hitfreshairagain Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 Hi Everyone, Im hoping you can give me your veiws on the following. I have a seven and a half year old black lab that picks up on a local pheasant shoot and sits patiently in a pigeon hide during close season.Hes a very soft dog never shown any aggression towards other dogs,he picks up enthusiastically and works his socks off.Recently after a trip to the vets they found one of his balls is bigger than the other and they would like to do an ultrasound to see if theres a growth in one.If there is they would take a sample and after testing decide whether to castrate him.I have no desire to breed from him so it may be a good idea just to have him castrated without the ultrasound and tests.I do worry if having his balls taken away will affect his working desire or undo his chilled out temperament What are your thoughts people Thanks in advance. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave at kelton Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 I work labradors three days a week through the season August to January. I always have dogs and have three castrated and a pup that is about lose his balls. I always have them castrated at 12 months. It has no effect whatsoever on their working ability but it does take the silly edge off them, namely sniffing, marking, chasing bitches etc. My dogs are all pretty chilled because that is how I like them so that is not a matter of castration. I cannot say what the effects on an older dog like yours is but would be surprised if it was adverse. There are many good breeders out there and if you have no wish to breed fro him I would have them off without a second thought. There is a lot of rubbish about them gaining weight or not working as well but that is down to the owner in my experience not down to castration. As usual there are the risks of anaesthetic etc but that is all as far as I can tell. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
holloway Posted February 15, 2018 Report Share Posted February 15, 2018 3 hours ago, Dave at kelton said: I work labradors three days a week through the season August to January. I always have dogs and have three castrated and a pup that is about lose his balls. I always have them castrated at 12 months. It has no effect whatsoever on their working ability but it does take the silly edge off them, namely sniffing, marking, chasing bitches etc. My dogs are all pretty chilled because that is how I like them so that is not a matter of castration. I cannot say what the effects on an older dog like yours is but would be surprised if it was adverse. There are many good breeders out there and if you have no wish to breed fro him I would have them off without a second thought. There is a lot of rubbish about them gaining weight or not working as well but that is down to the owner in my experience not down to castration. As usual there are the risks of anaesthetic etc but that is all as far as I can tell. Good luck This +1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitfreshairagain Posted February 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 Thanks guys ,its good to have some positive feedback and my mind is starting to be put at rest. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aled Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) Interesting comments all, I've got a lab cross sheepdog pup (its a mongrel so no silly names please), I will be castrating him pretty soon. I was going to get him done at 6 months. Now the vet suggested 12 months old, and I notice Dave at Kelton also mentions 12 months. Any advice, comments, experience? Sorry for hijacking your post hitfeshairagain, but I was going to ask this question so maybe fate has intervened. Many Thanks. Cheers Aled Edited February 16, 2018 by Aled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 (edited) Any large breed dog is best left till fully grown before neutering. If they are neutered before fully developed there is an increased risk of bone cancer, developemental problems and endocrine system problems like Cushings. Part of the problem is the presence of testosterone in testicles signals many developement stages. If you neuter too early it stops this developement. My Vet recommends large breed dogs shouldn't be neutered before 18-24 months and12months for small breeds that reach full developement quicker. If you want to assess what your dog would be like neutered without making it permanent straight away there is an implant that wears off after 6 months or a year depending what strengh you have called Supralorin. It is expensive around £100, but less expensive than years of regret I am actually going to have one of my dogs implanted with Suprelorin next week to assess whether to leave him intact or neuter later. I dont as a rule neuter mine, but this one is romping everything in sight and is annoying my other dogs at the moment. He is 2 years old. When the Suprelorin wears off I will see if he has calmed down or whether to go for a full neuter. Apart from being randy he has a nice temprament and has a lovely silky coat which I dont want to risk changing as both can be affected by neutering. 