Could neutering a dog affect his hunting skills?

dreamrr · Post by **dreamrr** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 2:40 pm

I am curious to hear some of your opinions.

Could neutering a hunting dog affect his judgment, attitude, or skill in the field?

I live in Las Vegas, and, unfortunatley, they have a law that requires you to neuter or spay your pet. There is no way around it other than getting a breeders license or just plain breaking the law.

What do you think? Should I neuter him or not?

He is a 1 year old GSP who I am having trained professionally. I have a lot of money tied up in him and I do not want to ruin my new hunting dog....

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 6:22 pm

dreamrr wrote:I am curious to hear some of your opinions.

Could neutering a hunting dog affect his judgment, attitude, or skill in the field?

I live in Las Vegas, and, unfortunatley, they have a law that requires you to neuter or spay your pet. There is no way around it other than getting a breeders license or just plain breaking the law.

What do you think? Should I neuter him or not?

He is a 1 year old GSP who I am having trained professionally. I have a lot of money tied up in him and I do not want to ruin my new hunting dog....

What a shame!!! Especially when we are supposed to be a FREE COUNTRY!! But to answer your question, it shouldn't affect your dog's hunting performance at all, although I think he needs to be a little older before it is done [you can research past threads on this subject]. As far as whether you should or shouldn't break the law, I can't advise you on that. I know what I would do but you have to make that decision yourself. I am sure there is a reason for the law, but maybe they should deal with the irresponsible people instead of restricting everybody.

Good luck,
Charlie

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Wed Oct 17, 2012 7:21 pm

Every dog that I've neutered got lazier and put on weight. I would get the breeders license.

duckn66 · Post by **duckn66** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 6:22 am

No effect on them at all. Have had neutered and spayed dogs both. All were great in the field.

I personally think it's a great idea to spay or neuter. Especially spaying a bitch. Never have to worry about a heat cycle and not being able to hunt her.

I don't agree with the cities law because I think its intruding upon your rights as a citizen a little bit to much. Very surprised it hasn't been challenged and beat yet.

Post by **slistoe** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 6:33 am

whatsnext · Post by **whatsnext** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:53 am

How would neutering a dog NOT affect a him ? Cut your balls off and see if you don't change, I am not against neutering and i am not saying don't do it but it will affect him,testosterone does the same for male dogs as human males i believe.I would believe i am in the minority with my opinion but i choose to let my males have there boys even if i do not plan to breed them.

Post by **ezzy333** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 8:31 am

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:Every dog that I've neutered got lazier and put on weight. I would get the breeders license.

Neutering doesn't cause a dog to gain weight. That is just neglect on the person doing the feeding. Not sure how I could tell they get lazier unless they just refuse to hunt and longer.

Ezzy

DogNewbie · Post by **DogNewbie** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:01 am

Get a hairy dog with small balls

That's what I ended up with my GWP...people don't even notice he's intact. I've had people at the dog park complain to me about other owners bringing their unfixed dogs to the park and starting fights as our dogs play happily together at our feet :roll: I just kinda nod and act interested

texasgwp · Post by **texasgwp** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:14 am

I've always wondered about this as well. On a recent hunting trip a buddy of mine brought his neutered GSP along, GSP was about 2 years old and never hunted with before.

He was go, go, go nonstop for about 3 hours. He had no desire to find birds, but he was just running everywhere. Full of energy.

DogNewbie · Post by **DogNewbie** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:35 am

texasgwp wrote:I've always wondered about this as well. On a recent hunting trip a buddy of mine brought his neutered GSP along, GSP was about 2 years old and never hunted with before.

He was go, go, go nonstop for about 3 hours. He had no desire to find birds, but he was just running everywhere. Full of energy.

Are you saying the dog has never been hunted or you've never hunted with this dog before, because if the dog has had hardly any hunting exposure that's going to be a much bigger issue than being neutered. How should a two year old dog know what to do in the field if its never had the chance to learn?

