# What age to neuter male?



## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

Kojo is 4.5 months and starting mounting behavior. I don't want this to become a habit. He grabs onto my arm with front paws standing on his rear legs but not my legs yet. At what age did ya'll neuter your males?


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

I neutered mine early at about 5 1/2 months because we had some scheduling issues and it increased our daycare options. Our puppy really started doing it a lot in just the few weeks before the procedure. There’s really know way to know if neutering helped or not because a huge part of it is really just puppy excitement and how it’s managed. I always just moved him and stopped playing. I can’t even remember the last time he did it, he responded pretty quickly to redirection and eventually it stopped altogether. A lot of people don’t care as long as the dog isn’t bothering a person, but mine never tried to jump on a toy or furniture or anything. I’ve only see him try with another dog once, with his daycare bff he hadn’t seen in a long time. They were both going crazy but when the person working told them “down” he listened right away and they started playing chase again. 

I know the recommendation is to wait if you can. Next time I do plan to wait.


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## LUVmyHava (Apr 16, 2019)

My vet would rather wait until about 8 months so can pull any remaining baby teeth under same anesthesia. I will see how long I can tolerate his embarrassing behavior. For now he is not humping. And some mounting can be a way to assert dominance rather than sexualized behavior.

At what age did any of your males start lifting leg to urinate?


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

My male Hav is the least dominant dog ever and he humped out of excited energy, not sexualized. I don’t really remember him just mounting without humping very often. It always seemed he jumped right to it, very quick and impulsive to me, and someone intervened just as fast. For example, when the whole family was playing with him and he was so happy he couldn’t contain himself. Even during the worst of it he stopped right away if someone moved him and stopped playing for a moment. 

Mine started marking around 4 months I think, I know it was early enough I didn’t catch on. I need to keep track of some of this better because I’m forgetting! It was confusing because he was really on a roll with potty training and I then I found pee behind my bedroom door. Fortunately it resolved pretty quickly. He did not lift his leg at all until after a year and even then it was quite the effort. My kids told me about it first, and it was hysterical the first time I saw it! His leg would sort of shake with the effort. I’m not really sure why, because it’s not like he can’t balance on 3 legs for other things! He only lifts his leg to mark every once in a while, but when he does there is great pride in it. He can mark as much as his little heart desires - as long as it’s outside!

Every dog is different so I’m sure you’ll hear lots of different experiences. Regardless of what you decide, there are lots of ways to manage those behaviors so you have time to decide what you want without feeling pressure.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

Hmmm. So I want to wait to neuter Oliver. We had a traumatic experience with him injuring his paw a while back, and it’s just fully healed. I can’t handle the thought of putting him through surgery. I was hoping to wait till end of summer. 

As far as leg lifting, he’s 6 months and he hasn’t done it yet, that I’ve seen. I’m so paranoid he will do this because we JUST got potty training down. But even outside he squats. No humping yet either. Oh the fun that lies ahead! Lol.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Kodi was 2 before he marked AT ALL. And that was only outside, in appropriate places. He has twice in his life marked indoors. Both time where other dogs have previously marked, in a breeders home. (and LONG after he was neutered). Both of mygirls do more marking than Kodi. But again, it is done outside.


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## Barbara Levy (Apr 22, 2016)

Loki didn't lift his leg until he was well over a year old. He squats when he really pees and only lifts his leg to mark. He has never marked in the house - only outside. We live in an area with lots of dogs so walks can be slow when I am in the mood to let him mark every bush and pole. I swear that half the time nothing comes out. He doesn't try to hump people, the furniture, his toys, or initiate humping with other dogs and I didn't have him neutered until he was a year old. The only time I have seen him hump is with his Havi friend, Java. She starts it and he will hump back. But they are clueless. He will try humping from the side, her head, etc. It is almost comical.


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## penak (Mar 11, 2019)

5.5 month...I think


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## PNWAlan (Oct 9, 2018)

Skye is almost 9 months old now. He has one little friend that he tries to mount every time he is with her. Other than that he has not shown any humping behavior. He has free run of the house and on a couple of occasions he marked just inside bedrooms doors. I cleaned it immediately and he has not marked anywhere for a couple of months now.

The only other dog we have had in our family was a large mixed breed that lived to be over 16. We had to live with the damage that we did to him with neutering him at 6 months old. He had a ruptured CCL which is very common in large breed dogs neutered before reaching maturity. I don't know if his liver problems were related to the early neutering or just old age.The evidence of damage caused by early neutering is pretty plain in large breed dogs. Not so clear in smaller dogs.

Dr. Karen Becker has some strong opinions against early neutering and neutering in general. I think you have to take what she says with a grain of salt because she is associated with a company that is selling supplements. But what she says about castration having unknown and possible harmful effects on the endocrine system does make sense. Especially if done before reaching sexual and physical maturity.

Skye's breeder has the common requirement to spay/neuter by 6 months old. After explaining my concerns and requesting an extension to 1year old she extended it to 18 months. I have talked with his Vet about neutering. Because Skye is Cryptorchid the Vet does have some concern about testicular cancer. He does feel comfortable waiting until Skye is one year old. So we will get it done some time in October after his first birthday.


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## Henry&Kate (Mar 29, 2017)

Henry is 23 months and still intact. He mostly squats outside and occasionally marks, outside only. He did start humping one particular crate cushion. Ii tore and I threw it away and oddly he hasn't tried to find something to replace it. 