5 hours ago, Aled said: Interesting comments all, I've got a lab cross sheepdog pup (its a mongrel so no silly names please), I will be castrating him pretty soon. I was going to get him done at 6 months. Now the vet suggested 12 months old, and I notice Dave at Kelton also mentions 12 months. Any advice, comments, experience? Sorry for hijacking your post hitfeshairagain, but I was going to ask this question so maybe fate has intervened. Many Thanks. Cheers Aled Edited February 16, 2018 by loriusgarrulus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aled Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 loriusgarrulus thanks for taking the time to reply. Looks like we will wait until he's older than 6 months then. Cheers Aled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave at kelton Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 12 months is the minimum recommended age so the dog is fully grown. You also notice at that age the testosterone starts kickingin , leg cocking, marking etc starts to take hold. Older dogs it takes several months to really notice the change but young dogs it' seems stop these behaviours quicker. So stick with your vets advice and wait to 12 months or so. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hitfreshairagain Posted February 16, 2018 Author Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 some really great information on here guys thanks a lot Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aled Posted February 16, 2018 Report Share Posted February 16, 2018 Yep nice one all thanks. Aled Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harkom Posted February 19, 2018 Report Share Posted February 19, 2018 On 2/15/2018 at 14:18, hitfreshairagain said: vets they found one of his balls is bigger than the other Why not hemi-castrate. Remove affected testicle, leave the "normal" one. Problem with castrates where they are encountering intact dogs in close proximity - say in the beaters' cart - is that the male dogs will bother your dog by displaying a range of behaviour typical of a male "looking for sex". Probably better at this age to leave him with self producing testosterone function to prevent this. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted February 19, 2018 Report Share Posted February 19, 2018 38 minutes ago, harkom said: Why not hemi-castrate. Remove affected testicle, leave the "normal" one. Problem with castrates where they are encountering intact dogs in close proximity - say in the beaters' cart - is that the male dogs will bother your dog by displaying a range of behaviour typical of a male "looking for sex". Probably better at this age to leave him with self producing testosterone function to prevent this. Most vets wont do this as some testicular effects are often genetic. Under vet council rules they have to render the dog incapable of breeding. Our Setter had an undescended testicle which is often genetic. We wanted the undescended testicle removing as it has a higher chance of testicular cancer. Neutering can ruin a setters red glossy coat and we wanted to preserve his lovely temperament and not have any weight problems. We got our vet to remove the undescended testicle and perform a vascectomy on the descended one. He kept his lovely coat and hormones intact, but satisfied the vet council ruling by rendering him incapable of breeding. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
harkom Posted February 20, 2018 Report Share Posted February 20, 2018 21 hours ago, loriusgarrulus said: Under vet council rules they have to render the dog incapable of breeding. I don't think so..!! And I did not see any reference in OP regarding use of dog as stud or that it is a rig. Find a vet who you can have a sensible discussion with....regarding your preferred options. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 https://www.doglistener.co.uk/neutering_definitive This is a long, but interesting article on neutering. There are links to scientific papers and some vets opinions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave at kelton Posted February 23, 2018 Report Share Posted February 23, 2018 1 hour ago, loriusgarrulus said: https://www.doglistener.co.uk/neutering_definitive This is a long, but interesting article on neutering. There are links to scientific papers and some vets opinions. Interesting article and worth reading. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
loriusgarrulus Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 (edited) We are 3 weeks along from the Suprelorin implant. Brenne has calmed down considerably and is no longer trying to romp everything. He hasn't shown any signs of nervous aggression. Its still too early yet to see if it affects his coat condition. So far so good. Edited March 18, 2018 by loriusgarrulus Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scotslad Posted March 18, 2018 Report Share Posted March 18, 2018 Must admit the vet took 1 ball of my springer as it was undecended but left the other 1. Must admit they weren't overly happy about it (lorius does make a good suggestion about the vasectamy thou) had to see 1 of the partners I wouldn't choose to castrate any dog, it can afffect they're working ability (but like everything will depend on the indivdual dog) but if for health reason i would just take 1 off again if needed. I think some vets/rehoming folk just cut the balls off at any age nowadays, the old fashioned advice was wot has been mentioned only when the dog is fully mature. I knew a guide dog trainer and he would ***** every dog individually wot was the right age to castrate as some mature faster than others. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
scobydog Posted March 21, 2018 Report Share Posted March 21, 2018 I had my Spaniel castrated, he had 1 undescended testicle but after talking to the vet we decided to remove both, it has not affected how he works in any way, as most have said 12 months old at the very least. Atb scobydog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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