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 1:41 pm

Ezzy- go neuter 100 teenage boys and get back to me with your findings. I bet you get atleast 90 who do nothing but sit around instead of going out chasing girls. You are stopping the production of testosterone which can do nothing but eventually hurt performance.

Unless there is a medical condition, I won't fix any of my dogs until they retire.

Post by **ezzy333** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:04 pm

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:Ezzy- go neuter 100 teenage boys and get back to me with your findings. I bet you get atleast 90 who do nothing but sit around instead of going out chasing girls. You are stopping the production of testosterone which can do nothing but eventually hurt performance.

Unless there is a medical condition, I won't fix any of my dogs until they retire.

I am not advocating neutering your dog. What I am saying is neutering a mature dog has no relationship to neutering a teenage boy. But I can tell you back in history when they did do that the ones neutered did not sit around and do nothing anymore than a barrow, a gelding, a steer, or a capon does today.

I think before we can claim to be a vet we have to do more and read a human medical book as there is just a lot of that has little bearing on animals.

Ezzy

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 2:29 pm

The OP asked about a 1yr old which is a puppy. That's why I compared it to teenagers. Decreased drive, muscle hmm. I'm not claiming to be a doctor but I did take testosterone shots when I was young and the effects were nothing short of spectacular.

Now this may be a stretch but the 2 yr old that just ran around the field and never pointed. Could loss of testosterone cause a drop in "prey" drive? 60% of dogs with aggression issues are fixed when they get fixed so it definitely has an effect.

Vonzeppelinkennels · Post by **Vonzeppelinkennels** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:04 pm

Neutering does not necessarily cure aggressivenes.One individual on here posted he had a male dog that was 2 or 3 yrs old neutered so he wouldn't have to worry about the female he brought into the home getting bred.This male never had any agression problems before neutering but after it was done him became aggressive,which I can understand being a man.Some one neutered me you better believe I would be very PEED off therefore very aggressive,probably to the point of murder!!

Probably the ONLY thing neutering cures for sure is impregnation of a female even though he is still capable of physicaly breeding a female.

DogNewbie · Post by **DogNewbie** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:38 pm

Brazosvalleyvizslas wrote:The OP asked about a 1yr old which is a puppy. That's why I compared it to teenagers. Decreased drive, muscle hmm. I'm not claiming to be a doctor but I did take testosterone shots when I was young and the effects were nothing short of spectacular.

Now this may be a stretch but the 2 yr old that just ran around the field and never pointed. Could loss of testosterone cause a drop in "prey" drive? 60% of dogs with aggression issues are fixed when they get fixed so it definitely has an effect.

I'd love to see the study if you can post it. My take on the 2yr old dog is that it had no clue what it was doing in the field besides exploring. Had that dog been a trained bird dog that also happened to be neutered, my money says that dog would be actively hunting.

Post by **slistoe** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 3:50 pm

Quite a few insecure men on this thread.

jimbo&rooster · Post by **jimbo&rooster** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 7:40 pm

Ive never owned a neutered male dog, but have had SEVERAL spayed females, and never had one that lost anything as far as hunting drive, and have one lab here now that I have a hard time keeping weight on.

I would doubt that testosterone has as much effect on prey drive as thousands of years of hunting instinct. By saying testosterone was a driving force in pray drive you are putting alot of "bleep" nice females out of the mix.....

Jim

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:03 pm

Jim, I did say that might be stretching it a bit. I was only thinking outside the box because men with low testosterone levels have lower sex drive.

I'm pretty sure also that females produce testosterone, just not as much kinda like men produce Estrogen. Modern supplements for K9 and humans have Estrogen blockers in them so that Testosteone will be greater. If reducing Estrogen can have an effect (proven) than why wouldn't reducing testosterone have a negative affect on males. This all supports what I have seen in my personal dogs where females don't seem to have the same negative affect than many of my males have.

ultracarry · Post by **ultracarry** » Thu Oct 18, 2012 9:36 pm

Register the dog in a friends name out of the city, take it to a vet outside of LV. You can not own them but someone else can and you watch the dog for an extended period. You would no longer own the dog........ Or get it certified by your medical doctor that you need a companion dog (people do it all the time) and that excludes him from having to be fixed (read it and is exempt due to being a service animal).

duckn66 · Post by **duckn66** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 9:01 am

Almost all roping, cutting and barrel horses are neutered. Just saying.......

