neutering...yay or nay?

Hi Jan + Mcguiregirl

From what I remember, the breeder said Shelties tend to stay with "the pack" and are not great escape artists. Now I'm not sure if she said this in relation to them running away to find a female in heat - or just generally keeping them enclosed. Nonetheless I guess you can't underestimate the drive for dogs to find a mate and that makes this a very convincing argument.

Also, I know there is a huge problem with unwanted pets and strays in America. I may be being naive but I don't know if that's such a problem here in New Zealand, so perhaps that's why the breeder didn't insist on us getting him neutered. No idea if this is accurate!!

Anyway we told her he wouldn't be a show dog either. So I'm just as confused as you. I will contact her again to understand her reasoning - watch this space...
 
Hi Becky

I have never been required by a breeder to have my shelties neutered but I think it is the best thing you can do for your dog. I have had both entire and neutered males and for the sake of the dog being neutered makes life much easier.

My dogs mingle alot with other dogs and after a certain age - about 9-12mths - other desexed dogs do not accept other entire dogs. There is always friction and the entire males just do not interact well. When an entire dog meets other dogs you always need to be wary of their interaction. My last entire male sheltie would go ballistic if he met another entire male of any breed. He died of prostate cancer at the age of 10.

The same goes for females. I saw this with my current female who I was originally going to show. She got attacked 3 times and the vet told me getting her spayed would reduce the risk of attack. Since being spayed she has not been attacked since.

Desexed dogs dont spend as much time sniffing and marking when you walk them - altho the longer you delay the neuter the less benefit you get though. For some reason entire dogs also have a habit of peeing on people - dont know why though.

I think a better question always is - are there any compelling reasons why I should have an entire dog? I know sometimes the thought of having entire pets is nice, but desexing is much kinder for the pet.
 
I would question this breeder being a 'top breeder' if they sold a pet puppy without a neuter contract. I can't think of a single show breeder who would sell a pet puppy without requiring it to be neutered. Most breeders really do want to protect their lines, and prevent a dog from them being accidentally bred, used for breeding mixes, or being bred to dogs who really don't meet the standard and shouldn't be bred.
Granted, some show prospects are sold as pets instead of show dogs to get them into the best possible homes. However, a lot of dogs sold as pets are sold that way because there is one thing or another that keeps them from meeting the breed standard, and thus make the puppy pet quality instead of show quality. That may be a size issue, angulation, not a long enough tail, missing/crooked teeth, under/overbite, too round of an eye, etc etc.
I would say to get him neutered. You're not planning to breed him, and he has no need to remain intact. There are several behavior issues that can come up with an intact male... marking, fighting, mounting, wandering- just to name a few.
 
I'm with Stacey here!

Maybe "down under" is different than North America, but all the top breeders here will insist on a spay/neuter contract for a pet pup. For all the reasons that Stacey said.

But even if that's not a requirement, I would do the surgery. I think it just makes for a happier dog and a happier you!
 
Hey, thought you'd be interested to know what Howard's breeder said. I copied her response here;

"We have been breeding Shelties since 1971, and have many males & females under our care since that time. We have in the past housed out older animals, but when they have given us so much pleasure in the show ring, they live out their time with us.

During that time we have never neutered our males & only spay the girls if there has been some female issues.

Shelties & this applies to the males, attach themselves to the family as its extended family, & the world out beyond the front is just too big. They never go out on the ran tan looking for bitches, their life is your life.

Shelties are not fighters over bitches or territory & tend to back down from anything confrontational.

There is however one advantage in the neutering of males & that is their urine has less odour.

There will of course be a differing opinion from your vet, $$$$ come in here, and the likes of the SPCA, who are often driven by some strange forces. They tend to embrace the male canine behavior in the one category.

Hope this information is of some help."
 
Well, that's the furthest thing from anything I've ever heard of a show breeder doing :/ I can't say I agree with it.
Perhaps hers don't wander or fight over bitches in heat, but I know plenty of others who do, and that ARE shelties.
Intact males are intact males. They aren't people who reason things out. They can, and do fight for dominance, and/or over bitches in heat, will wander, and mark, and hunch.
I am a breeder, and a show breeder at that. I can't say I agree with her, and I don't agree with her pushing males to be kept intact when they aren't to be bred. I also have to wonder what type of breeder she is to so readily allow her lines to go out into the world via intact males and females who are pet quality. Not everyone out there buying pet puppies plan not to breed them if given the choice of spaying/neutering, and not every dog is quality enough to need to be bred.
To be honest, what reason would you *want* to keep a male intact if it's not being bred?
 
neutering also reduces the risk of testicular cancer....Mine who are not stud/show quality get the snip snip...honestly I like them better that way its just one less thing off their mind to not focus on! :lol:
 
HopeShelties said:
To be honest, what reason would you *want* to keep a male intact if it's not being bred?
Click to expand...

Ditto! I know things are alot happier in my house once the boys were finally neuteured at 11 months. And I do not even have females to deal with!
 
BarbV said:
I'm with Stacey here!

Maybe "down under" is different than North America, but all the top breeders here will insist on a spay/neuter contract for a pet pup.
Click to expand...

I think it is quite different here. We dont have a problem with Shelties in puppy mills or pet shops and it is rare to find a sheltie pup in the paper. They are not a popular breed here.

A few sheltie breeders ask for desexing contracts but it is usually those more popular breeds that come with breeding contracts. I think a bigger concern is suspect overseas purchase of pups. Generally here though other dog people get a annoyed about entire dogs being around because of the problems it causes between dogs.

Becky - re what your breeder said about aggression. It is not that Shelties are aggressive but that a sheltie will be a target for aggression. Being a smaller dog they will always come off the worse in any attack. If you plan on walking your dog regularly it is a risk you need to be aware of.
 
*Caro said:
I think it is quite different here. We dont have a problem with Shelties in puppy mills or pet shops and it is rare to find a sheltie pup in the paper. They are not a popular breed here.

A few sheltie breeders ask for desexing contracts but it is usually those more popular breeds that come with breeding contracts.
Click to expand...

Nevertheless, I don't see how that makes the spay/neuter contracts much less needed. Popular breed or not, people can still decide to breed the dog and make money off it and an oops litter could still occure.
 
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