Hunting dog-to neuter/spay or not

[rhino519]

Hi guys, I'm a month or two away from having to make a decision, now my old man is old school and he believes it's detrimental to dogs performance, myself I'm not sold on the idea either, considering the gains vs cons, yet I do have to bring forth a good argument to my wife why not to do it

what say you?

 

[crane109]

I have 3 female pointers. I let them all have their first heat then spayed them so there would be no mess to deal with or trouble in the field with other dogs in hunting season.
All 3 are indoor pets and after having their first heat it seems to make them more personable and cuddly in the house, by no means did affect their drive in the field.... I'd recommend it to anyone if you are not planning a litter.

 

[CV32]

I have 3 female pointers. I let them all have their first heat then spayed them so there would be no mess to deal with or trouble in the field with other dogs in hunting season. All 3 are indoor pets and after having their first heat it seems to make them more personable and cuddly in the house, by no means did affect their drive in the field.... I'd recommend it to anyone if you are not planning a litter.

Did the same.

 

[Cteve]

my bud Pluto is fixed and he is quite the man still. Hes a great hunting dog as well. We go for grouse every year, he and i love it. As you can see in the picture hes also a big suck. I would get it done unless you plan on letting him have a ##### every year or....you whack him off (gross) any way if he aint using it get rid of it or it will cost you money and life expectancy in the end.

 

[phishroy]

best thing to do would be to speak to your vet' and take his or hers advise.
after all theya re there to help your pet.

 

[G P]

No negative effects on hunting in my experience.

 

[Mount Sweetness]

I will no longer neuter any of my males

 

[chisholm]

Only reason I choose not to is the fact I can stud mine out if I choose to.

 

[Jay]

I spayed my first pointer. Since then I have had only male Drahthaars and I do not fix them. Why? Because I want a driven hunting dog that has the musculature to take on any task. Take notice of what a neutered male looks like in comparison to an intact male. The neutered male does not have the muscle mass of the intact dog. Not only that, think about race horses... When a gelding wins a race, what do folks say? TOO BAD HE'S A GELDING!!!

So, I personally will not fix my dogs. But to each their own...

Cheers
Jay

 

[killswitch]

Id say keep'em unless you have a non breeding contract with your breeder as most self respecting breeders do. We have a huge kennel and with all different types of working dogs and most of our males are intact and it has no effect on their working drive.

 

[fiddler]

I've had hunting dogs most of my life, and what is between your dogs legs and whether it is functioning or not has nothing to do with its nose or how well it hunts. That said, I prefer not to have my animals distracted from hunting due to in-heat issues. I am a hunter not a dog breeder nor do I have any interest in breeding dogs. When I want a new dog, I will buy one.

 

[fishslinger]

I have a female pointer that I had spayed, and can tell you it in no way effected her hunting drive. Shes a hunting machine.

 

[fat but funky]

I think the most responsible way to approach this is to think of the dog first, and your use for the dog second.

That is, the health and welfare of the dog is a more important consideration than any effect on its hunting performance, irrelevant of the owner's enthusiasm for the latter. Remember folks, hunting is something we do for fun. The vast majority of us do not depend on hunting success with dogs for our own survival.

An intact dog will be prone to more adverse health effects than a neutered (neuter is the technically correct term for both males and females)

Females:
Intactness predisposes the dog to mammary gland adenocarcinoma (that's breast cancer in dogs). To be most effective, the female should be spayed prior to the first estrus. That's right folks, not even one heat. If she has 3 or 4, there is almost no benefit in terms of preventing future adenocarcinomas. Besides this, there is also the potential for pyometra. That is the uterus filling with pus. This will kill your dog if not treated, might kill your dog depending on how far gone she is when you get her to surgery.

Beyond this is the constant risk for pregnancy and nuisance of pseudopregnancy.

Males
Keeping with the cancer theme, removal of the testicles absolutely prevents the possibility of future testicular malignancies (Sertoli cell tumors most common I believe). Also prevents prostatic hyperplasia (any of you guys in your 60s probably know about this). Neutering also dramatically reduces the probability of perianal adenomas/adenocarcinomas (those are tumors on his anus...nice), and perineal hernias (the muscles around the anus weaken, allowing pelvic contents and potentially even the bladder to pass through. A herniated bladder can be life threatening, whereas a rectal diverticulum will just make your dog permanently constipated (I hope you like rubber gloves and Vaseline). What's worse, perineal hernias are very challenging to repair surgically, many attempts simply fail. Besides all of this, a neutered male is much easier to have around the house.

So, the responsible thing to do is to neuter your animal. The "musculature" factor is a non-issue. If you want to increase your dog's stamina, my suggestion is keep his weight down and make sure he gets a lot of intense exercise (i.e. running long distance, not walking on a leash) every day. You increase it over the summer so he is ready to go for the fall.

Then again, I wouldn't want reason to get in the way of "hunting lore"

Fat

 

[Rotaxpower]

I will be getting my dog neutered in a few months when he is 9 months old. I have a family member who is a vet and recommends that field/hunting dogs get neutered at the earliest 8 months. This is my first hunting dog as well.

