and you don't allow him off lead near in-season bitches (sometimes easier said than done!). Castration will obviously take away any sexual urges.

I have nothing against anyone wanting to neuter their dog (although I, personally don't do it). However, I'd always recommend that you wait until your dog is fully mature mentally & physically before you go ahead. With staffs that's about 18 months to 2 years old.

Have a quick read through this...
http://www.doglistener.co.uk/medical/neuter.shtml

Its hard to say about physical maturity as all breeds and individuals mature at different rates - but dogs will reach sexual maturity between 6-12months. They will also not become 'socially' mature until about 2 years (in other words when they will now be 'adults' both mentally and physically as opposed to naughty teenagers!).

I personally prefer to have my own dogs neutered between 5 and 6 months as they wont miss what they don't know! You also will have reduce the likelihood of entire male behaviours becoming habits like humping things, dominance aggression and territorial marking by peeing on everything!

Alternatively if you don't want your boy to lose his 'bits' owners can now get prosthetic implants for their dog which the vet puts in place when they perform the castration - but it is expensive. There is also a new product out through Virbac Animal Health that you could ask your vet about - its basically an implant that acts as a contraceptive for male dogs that temporarily sterilizes them. The link is http://www.virbac.com/p-vbcompuben/display.aspx?srv=p-vbcom&typ=pub&lang=en&cmd=view%7Clist&style=styles/webnew.xsl&select=WEBNEW%5B@ID$eq$WEBNEW_19%5D%7CWEBNEW%5Bfk_enum_THEME$eq$3%5D&order-by=-@ONDATE%7C-@ONDATE

Personally I would never get the implants of either kind for any dog of mine - but its amazing what options are out there!