About as controversial as the question of vaccinating our four legged companions, is the question of spaying/neutering your pup. If you are facing this decision or are interested in the subject, here is a comprehensive review article by highly respected DVM & PhD Chris Zink, who has argued for quite some time what we personally also believe to be the right route to take in this matter: at the very least wait until your dog is fully developed. Procedures commonly pushed at or before six or nine months of age are just too soon for many reasons and the argument of potential issues of physical and behavioral nature simply all too often dont turn out to be true. As a responsible dog owner (no solo-strolls through the neighborhood by Mr Paws and a minimum of basic obedience) and provided, of course, your pooch has no known health issues which would require early neutering, such as testicles that havent descended, why interfere with nature before the development process is complete? In our experience it will do little in changing behavior or temperament of a dog, but it will certainly interfere with physical development. If you have been told that neutering or spaying your pup will deter certain behaviors, specifically in males, you may be surprised to find out that you are trading one thing for the other, while increasing the risk for health issues... Of course there are many opinions and studies out there, some of which argue the opposite - but it certainly cant hurt to inform yourself about all aspects of this subject in order to make a truly educated decision... caninesports/uploads/1/5/3/1/15319800/spay_neuter_considerations_2013.pdf As always please feel free to share your thoughts, questions and experiences! :)
Posted on: Sun, 27 Jul 2014 00:31:09 +0000
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