We just talked to our new vet about neutering. And as long as there are no negative behaviors or other issues, I don't have plans to neuter him right now. I did discuss it with the breeder as well. I'm not for or against, just want to have a solid reason to have him undergo surgery and i don't have one right now.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

PNWAlan said:


> Skye is almost 9 months old now. He has one little friend that he tries to mount every time he is with her. Other than that he has not shown any humping behavior. He has free run of the house and on a couple of occasions he marked just inside bedrooms doors. I cleaned it immediately and he has not marked anywhere for a couple of months now.
> 
> The only other dog we have had in our family was a large mixed breed that lived to be over 16. We had to live with the damage that we did to him with neutering him at 6 months old. He had a ruptured CCL which is very common in large breed dogs neutered before reaching maturity. I don't know if his liver problems were related to the early neutering or just old age.The evidence of damage caused by early neutering is pretty plain in large breed dogs. Not so clear in smaller dogs.
> 
> ...


What a great example of gathering all of the information, weighing the individual circumstances, talking about it with the vet, and making the best decision for your puppy.


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## lolo1 (Jul 24, 2018)

Jack (who is 1 today!!!) was neutered in May so he was about 10 months old when he had the surgery. Our Vet recommended that we wait as long as possible, as puppies receive health benefits from the hormones that are released as they mature. Jack was very “active”, and we wanted him to recover before the summer began, so we chose to do it at 10 months. As far as marking in the house, he stopped around 6 months for the most part. We actively restricted him from his favorite spots, but I think he really just matured out of the behavior. The humping stopped after the surgery, which went very well expect that he hated wearing the cone. We kept it on for the full 2 weeks though. Hope this helps!


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## KarMar (Jan 14, 2016)

Both of my younger boys are intact, and their breeder has in her pet contract that altering is not to happen before one year of age (and she will refund a small amount of the purchase price if you do wait until the correct time). Make sure to check your contract. I wouldn't personally be comfortable doing it any time before a year old, but everybody has their own opinion.

My one altered dog was done at 16 months. No issues with lasting marking/humping.


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## RIstream (Aug 21, 2008)

After a lot of reading, we are not going to do it until at least 18 months. With all of the potential problems from hormones etc we're not taking any chances. If any behavioral issues pop up we'll deal with them.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

The funny thing is, my youngest girl does more humping than Kodi EVER did. BOTH girls mark more than Kodi does, and Kodi, even though neutered many years ago, marks too. NONE of them mark in the house because they have all been taught not to, just like they’ve been taught not to potty in the house. It really is that simple. It’s not just a matter of desexing. That may SLIGHTLY lessen the urge to hump or mark, but it doesn’t make it go away, and it is not dependent on gender. In the end, you still need to train the dog what is appropriate where. 

And when it comes to humping, you need to decide what YOU think is appropriate. In our house, it is OK to hump your own toys. It is NEVER OK to hump a human, or another dog. Also not OK to hump my decorative pillows, and in Kodi’s case, no “rough sex” with the donut beds. (Because he ruins them! LOL!)


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

Ack! I'm so confused about what to do now!


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## Marni (Apr 1, 2017)

Melissa Woods said:


> Ack! I'm so confused about what to do now!


I went through this with Kosmo. I would perhaps not neutered at all (it wasn't in my contract) if he had not been an "orchid", missing a testicle. I waited until 10 months.

This is a true story:

After the surgery they wheeled him out on a stainless cart (dog sized gurney) and he saw me, made eye contact, then rolled on his back and spread his legs so I could see his stitches. I felt like he was implying that something bad had been done to him and he knew I was the culprit. But, no...

At the followup appointment later we waited in a little room and when the vet walked in Kosmo scampered under my chair after making a little noise. The vet looked shocked.

I like the idea of being like the Europeans and not routinely neutering and spaying doggies. This was true before Kosmo had surgery. Anyway, you all would feel this way after post op dramas like my little Kosmo put on.

(Kosmo with my daughter as a wee laddie pictured.)


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## PNWAlan (Oct 9, 2018)

If not for Skye's Cryptorchid condition I would very seriously consider vasectomy instead of castration. It's not real easy to find a Vet to do the vasectomy, but it can be done.


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## krandall (Jun 11, 2009)

Melissa Woods said:


> Ack! I'm so confused about what to do now!


You know, I think thw important thing is that you do your research, weigh the pros and cons and look at the reasons for and against for YOUR specific situation, then make the best decision for YOUR family and YOUR dog and don't worry too much about what other people do or say. Just don't feel pressured into a decision you don't feel comfortable with.


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

krandall said:


> You know, I think thw important thing is that you do your research, weigh the pros and cons and look at the reasons for and against for YOUR specific situation, then make the best decision for YOUR family and YOUR dog and don't worry too much about what other people do or say. Just don't feel pressured into a decision you don't feel comfortable with.


Yes!


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## EvaE1izabeth (Nov 14, 2017)

Part of my decision was really fear of not really knowing what to expect and all of the old warnings about neutering. Don’t make your decision out of fear of what will happen if you don’t do it right away.


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## Melissa Woods (Feb 21, 2019)

EvaE1izabeth said:


> Part of my decision was really fear of not really knowing what to expect and all of the old warnings about neutering. Don't make your decision out of fear of what will happen if you don't do it right away.


This helps. I really do want to wait end of summer. My biggest worry is I did have a cat that went from perfectly litter box trained to peeing everywhere I'm almost positive because I waited a long time on neutering. And Oliver is just now reliably trained. And I'm so happy about it!

As for the vet though, mine starts crying in the parking lot and shaking in my arms by the time we get to the waiting room. and he's just had shots and exams. I'm NOT wanting to put him through surgery as a puppy if I can help it. He's a mama's boy cuddler who expects strangers to pet him and scratch his belly. He's many great things, but brave is not one of them! Lol


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