To Neuter or Not to Neuter that is the question.
I know this has been brought up recently and some offered valuable advice on another question asked. This is my problem recently: Merlin has always gone to the dog park since the age of 11 wks..now at 10 months and un neutered he will sometimes get fixated on a particular dog and constantly try to hump it. I realize humping is a dominance issue and not so much sexual and I never allow him to do this. Lately he constantly tries it on a dog that he seems fixated on and no amount of time outs stops him...even if the dog is not in close proximity he starts humping even air. Oh Sheesh! I have to take him home as a result as I want him to know it's unacceptable. Now what to do? Merlin is non aggressive and I had considered allowing the breeder to use him as a stud in the future. His great-grandparents, grandparents and mom and dad are all US GrandChampions and this breeders name was given to me by the American Kennel Association. So he has wonderful lineage but still I am not sure if I wanted to go the show dog route and I love my daily visits to the offleash park. Is this sexual maturity setting in? Will it cease or continue with greater frequency? Even tho Merlin is my fourth OES, all the others were spayed and neutered as were all my other dogs. Any advice would be appreciated. (Merlin is in the pic with me taken at age 6 months) He is now approaching 10 months of age. Thanks in advance! Marianne |
|
|
| my opinion: NEUTER!!!
there is an unneutered viscla that i work with (ripkin, hes just absolutely gorgeous his parents are going to show him) that i just feel so bad for. he picks a female and follows her around ALL DAY crying and trying to hump. he drools and sometimes, im trying to put this politely but..... 'it' wont go back in? we can sometimes distract him long enough to play with his friends but he always goes right back to his girl for the day. we have 3-4 unneutered males and they all do this. some of them not as bad, but they all pick a couple females and try to hump... and its just so sad to watch these boys not be able to have fun because they want to hump all day! i know merlin isnt aggressive and is very well behaved, but ill share this anyway... we had a bull mastiff at work named winston who was told not to come back until he was neutered because he was so strong and he was pinning the other dogs down. well he got neutered and hes back.... this dog is the biggest pain in my behind EVER!! he doesnt pin dogs down anymore but man o man do i get happy when i go to work and his name is not on the list!! he lost his dominance but this dog needs listening skills 101 badly! this is just proof that neutering doesnt solve everything!!! just my opinion! i can only offer what ive observed... i hope you dont have to neuter as merlin is gorgeous and sounds like such a sweet boy- he would probably make gorgeous pups! |
| That's a tough situation in the whole group dog situation. I am curious are the female dogs targeted spayed? Frank is not particularly randy at 5 months but I'm wondering how bad it will get as we are most likely going to show him. If I wasn't going to show him, I would definitely be getting him neutered.
Marianne, are you able to stud him at 10 months and then get him neutered? It's my understanding that neutering does help the health of the dog. I've talked to the vets about my concern about not neutering at this point and its relation to prostate issues with male dogs, and she said as long as they get neutered before 6 years of age their health should be fine. |
| Max was the same way before I had him neutered. When we went to the Dog park he would try to hump all the dogs, and have this very annoying wimper when they did not share his interest. After I got him neutered, he no longer did this. he seems much more content on just smelling them, then he walks away. I had no plans to breed or show him so it was an easy choice for me. Great photo by the way! |
| Marianne,
I think you should talk to your breeder and see if they are still interested in using him as a stud! Neutering will certainly help minimize the "humping" - but it doesn't eliminate it. Presley (a GIRL!) who has been spayed since 6 months old continues to hump (unfortunately, I'm usually who she fixates on! LOL). Sydney (also a GIRL and spayed) thinks my nephew-dog Mosi (basset hound) is very handsome and often humps him (usually backwards - so his giant noggin is sticking out from underneath her tail!  - quite the picture!).
Anyway, I would talk to your breeder. If he's not going to be breed - I would recommend neutering - not only for the humping - but for their health in the long run! Kristen |
| Kristen, darlin'! Do you think your dogs keep humping cuz you give the girl's boy's names and they're mixed up (ha ha). Actually my JRT Molly, who's been spayed for over 7 years, often humps our cat Leo. Poor Leo just stands there looking confused  !!! Needless to say, Leo's not the sharpest knife in the drawer! |
| I don't really have much advice, I can add though, that Jack isn't neutered and he has never humped anything yet. Annabelle went through her first heat and he was a little different. He mostly just howled, it was funny and pitiful at the same time. I have done a lot of research on breeding, but my babies are still too young at 14 mo and 11 mo for me to make a final decision on breeding. They are beautiful, healthy, and have a sweet laid back temperment that I think will produce puppies just like them.
In my opinion, if breeding is something you are interested in, it seems Merlin would make an excellent choice. If your not interested and your breeder still is, I would just have him bred once and neutered. I wouldn't breed him yet at 10 months old. He is still growing and changing. I am only saying my opinion and hopefull stating sincerely. Please give Blue, Panda, and Merlin a big sheepie hug for me and of course your kitties too. Stormi and company. |
| Dancer has begun to occasionally hump things, a toy, the cat, and she is a female pup who is only 6 months old! I was surprised, I've never had a female do that before. |
debcram wrote: Kristen, darlin'!