 

[Bland]

Most of my experience is with male dogs. As far as hunting goes probably not a significant difference neutered or not (had both). I generally hunt alone. Hunting with more than one dog would bring in other factors. It is the rest of the time you have a dog who has very strong hormonal drives if there is a female in heat within range. They are at more risk from traffic etc when following these urges, always distracted to say the least if a receptive female is in range. From purely my own perspective all my pets are neutered.

 

[3macs1]

I have always had French Britts four total so far and with any luck no. 5 this may. Females I see no change with respect to hunting. Males I would never do again.

 

[matt bradley]

I think the most responsible way to approach this is to think of the dog first, and your use for the dog second.

That is, the health and welfare of the dog is a more important consideration than any effect on its hunting performance, irrelevant of the owner's enthusiasm for the latter. Remember folks, hunting is something we do for fun. The vast majority of us do not depend on hunting success with dogs for our own survival.

An intact dog will be prone to more adverse health effects than a neutered (neuter is the technically correct term for both males and females)

Females:
Intactness predisposes the dog to mammary gland adenocarcinoma (that's breast cancer in dogs). To be most effective, the female should be spayed prior to the first estrus. That's right folks, not even one heat. If she has 3 or 4, there is almost no benefit in terms of preventing future adenocarcinomas. Besides this, there is also the potential for pyometra. That is the uterus filling with pus. This will kill your dog if not treated, might kill your dog depending on how far gone she is when you get her to surgery.

Beyond this is the constant risk for pregnancy and nuisance of pseudopregnancy.

Males
Keeping with the cancer theme, removal of the testicles absolutely prevents the possibility of future testicular malignancies (Sertoli cell tumors most common I believe). Also prevents prostatic hyperplasia (any of you guys in your 60s probably know about this). Neutering also dramatically reduces the probability of perianal adenomas/adenocarcinomas (those are tumors on his anus...nice), and perineal hernias (the muscles around the anus weaken, allowing pelvic contents and potentially even the bladder to pass through. A herniated bladder can be life threatening, whereas a rectal diverticulum will just make your dog permanently constipated (I hope you like rubber gloves and Vaseline). What's worse, perineal hernias are very challenging to repair surgically, many attempts simply fail. Besides all of this, a neutered male is much easier to have around the house.

So, the responsible thing to do is to neuter your animal. The "musculature" factor is a non-issue. If you want to increase your dog's stamina, my suggestion is keep his weight down and make sure he gets a lot of intense exercise (i.e. running long distance, not walking on a leash) every day. You increase it over the summer so he is ready to go for the fall.

Then again, I wouldn't want reason to get in the way of "hunting lore"

Fat

Are you a vet?, my wife is and just said the same thing as you did about this thread!

 

[bearkilr]

Are you a vet?, my wife is and just said the same thing as you did about this thread!

All vets have said this as of recent, I've read it many times. Perhaps population control? How much is it to spay or neuter now?

Amongst hunting dog breeders/trainers, especially in Europe where they use dogs far more intensively and widespread than here in North America, it's generally accepted that females are fine spayed but it's a bad idea to neuter males if either are to be used for hunting. It's also common practice to let a female have a litter before getting her spayed. Again, most vets refute this, probably mainly due to population control issues. There aren't too many vets that train and use hunting dogs though. Just my observations.

 

[3macs1]

All vets have said this as of recent, I've read it many times. Perhaps population control? How much is it to spay or neuter now?

Amongst hunting dog breeders/trainers, especially in Europe where they use dogs far more intensively and widespread than here in North America, it's generally accepted that females are fine spayed but it's a bad idea to neuter males if either are to be used for hunting. It's also common practice to let a female have a litter before getting her spayed. Again, most vets refute this, probably mainly due to population control issues. There aren't too many vets that train and use hunting dogs though. Just my observations.

That is exactly what the breeder of my french Britts suggests and their back ground is France. I didnot listen on the male and it did make a noticable difference

 

[rhino519]

Thank you all for the input

Just to clarify, I own a Brittany Spaniel, named Hunter , he's about 9 months now, I've heard all the same health arguments from our vet and fallowed some of the recommendations she sugested, but as the date draws closer I'm more and more sceptical/apprehensive (maybe wrong emotion expressed but sadness doesn't fit either).
Hunter gets about 2-3 hrs of exercise a day (most of the week) out of 1 hr recommended, he's handsome (I could be prejudiced)playful, driven, and we both enjoy outings together, and I would hate to see him change after the procedure hence me coming here to ask you guys for feedback
damn hard decision, it's not my first huntin dog, my family owned a few (the arrangements were.....complicated?) they were always part of our hunting pack and they were never fixed, some passed away on the hunts, very few died of old age or sickness
but Hunter is different, he's all mine (ours, opposite of the rest of my hunting family) and as much pet as a hunting partner, I got some thinking to do