Desexing

Hi everyone,
My pups 4 months old know thanks for all the help on my last topic. Lately I have been in conflict in deciding whether or not to desex my dog (male). I have heard many opinions and would really appreciate your opinions for and against desexing. Are there any negatives to desexing your dog, ive heard it can affect your dogs size.

I was talking to another staffy owner who said they regretted desexing there dog and still humps every dog and hasnt changed his behavior therefore not worth doing it.

My dog shows no aggression or resource guarding at home or the park with other dogs but can be competitive in play.

I have 2 girls so the sterilisation question is maybe easier to reply to.

With regards to males, I think the first thing is that you can (/should?) wait until they are older until the operation is done, so this should leave you more time to see how Charlie develops (physically as well as psychologically).

I believe that the competitive play is largly due to their character, I have seen the same with my Opium.
As long as you continue all the good work you appear to be doing with Charlie and his socialising, you might even find that you won’t feel the need to castrate him after all.

I agree,

I dont see any point in your staffy loosing his crown jewels unless he needs it.
if hes howling all night cos a female is on heat, or he is humping everything i would leave him be.
Im a competitive male, so glad my parents didnt desex me hahah
Like Nifty said, i think Staffys are competitive anyway, being bold, brave and confident is how staffs are

Ive known dogs go through a humping stage, probably puberty or horny teenager lol, but then stop a few months later.

Id wait a long while yet, and see how he behaves.
Maybe if you whisper in his ear to behave, or he will lose his nuts he will stay in line

Thanks Nifty and Barnoe,
I will wait a bit longer and only desex him if necessary, its actually extremely common to desex your dog where i live Australia, NSW. Im not worried about his competitive personality its common in their nature but people have told me it can lead to fighting when there older (bit of a myth).

I've nothing against neutering if done for the right reasons.

However, it shouldn't even be considered until your dog's physically & mentally mature (as Nifty says). If you neuter early your dog will grow taller & possibly narrower than they would otherwise have been, as the growth plates will close later.

There are also health concerns with neutering early - two being bone cancer & prostate cancer, both of which have increased rates after neutering. Plus, of course, the anaesthetic! Many dogs don't respond well to anaesthetic & some.

Obviously, if you're thinking of getting a bitch or there's an entire bitch he has access to, then you may want to think seriously about how you're going to keep them apart.