Non-surgical Neuter?

Most of the ones I'm seeing arn't my training clients, they are clients at the vet clinic I work at. I'm glad your family has had great success, I'm just relaying my experience.

I consider myself maybe a small step above the average pet owner, and holy flipping cow do I like Gusto better as a neutered dog. I'm sure there are those who will say it is a fluke/his behavior was about to change anyway/I wanted to see the change. Whatever. I'm glad I waited until he was finished growing for the most part, but I am so glad I had it done.

I certainly have no qualms with those who choose to keep their males intact, as long as they are preventing them from breeding. It is not the right answer for me for sure!

My experience with client dogs has not shown me that altered males are any easier for the average person to handle than normal ones. *shrug* Most people can't handle dogs, period, and I've not seen that there's a huge difference between alters and males - certainly not the behaviors that really matter to pet people.

I have had a couple people ask me if they "should" neuter their adult dogs. I just ask if they're unhappy with the dog now, and does the dog roam unsupervised? If both answers are no, then I recommend they save themselves the $300, lol.

AFA the zuetering goes we have a dog at work that was done this way... no idea if he was part of trial, or something? I just remember we had to call the owner because she marked "neutered" on his paperwork but he clearly had nuts. He still looks intact structurally (and no, I don't mean that he has visible testicles), so that's nice. He does like to mark and still acts generally "male".

I've read that the injections halve testosterone production, so it's not something I'd do for my dogs, but seeing that the dog done that way at work looks/acts normal, I'd consider it if I were in the position of altering a foster dog before rehoming, or something.

I dunno, I tend to think with the heavy-duty pro-spay/neuter stance in this country, we actively select against responsible average pet owners owning intact dogs. Most "good" pet owners spay/neuter because that's what it's drilled into their head is the "right" and "responsible" thing to do. So it could be that we would have a bunch of completely appropriate intact dogs living in these households with their involved, responsible owners if these dogs were allowed to make it out of their childhoods with their goolies attached.

I mean, I look at the clinic where I work- who doesn't spay/neuter? The people who are breeding (most of whom should not be), the people who don't want to spend money on vet care, the people who are worried about their dogs not looking manly, and the occasional sport person (usually field work).

+1

This has been my experience too.

Yeah me too. And honestly, I think a lot of it is perception due to the constant drilling about how horrible it is to have intact dogs and how much easier and better it is to have altered ones. People hear that so much and tend to blame everything they dislike behaviorally about their dog with the dog being intact. Especially with males. They neuter and their perception of the dog's behavior changes, even if the dog is actually still just as much of a jerk LOL

In Europe, dogs are almost always left intact, bitches in season aren't banned from trials or training and my understand is that it is a non-issue, no one thinks much of it because it's the norm there. Here, it's more like "OMG how can people run intact males in agility with bitches in season at trials!?!" Here, not only is it rare for bitches to be allowed to attend training classes while in season (even mentioning it tends to cause most people to freak out) but there's no way they can participate in most competitions when in season. And good luck getting a full refund if your girl has bad timing. Bitches can't even run in lure coursing alone if they are in season and they are seriously checked prior to every run. Yep - can't even pay for your bitch in season to chase a plastic bag around a large open field (outside...) because she might be too much of a distraction

I guess it can be summed up by saying... Americans are extremely uptight about dogs being left intact. And being so uptight tends to led to "issues" - both issues of perception and actual issues. If AR had decided to use their propaganda and celebrity spokespeople and what not to drill into people "train and contain" rather than "spay/neuter!", we'd probably have a lot more intact dogs and a lot less problems. Of course, that doesn't further their agenda the way removing as many dogs as possible from the gene pool does.

I know, and I love how like 2 weeks later the dog is magically much improved, despite the fact that it takes waaaaaaay, WAY longer than that for the hormones to clear their system. It's like as soon as the owner isn't looking at balls, the dog got "fixed" and must be better! :rofl1:

Yup, I'm just an idiot

One of my friends got her 8 month old roudy male neutered and the next day was like, "OH MY GOSH THE TRANSFORMATION IS AMAZING!!!!" I just laughed because the anesthesia was still wearing off.

Two weeks later, she was like, "THIS MADE NO DIFFERENCE WHATSOEVER AAAARRRGH!!!!"

lol

:rofl1: Now that is funny!

Although it's a bit sad that someone would think it's great that after a surgery their dog's temperament changed to that of tranquilized dog.

Did I fall for a line of bull?

I had Baloo neutered because I was told it would increase his life expectancy.

I'm an idiot along with you then.

Add another to the idiot list.

We should totally have an idiot club. I want t-shirts!

Interesting...I wonder how much of this is AR and how much is related to Americans having a more 'puritanical' attitude towards sexuality in general. I mean, look at how we treat human issues of birth control, teen pregnancy, etc. When you think about it, it's not totally surprising that we would extend those attitudes to our pets.

I'm always mystified when I hear well-intentioned people talking about a rescue dog that's had puppies as a "poor thing" and having to go through such a hardship that she never wanted, etc., etc. Ummm, it's a DOG. Nature intended females to reproduce and their instinct is to do so. Mama dogs are being mama dogs, not having regrets about having puppies out of wedlock.

And you guys aren't idiots! For some dogs, it *does* make a difference. The others are just saying that it's not true 100% of the time for all dogs.

I often get accosted by people who try to "educate" me about my need to neuter Uncle Fred. I used to explain to people why he isn't neutered and then I gave it up. Now I just don't care what anyone thinks. Too busy to worry about it, just want to enjoy my time with my hound.

:lol-sign: I'm so glad you can't tell if a dog is still intact just by looking Rosey's been happily running around with another dog, then I'll let it slip that she's intact and OMG I'M A HORRIBLE PERSON MY POOR DOG. It's like she has the plague or something, they can't get their dog back to them fast enough

I get caught between the two sides...I mean once it's done, it's done. There's no temptation to that average joe to change their opinion from "Oh I'll never breed my dog" to "Well...how about just one time..". Or for accidents, dogs getting away, etc.

Soldier is the only one here not neutered..I don't know, just never felt the need to do it. He does fight with Romeo but that might just be them..who knows.

I way prefer to spay females as dealing with hormones and blood and not being able to take them places when that hits...eh, not worth it to me.

Have you Considered “Zeutering†for Your Male Dog?

This article was very informative. It seems that the world of medical technology and advancement also applies to our four legged friends. Now there is a way to neuter your male dog without an excessive amount of pain and without removing their actual genitals.

This is basically a chemical process rather than surgical. You would simply take your pet to the veterinarian and they give them a single injection into their scrotum. The solution used is a mixture of Zinc gluconate, L-Arginine and water. Interestingly enough, just a single injection is enough to render your dog permanently sterile within about a month.

This formulation was introduced initially within the US and is now commercially available in several South American countries. It is approved (right now) for use on puppies and dogs between 3 and 10 months old.

I think this is a fantastic idea. It certainly beats taking your buddy in for actual surgery. Not to mention the pain that they feel after it is over, plus I am sure they are wondering exactly what happened to their private parts! In this case, I would imagine they have no idea at all and feel no pain at all, either.