Though you can pet any animal, cats and dogs are people’s preferences. The enjoyment, happiness, and affection you feel around your dog or cat are not easy to express. We have seen dog owners being cautious of them and treating them like their kids. It sounds beautiful, no? however, you must remember that showing affection and playing with your dog is not the only responsibility.
When you start to own a dog, be it male or female, you must learn how to take care of them in the best possible way. There is so much more when you own a dog than just feeding and looking after them. You have to take excellent care of their physical, reproductive, and behavioral health to avoid dire consequences. Getting your male dog neutered is one of the most critical responsibilities, and you must do it!
This article explains what neutering is, its importance, how it is beneficial for your dog and even to the community, the best age to get it done, and above all, it guides you if your dog is too old to get neutered. By the time you finish reading this article, you will have valuable and helpful information on neutering. So, let’s get started!
What is neutering?
Have you recently started to observe behavioral changes like being aggressive and roaming around the streets in your male dog? Well, it is high time that you get it neutered!
Neutering is a surgical operation that all male dogs must go through to get sterilized or infertile. As long as dog owners are not petting them for breeding purposes, they must take their dogs for neutering. The surgical procedure involves putting your dog under general anesthesia and removing its testicles and prostate to eliminate the sexual drive. The entire process takes a few minutes, and when your dog gains consciousness, you can bring it home if your vet suggests.
Being a dog owner, you must understand that neutering is critically essential for your pet. Although it is a painful procedure, it saves your dog from many life-threatening diseases like prostate and testicular cancers. However, the post-operative days for your dog are crucial, and you must prevent it from vigorous activities like jumping, running, swimming, etc.
Benefits of neutering my male dog?
Different medical studies on dogs provide evidence that neutering is an essential process for male dogs if one is not petting them for breeding purposes. So let’s have a look at why neutering is beneficial for your dog and the community.
1. Prevention of cancers
Medical studies suggest that if you get your male dog neutered at the right age, there are high chances that its tendency to develop testicular and prostate cancers declines to almost zero. We cannot say how neutering prevents cancer development in your dog, but as per studies, it does so; therefore, you must get your dog neutered!
2. Less assertive behavior
When you get your dog neutered, you will observe that the aggression and assertiveness it had before neutering, vanished! This is because the source of outrage in dogs is usually secondary to their sexual drive and needs not being met. So when you get them neutered, you omit their sexual drive and see that they have become calmer than ever.
3. Less homelessness of dogs
One of the most significant advantages of getting your dog neutered is preventing the abandonment of puppies. Understandably, you cannot take care of all the puppies your dog produces, which leads to their abandonment and homelessness. However, you can cut off their reproductive tendency and reduce the number of homeless dogs.
Is it harmful to neuter too early or too late?
There is no specific age to get your dog neutered. However, you must take care of the fact that you must avoid the extremes of age.
If you take your dog for neutering too early, there are high chances that it gets increment in the bone growth, which results in increased or extraordinary height. Besides, your dog might develop phobias and sensitivity problems if you get neutered at a very young age. It would help if you allowed your dog’s genitals to develop before you get it neutered. Otherwise, it might develop hypothyroidism or even become obese.
On the contrary, if your dog is older than the American Animal Hospital Association’s recommended age range, please discuss everything with the vet before neutering. If your dog is healthy, there might not occur any complications. However, there is a higher probability of post-operative complications in cases of old male dogs.
What is the best age to neuter a dog?
Neutering is essential for your dog’s overall health, and you must get it done as soon as you learn about it. However, according to the American Animal Hospital Association, the best age range is between six to nine months. Besides, the vets usually perform the procedure once the genitals of your dog have fully developed.
There is a difference in puberty time in small and large-breed dogs. The smaller ones tend to hit puberty quite early, while the larger ones may experience puberty a little late. Therefore, the smaller ones might need to get neutered at a young age, unlike the larger ones.
Check out our article where we have explained when to spay your dog.
FAQS
How young can you get a dog neutered?
The minimum age at which you can get your dog neutered is six to eight weeks. However, at such a young age, it may suffer from anesthesia complications.
How late can you neuter a dog?
Getting your dog neutered after nine months of age counts as neutering at a ‘late’ age. However, as long as your dog is healthy and its genitals have developed, you can get it neutered at any age.
How old is too old to neuter a dog?
As mentioned earlier, if your dog is older than nine months of age, it will be considered late neutering. However, as soon as your dog becomes reproductively mature and healthy, take it for neutering, regardless of age.
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In conclusion
Without any doubt, neutering holds an important place in your dog’s health plan. However, being a responsible dog owner, you must take your dog for neutering when the right time arrives, leaving the fact behind how painful the procedure is. In this article, we have tried our best to brief you on neutering, its benefits, importance, and how it is too young/old to neuter a dog.
Hopefully, this information will prove helpful!
