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Snip Snip

4K views 39 replies 22 participants last post by  Lindar51 
#1 ·
Getting close to that time. Hank is almost 8 months old, the time the Vet recommended getting him neutered.

Starting to see some traits, I hope the neutering will slow down and/or eliminate.

Anyone else neuter their Boxer at around the 7.5 - 8.5 month time frame?

What changes did you see after neutering?

No, we are not having ACE administered, already talked and confirmed this with the Vet.
 
#2 ·
My mom neutered our guy at 8.5 mo and really there is no diff. It will NOT calm him down or change his temperament so don't bank on that. I would recc waiting until at least 12 mo of age, for development & growth. Boxers develop late anyway so he shouldn't be lift in his leg or marking.
 
#4 ·
Wyatt was done at 6.5 months.... Boxers are considered puppies until they turn 3. Wyatt turned 3 in May and around April is when I saw him finally "calm" down a little bit! I personally don't think the two things are related as much as some may think. Unless you have an exact clone of a dog and they are raised and treated exactly the same, there's no true way of saying neutering at a later age matures them anymore than at 6 months.
 
#5 · (Edited)
As to the issues thinking the neutering will help eliminate - not puppy playfulness so to speak, but as my nieces and nephews like to say, "the sausage coming out of his tittle" on a more and more continual basis, and his soon to be desire to run off and chase all the single doggie females in the city, and before he starts "humping" everything. Told that neutering can also reduce some potential future aggression (not that Hank displays any aggression currently - if anything I wish he would be a little more assertive and aggressive with other dogs - i.e. stand his ground better).
 
#6 ·
We've decided to revisit the decision of whether to neuter or not once Sam is 12 months. And yep the idea that neutering will calm you dog down isn't true in most cases that I've spoken to people about! We just want to give the extra time for him to develop more before we snip him (if we do)! Plus it's easier for us to say we're holding off since we haven't had any humping issues yet *fingers crossed, knock on wood*
 
#9 ·
Typically humping is either excitement related or dominance related and doesn't have much to do with hormones. As previously stated, even neutered dogs hump and females hump. As far as his penis sticking out- some of that will go away, but it's an excitement thing as well. Our guy is 3 yrs old and when he gets excited, it still comes out- not all the way, like it did before he was neutered, but it's def noticeable.
 
#10 ·
On the positive side, neutering male dogs

eliminates the small risk (probably <1 % ) of dying from testicular cancer
reduces the risk of non-cancerous prostate disorders
reduces the risk of perianal fistulas
may possibly reduce the risk of diabetes (data inconclusive)

On the negative side, neutering male dogs

if done before 1 year of age, significantly increases the risk of osteosarcoma (bone cancer); this is a common cancer in medium/large and larger breeds with a poor prognosis.
increases the risk of cardiac hemangiosarcoma by a factor of 1.6
triples the risk of hypothyroidism
increases the risk of progressive geriatric cognitive impairment
triples the risk of obesity, a common health problem in dogs with many associated health problems
quadruples the small risk (<0.6 % ) of prostate cancer
doubles the small risk (<1 % ) of urinary tract cancers
increases the risk of orthopedic disorders
increases the risk of adverse reactions to vaccinations
 
#11 ·
I had my guy neutered at about 7 months old (that was about a month and a half ago so pretty recently). I did not see any change in his energy level or behaviour. Right after his surgery he was fairly constipated for about 24hrs but that's about the only impact I saw with him
 
#12 ·
I neutered Cooper at 1 year. I have noticed that he stopped humping all together which he did before. When I take him to parks or for a walk he didn't mark every single standing object. A fence a tree a bush etc. I've noticed that he became a big baby. Lol! He likes to sit on our lap. Which I believe all boxers think they are lap dogs so maybe that doesn't count. Lol! But we wanted him to grow to a year before we did it. It helped a little. Dog Canidae Nose Dog breed Head
 
#13 · (Edited)
We don't plan on neutering Loki until he is at least 18 months. Boxers growth plates don't close until 12-18 months. I want to give him the full benifit of strengthening his bones and joints so as to hopefully avoid future issues. It appears as though there are greater health benefits to waiting as stated previously. He occasionally shows his lipstick but not often. Seems to do it when I scratch his neck since it can get itchy under his collar. No hump yet and hopefully we keep it that way. I've had dog both neutered and intact and it didn't change there personalities much. They were more interested in females and marked more outside but that's about it.
 
#14 ·
I didnt have my last boxer neutered, and he died of undiagnosed testicular cancer. With Syd, he is definitely going to be done, as I do not want to go through that again.
I will be waiting until he is 18 months old though, as his growth plates will be properly formed.
He marks anything and everything outside, and tries to erherm.. dominate the doberman, but not us!
He likes to lean into us, and sit on my lap, boxers are most definitely lap dogs!
 
#15 ·
Yes definitely lap dogs, lol. Yesterday Kai had one paw around my daughters neck and his head resting on her. Looked like he had his arm wrapped around her. I tried to take a photo but was too late. He loves to lie his head on you. So far we have been holding off on getting Kai neutered. Would like to wait until he is 18 months but not so sure about that. I will be up to my daughter as technically he belongs to her.
 
