Gun Dog Forum

Hello, I've searched the forums about neutering dogs a bit. It seems that the consensus is that neutering doesn't have a big impact on hunting performance. I have a 7 month old golden male that will be a year old in August (1 month before season). Wife is not budging and doesn't want him intact any longer than a year old. I tried convincing her to wait longer (or not fix at all) but she's not budging.

Question is, will neutering a month before the season have much of an impact on training that last month? Should I worry much about him, or just go with it?

No.

Why does your wife want him neutered so badly? My wife has tried to convince me too, to have my one year old French Brittany neutered but I just dig in and say it isn’t happening until he’s at least two years old if it happens at all. This might be my last hunting dog and I want to make sure he is fully developed and mature before I even cross that bridge. With all the running, cutting, and jumping a bird dog does, I want to make sure his muscular structure around his joints is as fully developed and matured as possible to protect against such things as ACL injuries which could cost me a heck of a lot of money at best and possibly prematurely curtail or end a dog’s hunting life at worst.

YEP. Why neuter at all. Neutering is largely over rated.
Neutering especially under 18 mos. to 2 yrs. old isn't doing the dog any favors in physical development.

Biggest factor from neutering tht could affect hunting:
Dog gets fat from over feeding, more so & easier after neutering.
Dog possibly has tendon / joint issues neutered too young.

I'm not pro- neuter and I think you should wait longer but at least he's not 6 months old. As for recovery he'll be fine literally the day after. They recover very quickly. A month prior to hunting season is absolutely fine.

I have one intact dog (of . No way should you neuter before he's finished growing. At least 18 months old. You need to control the behavior (hiking his leg and marking) but you don't want he risks associated with early neutering. There are no benefits to neutering a male before he's finished growing. We've always spayed and neutered all of our dogs because we truly feel like we could buy a better dog than we could breed - but we do it after they're done growing.

In point of fact, it is NOT the consensus that neutering doesn't affect hunting performance. It does.

You are operating under a false premise.

Bill

I don't think it is a consensus either but it is hard to explain why the smartest vet in the world feeds raw while advocating early neutering. Might it have some basis in whether that individual agrees with you or not.

ezzy333 wrote:I don't think it is a consensus either but it is hard to explain why the smartest vet in the world feeds raw while advocating early neutering. Might it have some basis in whether that individual agrees with you or not.

The so-called "smartest vet in the world" advocates early neutering???

Don't think so. Or the title is a completely sarcastic one.

Bill