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  1. #1
    House Broken TooLabs's Avatar
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    Neuter Questions

    Murphey is nearing the 10 month mark and is still intact. At this point he is only hoisting leg outside and marking. We have no humping or negative sexualized behavior. The breeder asked that I hold off on neutering him and left him with full AKC registration in the event they chose to use him as breeder. I have reached out to them and have no response back. I am not necessarily keen on leaving him intact if he is not going to be used as breeder. I am partial and think he is the ideal looking black English Lab. He is beautiful and has very blocky, thick and stocky conformation. He is my ideal looking Lab! Anyway I am fearful of waiting and the problems that could arise from neutering him at an older age (not that 10 months is old) it is just he is becoming a big boy- already pushing 75 lbs. Has anyone waited and how long or what is actually recommended for neutering?

  2. #2
    Chief Pooper Scooper JenC's Avatar
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    No reason to leave him intact to be used as a "Breeder" if you don't do anything to prove his worth. If you aren't showing him, putting him in performance events, and your dog's breeder isn't working with you to do something with the dog, I would plan on fixing him in the next 6 months of so.

    It's nice to let them fully mature before neutering and it's better for their joint health too.

  3. #3
    Senior Dog Tanya's Avatar
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    my two cents: unless the breeder plans ot pay for the clearances please do just neuter him when you feel you are ready (clearances: hips, elbows, eyes, heart, eic, cmn). especially if he isn't competing in field, hunt of conformation.

    What problems do you think could arise should you leave him intact longer? There shouldn't be any issues.

    The recommendation is usually to wait until they are done growing, which is around 18-24 months. This way they grow into their mature frame and fill out completely.

    here is a list of articles on neutering-spaying: https://www.lab-retriever.net/board/d...cle-links.html

  4. #4
    Senior Dog smartrock's Avatar
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    FWIW, my male dogs have been neutered anywhere from 16 months to 3 years and there were no more issues with having it done at 3 years than there were at 16 months.
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  5. #5
    Puppy RockyMountainCoal's Avatar
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    My male is currently 17 months old and he is still intact. I have no plan to neuter him. Any "negative" behaviors that arise are usually trainable issues. I would suggest waiting until he is at least 18-24 months to neuter him if you wish to do so.
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  7. #6
    Senior Dog dxboon's Avatar
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    I'm of the same mind as the previous posters. There are plenty of beautiful Labs. If your boy is not successfully competing in one or more venues, and there is no plan to do so, and no plan to get all the necessary clearances that are customary for the breed, I would wait until he's mature (usually cited to be 18-24 months), then neuter him. Most reputable breeders who are placing a puppy on full registration with a pet family, co-own the dog, and mentor the person in the breed. In these scenarios, by 10 months, some sort of plan or discussion would be in place with the breeder for what types of training and competing you are planning to do.

  8. #7
    Senior Dog BaconsMom's Avatar
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    I agree with the above. Bacon is nearly 1 year and is still intact. We dont have plans to neuter him.
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  9. #8
    Senior Dog Snowshoe's Avatar
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    I waited. And waited and waited, still waiting, he'll be 7 years old soon. Oban was going to be neutered but I read the first two articles at the links above, discussed with our Vet (who had been pushing for 6 months) and we agreed 18 months was fine. We did not have any problems that I can attribute to testosterone. Plus I live in a rural area and do not need doggy day care or boarding or dog parks ( and some of each around here take entire dogs anyway)

    But my Rally trainer neutered a very promising male of hers because of hormone issues and some other issues. This dog is titled in conformation, rally, obedience, agility and has some hunt tests and most of those before he hit age 3. He is not a Lab. She bred him, she is a talented trainer but even she found his distracted salavering after any female, any, too much to take. You would never see that from his behaviour in the ring but she told me he just took too much work, and she did not want to pass on any of his less desirable issues, um to his issue. And her first love is agility competition not breeding, so snip, and she still had a big job working to get over some ingrained behaviours.

    I think determining which behaviours are sexually dimorphic (caused by sex hormones) and which are not is something most pet owners cannot do. Then they are dismayed and disappointed when neutering doesn't magically fix the dog. And as with my trainer once some sexually dimorphic behaviours are learned they may continue after neuter, they've become a habit. Even though in her case she jumped on them right away and did not wait for neuter they were still very hard to overcome.

    Another comment, I have no interest in breeding and don't want to seem as if I'm passing myself off as knowledgeable, but wouldn't your pup have been shown in puppy classes already if it was thought he might be worthy? Wouldn't your breeder be keeping close tabs on his development all along to see if she should be hitting some shows with him?

  10. #9
    Senior Dog Berna's Avatar
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    I don't see a reason to neuter a dog; however, I don't see a reason to breed him either. What qualities does he have that you want him to pass on? Is he healthy? Are you planning to do the necessary health tests? Please, we don't need any more back yard breeder pups!
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  11. #10
    Senior Dog doubledip1's Avatar
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    Whoa guys! TooLabs stated in the first post that they want to neuter him, but their breeder asked them to wait until the breeder decided if the BREEDER wanted to breed him.

    I think you should wait until he's at least a year old, preferably 18 months, and be very conscientious of girls in heat around him, though you seem like a responsible and reasonable person to me.

    Don't be afraid of waiting to neuter. There's tons of research about it being better to wait to spay/neuter until later. Don't let the fear mongering of rescue organizations to spay/neuter by 6 months scare you.
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