#17 ·
Yes definitely lap dogs, lol. Yesterday Kai had one paw around my daughters neck and his head resting on her. Looked like he had his arm wrapped around her. I tried to take a photo but was too late. He loves to lie his head on you. So far we have been holding off on getting Kai neutered. Would like to wait until he is 18 months but not so sure about that. I will be up to my daughter as technically he belongs to her.
Just had to say that I love the name Kai. I have a rescued bearded dragon that I named Kai. :)
 
#16 ·
Logan was neutered at around 8 months old. If I had to do it all over again, I would've waited until at least a year of age, probably closer to two to neuter. New research is showing how crucial giving them time for their hormones to fully kick in really is for overall health.

For what it's worth, here's a run down on my three boys who were neutered early and what issues they've had. They may or may not be linked to an early neuter, but I suspect some of their issues are certainly tied to that based on the research I've done.

Riley - neutered at 6 months. Grew to be a very tall boy weighing 80lb+. He started having incontinence issues when he was about 3 years of age. He would urinate when he was sleeping and never feel a thing. When company came over he'd have what we called happy pips. He'd get so excited he just couldn't hold it and would urinate on the floor if we weren't quick enough to get him outside. He had a long history of hystiocytomas. He also developed ARVC (I doubt this has anything to do with the neuter) which is how I lost him.

Mason - neutered at just under 6 months. Grew to be a small boy. He was a shorty and weighed in at 50lb. He had anxiety issues, bad! He was obsessive. He developed Insulinoma and later had congestive heart failure.

Logan - neutered at 8 months. He has allergy issues and had a mast cell tumor removed last year at just under 3 years of age. He's also very tall and leggy which I've learned can be caused by early neutering.
 
#18 ·
Logan - neutered at 8 months. He has allergy issues and had a mast cell tumor removed last year at just under 3 years of age. He's also very tall and leggy which I've learned can be caused by early neutering.
Really? I didn't know about this one. Duke was neutered very early... he was 5 months old - knowing what I know now I would've waited until about 18 months myself. But he's also quite tall and leggy! Besides some yeast and itchiness issues (which are now under control), he's had no other problems so far *knock on wood*.
 
#25 ·
Mason was fixed at 6 months and he has severe allergies, and has a few bumps one that is going to be needed to looked at, he is more low key than Mackie , Mason has separation aniexty and is always itchy. Mack has noting wrong so far he is crazy and hyper puppy he is 16months and intact and mason is 3yr 2 months old..... not sure I want to fix Mackie....
also Boxers are puppies till 3, I noticed Mason calmed down at about a month before 3
 
#26 ·
Yikes! My daughter just made Kai's neuter appointment for next Thursday at 7:30 AM.
We already feel a bit nauseous , how do these guys do this to us ? She is worried about leaving him there thinking he will feel abandoned and lonely and won't have us loving on him. Making myself crazy...maybe because I always had them done early and now he is 10 months..and has more feelings :doh: We were going to wait until he is a year but since she has the $ saved and is starting nursing school next January...this may be the best time.
And our vet says he does not use ACE in his practice. He doesn't like it has used it occasionally for certain circumstances. So this is a good thing. OK.....tillnext week.
 
#29 ·
Well we were going to hold off, but daughter had money now . No problems with him just noticing that he is doing a lot more sniffing around when we walk. He is already 65 lbs so he is plenty big for a medium size dog. My daughter likes to take him with her most places so I think it is best he be neutered now. He also likes to run in our backyard which butts up against a green space, still thinking about fencing that rear part of the yard but it will be a lot of work since all my shrubs butt right on the line and I would have to remove all of them in order to put fence up. So in light of these things it is best. But yes given the choice it looks like it is better to hold off neutering but its also easier on the dog when they are younger. So ..on a scale...as you can see its getting done but really I am on the fence as to whether this is totally the right decision.
 
#30 ·
It will be okay! Uhtred was totally fine, and he's totally the same dog, same personality, everything. I think probably in the ideal world, holding off would have been better, but you've got to factor in everything else that's going on in your life. I would have waited a little longer, but in retrospect, I'm glad I did it when I did. I was able to be home and watch him after his surgery, get it over before our long road trip, etc, etc. I tend to agonize over every small decision, but ... honestly, I think our dogs turn out okay in the end. All the research I've read says the differences are very small. We read a statistic and we think we're going to ruin our dogs when in fact there's only a small percentage of dogs that were actually any different at all. I read something the other day about a "100% increase" in some disease or other based on early/late neutering, but when you read it, the percentage went from like 5% to 10% or something. Which is like 5 dogs in 100 vs. 10 dogs in 100.

Good luck!!
 
#33 ·
Aww well my boy became a bit restless later in the evening so we sat with him. My daughter said she stayed up most of the night with him as he kept thinking he needed to go out to potty. bought him a new crate bed, a kong, seems like he isn't interested to chewing it apart. But that may just be cause he not fully himself. This morning he seems fine just wants to lie his head on your lap and be petted, not interested in eating yet. :/
I was really surprised how well he seemed when he came home . NO pain med, no cone either.
 
#34 ·
actually the most current studies are showing that neuter/spay contributes to many diseases/disorders caused by suppression of hormones and decreases lifespan.
as "compulsory" spay/neuter is only a coupla decades old, the results of over enthusiastic application are just being published.
responsible pet ownership and education are essential. make informed decisions.
 
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