Neutered or not - that is the question facing every dog ??owner is not breeding sometime. A general answer does not exist.
Castration - Sterilization
One speaks in both sexes of castration. As opposed to sterilization, to be cut in the egg or sperm head only be removed at the castration testicles and ovaries. A sterilized animal is just as sexually active as before the procedure - it can only beget offspring or get.
The obvious advantages of castration
The benefits of neutering are obvious: A dog can not get more out of the rest of females in heat, and in the bitch stay out of the oestrous, with all its implications.
No remedy for behavioral disorders
But: Castration is not a means to resolve behavioral or education compensate for errors. Possibly sexually hyperactive dogs can be "cured" by a castration of her naughtiness.
Neutering prevents diseases
On the other side can be prevented with a castration certain diseases: in males, the testicular cancer and some diseases of the prostate and in the bitch of the dreaded Geb�rmuttervereiterung and tumors of the mammary glands. If the dog neutered before the first or second heat, decreases their risk of developing breast cancer. Possibly neutered females are also better protected from diabetes than their conspecifics intact.
It is and remains a surgical procedure
So go under the knife? So simple it is not. For although neutering are routine procedures in any veterinary practice, a residual risk remains: anesthetic incidents and complications during surgery or during wound healing are rare, but theoretically possible.
Disadvantages of castration
When deciding on a castration should not only medical reasons are important, but you should also include the biological development of the dog.
You have to remember that puberty is an important biological process in the maturation of the dog. So just make bitches after 1st Heat a strong spiritual development thrust. Also, you should make a decision yes or no castration always depends on the type of dog that you think. Thus, the large breed dogs take much longer for your mental and physical development as a dwarf or small dog breeds. Just large breed dogs (Newfoundlands, Leonberger, Great Danes) have a higher risk of developing urinary incontinence than dogs under 20kg. Also, there are certain breeds of dogs (Boxer, Doberman, Giant Schnauzer, Bobtail, Irish setter or Collie), which frequently become incontinent after castration as an example Females of the breed German shepherd.
A disadvantage of castration in females of certain types of dogs (eg races with innate protective instinct or females with a tendency towards social intolerance) can lead to increased aggression against fellow women.
Medically no problem, but one flaw is the possible development of a puppy coat with long-haired breeds. Here overgrown the undercoat the shiny top coat - the coat looks dull and blunt. A puppy coat can occur in the female and the male, but much less frequently in the latter.
Another side effect, an increased appetite, because it ceases to be of sex hormones. There is no hormonal brake more. Are found particularly often Retriever, Cocker and Beagle. If the dog continues to fully lined, it can quickly lead to obesity. You can work towards consistently reduced by feeding and adequate exercise.
The right time
The right time is based on two points: First, the age of the female and the other at the time of the cycle. If you have decided to castration, then this must take place no earlier than two months after her heat. When asked at the appropriate age, there is no right answer. While studies suggest that one to an early castration, as the risk for incontinence and weight gain were reduced, again, other studies show the opposite. Only because of the mammary tumor prevention, it makes sense to castrate the dog early (before or at the latest after the first heat).