Ever watch a cattle horse work? Doesn't get much more intense than that.

Post by **ezzy333** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 10:49 am

duckn66 wrote:Almost all roping, cutting and barrel horses are neutered. Just saying.......

Ever watch a cattle horse work? Doesn't get much more intense than that.

Neutering changes a dogs sexual drive but little else whan done after the dog is mature.

Ezzy

JIM K · Post by **JIM K** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:23 pm

i saw no change in my labs hunting ability after he was nuetered.like said, if you wait year or older,it does not improve aggressiveness in dog or sexual thing.
but doing it too early affects the bones of dogs growing etc.

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:41 pm

As far as aggression goes go to the Associates of Animal Behavior Professionals and read the studies about the subject. It gets real clear once you read that spaying aggressive females increases the risk of aggression.

Ever seen a dog that has been giving steroids to improve performance. They look like a cross between Arnold and Run like Usein Bolt.

madduckdog · Post by **madduckdog** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 12:54 pm

I wonder if all those low T commericals are fake .....

can a dog have low T

ultracarry · Post by **ultracarry** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 2:38 pm

Ask all of the cyclists that said they took test if it helped them perform with Armstrong. Some people have more running through their system then others and you can tell. Sorry but I don't think you could tell if it effects the performance unless you can talk to them, they can communicate back, and perform tests on them, cut off their testicles and perform the same tests.

Until you can talk to them I say it will effect them.

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 3:01 pm

And now you know why lance sponsored the drug testing at every tour that he won. Never before was it sponsored by anyone other than tour organizers.

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 6:23 pm

I think slistoe gave the best answer to the question....A simple NO!

Charlie

texasgwp · Post by **texasgwp** » Fri Oct 19, 2012 7:07 pm

DogNewbie wrote:
texasgwp wrote:I've always wondered about this as well. On a recent hunting trip a buddy of mine brought his neutered GSP along, GSP was about 2 years old and never hunted with before.

He was go, go, go nonstop for about 3 hours. He had no desire to find birds, but he was just running everywhere. Full of energy.
Are you saying the dog has never been hunted or you've never hunted with this dog before, because if the dog has had hardly any hunting exposure that's going to be a much bigger issue than being neutered. How should a two year old dog know what to do in the field if its never had the chance to learn?

I agree with you 100%, the dog had no training whatsoever. My post was more geared towards answering an earlier question as to whether or not a neutered dog would become lazy. I was just trying to say he was just as hyperactive as any other dog. I don't think he lost his "prey" drive, he just didn't know what he had to do.

boonebrit · Post by **boonebrit** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 8:19 am

Bigger issue to me is that Vegas has this law! Obsurd IMO. I would readily break the law and just state my dog is from out of state if asked. Govt shouldnt be able to control our own dogs health....

dreamrr · Post by **dreamrr** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 9:01 am

Problem solved...

I spoke with animal control about my concerns. They told me they would work with me and not to worry about it. They said if I get a fanciers permit, that I could keep the dog intact. I guess a trained hunting dog is reason enough to have a fanciers permit. Sucks I have to pay the government an extra fee each year, but at least I solved this problem.

He will be not be neutered.... for now

birddogger · Post by **birddogger** » Sat Oct 20, 2012 6:43 pm

Sounds like extortion to me.

Charlie

Brazosvalleyvizslas · Post by **Brazosvalleyvizslas** » Sun Oct 21, 2012 12:53 pm

How much is the fee?

dreamrr · Post by **dreamrr** » Mon Oct 22, 2012 10:32 am

I believe the fancier fee is $50 per year

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Could neutering a dog affect his hunting skills?

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