Do you think your dogs keep humping cuz you give the girl's boy's names and they're mixed up (ha ha). I always thought it may have something to do with naming her after Elvis Presley! 
I'd much rather be humped by him (well, when he was alive!)
By the way Deb - you should meet my SISTER, KYLE ALLYN! (Apparantly, the boys name thing runs in the family! )
Kristen |
| LOL Kristen, a friend of mine has a family full of girls with boys names. Hubby wanted boys and got girls, Roni, Jamie, And Stevie. They had girls who are Danni, Devon, and Hunter. |
| my sisters name is ryan. her mail is always addressed to mr ryan owen, which i of course tease her about! |
| Thanks everyone for your responses. It's a really tough decision and while I mentioned humping is usually a dominance issue, I think this particular time it may be sexual. Still not sure what age these boys reach sexual maturity. Does anyone know this answer.? Although with the few dogs he has been fixated on, one was a female pup of 5 months and the other was a male aprox the same age as himself. Poor Daisy the cat, he has tried with her too.
I am not familar with breeding methods and would have left it up to Merlins breeder but I know that 10 months is too young as I believe the literature on it says 3 yrs is appropriate. That way the potential mom and dad can be checked out for any genetic defects which will show up by this time. Anyway...I think I'm leaning more towards neutering. My line of thinking was this..that some day I would have loved to have one of Merlin's daughters..but alas fate threw Panda my way. With Blue's passing in a couple of years I'll still be happy with two dogs so can't see me getting another sheepie for at least 15 years. Thanks again everyone for your advice! |
| My good friend is named, Jo Anne (goes by simply Jo) and her sister is Allyn. I'm *SO* confused (ha ha ha) |
| I am partial towar neutering. I have three sheepdogs, two are spayed and no 3 is neutered. My reasoining is if one of my females had puppies, I would have a house full of sheepies...which I guess would not be that bad of an idea if I didn't have to work fulltime.... But since I am a working sheepie mom, and also have two upright children, I would not have time taking care of a bunch of sheepogs, three is enough for now!
If you are not going to show or use him as a stud, I'd say go for the neutering. It's so much better for the sheepie and they tend to live longer. |
 I'm embarrassed. Sorry for all the misspellings! |
| Feel free to click on "edit" next to your post and clean them up if you like!
You can always edit your own post... it's one of the GREAT things about the forum! (I do it ALL the time, as my typoing is faster than my speaking  ). |
| S'ok, I think we all read and write typoneese quite well. It should become an official language. |
| Neuter. |
| Thanks everyone for the advice. I also spent 4 hours on the phone with our local OES rescue person (Thanks Judi!) and now have made the appointment for this Tues.
I took into consideration what all of you said as well as Judi and I now feel comfortable with this decision. Marianne |
| Please keep us updated on how Merlin does. I know he will do good, but I have always been the worrier. It is really great how you took the time and considered the advice of others to make the decision that you are most comfortable with. Merlin will have a long happy life. Has Panda already been neutered? He was probably already done, but just curious. Give your puppy and kitty crew hugs and belly rubs. Stormi and co. |
Well .....Merlin was neutered today and unfortunately he has to wear one of those cone things on his head. (although I picked him up from the vets 12 hrs ago he's whining occasionally and still appears really groggy. Poor guy I feel awful and boy is he gonna be mad at me tomorrow!!!  |
| Marianne, You're a good and loving mom. Pirate was groggy for about 24 hours, then it was hard to keep him quiet! He came home with one of those stupid a** looking cones to. He's been really good about not chewing his stitches, so I haven't had to put it on him. And, I didn't want to humiliate him infront of mean ol' Molly. She certainly doesn't need more amo to pick on him! Its not even a week since his surgery, and you would never know he's been though anything! He's is his silly and happy old self. One note, however. He did come home with lots of mats on his face. They said it was from drooling while he was out of it. Give Merlin big hugs! |
Well I am partial to male animals.And I always say anything male in my house isnt going too have the family jewels for very long My daughter has a maltese/yorkie named Eddie he is 6,and when he was a little ball of fur the little guy pee'ed EVERY where!!  We'd take him to our cousins for the week end he'd pee EVERY where in their home he was only 3months old doing this.So the vet said he needed to be fixed ASAP!!So after we did he stopped,and still has accidents but thats because he gets mad when left alone. We adopted 2 female kittens and we just got them fixed also,I know w/ females it prevents cancers,and general health problems.So i say yes to spay/nutuer.... |
| Sorry I can't answer your question about when they reach sexual maturity. But, Lucy is so sweet and she is not fixed either and has champion blood lines. I wish you lived closer because I really want to breed her once so I can have some of her puppies due to her nature. We are in North Carolina. It sounds like Merlin and Lucy have similar personalities and I bet would make great pups! |
| Sexual maturity: take it from one who found out the hard way, much earlier than you believe. Our St. Bernard fathered a nice litter at 5 months. The bitch was a Siberian Husky.
If you can feel the testicles moving down, your boy is becoming a man. |
Didn't find exactly what you're looking for? Search again here:
Custom Search
|
|
| |
|
|
|
|
|