Health Benefits of Neutering

Pets that have not been "fixed" or neutered are more likely to develop certain health problems.  These problems are in addition to the behavior problems that many intact male or female pets may cause their owners (marking territory, fighting, dominance, roaming, etc.).

Females are much less likely to get breast cancer if neutered before their first or second heat.  In addition they won't get uterine infections, tumors of the ovaries or uterus, or be prone to false pregnancy.  During a spay the ovaries and uterus will be removed.

In males, castration will reduce the incidence of prostate disese and of tumors and hernias in the anal region.  Testicular tumors are very common in intact males.

Ebony, a champion, now a neutered happy, housepet

Animals recover very quickly from their neutering.  The neutering itself may cause a tendency to gain weight, but it is primarily from overfeeding as the animal no longer needs as much food as it matures, and will not be prone to go off its food any more such as a male exposed to a female in heat.

Neutering will not affect your dog's personality.  If it is a playful dog before neutering it will still be afterward.  Neutering early may prevent dominance in your pet.  Individual behavior patterns will still be there, but neutering can help.  

To get the full medical and behavioral advantages, pets should be neutered early.   Females should be spayed at about 6 months to 1 year of age, preferably before the first heat, which can occur as early as 6 months.  Males should be castrated between 6 months and 18 months.  The age of neutering can be dependent on maturity and your veterinarian can guide you.  Small dogs mature more quickly than larger ones as a rule.

Having babies is not psychologically important to your dog. 

If your dog has a behavior problem related to not being neutered, neutering should be done in the early stages to better ensure elimination or reduction of the behavior.   If a male dog lifts its leg everywhere, it may not stop if not neutered early.

Neuter your pet.  You owe it to him/her.

Dog Breeding

A complete section on dog breeding will follow soon.

Dog breeding is a lot of work and requires a lot of thought.  If you want to breed your dog you need to have a dog of breeding quality which includes, but is not limited to,  conformation, health and temperament, and breed it to an animal who excels in these three things as well.  It must also be a registered animal, and the dogs in the pedigree must be a credit to the breed.  In Canada you are required by law to register all pups in every litter.  An unregistered dog is technically non-purebred and cannot be represented as purebred (The Canadian Livestock Pedigree Act).   You are responsible for finding good homes for your puppies, and ensuring the puppies you sell are maintained in a caring and appropriate way for the rest of their lives.

Breeding is a lot of work, and with it can come heartache, dead puppies, a sick dam, or a fatality to your dam. It is not to be taken lightly.

Fuzz and her pups, a planned and welcome litter - still a lot of work!

To be continued....