Hi,
My BC dog Cody is 6 months now. I was at the vet the other day to get his weight checked . Nothing wrong with him the check was free so thought i would go along.

The vet asked me was i going to have him castrated at about 7 months.
At the time i should have asked more about it.

Some info would be of great help please.

Is 7 months to young.
Will he put on weight.
Will his coat change.
Will it calm him down or will he go the other way.

What are the + & - sides to this.

He is a very active dog and a family pet.

I'm not really up on this as I never had a dog castrated but what I do know is that it does slow their metabolism somewhat...meaning their food generally needs cutting by about a third. People carry on feeding them the usual and this is wht many castrated dogs and spayed bitches put on weight.
Obviously, each dog is individual so you'd have to experiment a little with the amount of food you give to keep a decent weight on your dog.

I've seen other people in here say that having them done doesn't affect their coat. My flyball team captain has about 6 castrated male BCs and there's nothing wrong with their coats...until he guts them in a grooming session...and he really does gut them, lol.

They say that castration will calm them down a little as they don't have the hormones flying around their systems anymore making them be more territorial and wanting to sow their oats etc...It also stops them cocking their legs up absolutely everything like entire males do when they're out and about.

As male dogs can be sexually mature from about 6 months, 7 months won't be too young.

I personally would wait till he was about 18months old and fully mature, unless you have a un speyed bitch that you need to worry about him getting to. Its been said if you neuter them to young they can stay acting immature all their life.

It can change their coat and you
would need to cut his food down to prevent him putting weight on.

Our rottie x collie became more aggressive when he was neutered and now isnt keen on other male dogs, where as before he used to play with them. its taken years to get this under control and wasnt easy.

If he isnt causing any behaviour problems him being entire then there may be no reason to neuter him.

Thanks for the help.

I still don't know what to do.
I have an older dog in the house he is a small X i did not have him done.

As for Cody the BC he is a bit nippy but only with me great with kids and other dogs. Very attached to me. My other half said i don't no why.

I would not be thinking about this if the vet had not brought it up.

All vets mention neutering when you get them vacinated normally even if you arent having a problem.

The nipping is a normal border collie habit, everytime he does it tell him no and put him in another room to calm down. When he doesnt nip praise him with a treat or toy etc. Neutering certainly wont cure that problem.

Hi,

I would always have my dogs neutered having lost a dog to prostate cancer, which wouldnt have happened had he been neutered. However I would leave it until the dog is fully mature, at least a year old, unless you have an unsprayed bitch in the house.

It will stop some aggression problems but since some aggression can be a learned behaviour I wouldnt have it done for that reason alone.

I've had 3 dogs neutered and 2 of them had no change in their coat but the last ones coat did become more curly and 'woolly' looking. However a year on his coat is now returning to its previous condition and looks nice and glossy again.

There is definately a risk of the dog putting weight on after neutering as it slows down their metabolism but this is easily managed with slightly less food or a food for senior dogs/weight reduction.

My dog did become a bit irritable after neutering but that soon settled down and hes now back to normal, there were a lot of changes in the house around the time of his operation and Skye hates changes so think some of the behavioural changes was due to that rather than the op.

Hope that was helpful,ultimately its your decision as to what you do.

Have had a think about this now after a talk with the vet.
We are off to Skye in July but when we come back i'm going to book him in.

The vet told me that i could get him an injection that gives the same symptoms
(outcome) as the OP but only lasts about 5 weeks and this would let you see
any small changes in him.

Don't know if any of you have come across this.

Hi, we had Oscar neutered at six months, he is now nine months and it has made the one difference we wanted, he stopped mounting poor Rowan (he is neutered and really took offence at this game!!) plus our neighbour has a Visler bitch who has not been spayed, but his attitude, very loving, his coat & everything else is as before his snip,

I am so pleased your boy is okay with his hips, enjoy your boy, they give far more than they ever take.

Sandy & Phil.

Thanks for that.
I sometimes feel a bit over protective of him. I'm sure this will pass as he gets older.

I have read Oscars post and i feel for the both of you. In the end i'm sure you will have made the right decision for him.

Yes they do bring so much joy.