Spay & neuter: Neutering your male

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Neutering sterilizes a male dog so he's incapable of parenting puppies. Many, many wonderful health and behavioral effects occur because he's undergone "the big snip."

It's a simple surgery, far more so than a spay. Under anesthesia, an incision is made in front of the scrotum, and then the testicles are removed through that incision. The stalks of the testicles are cut. Sometimes the incision needs stitches.

Benefits

• He's less likely to get certain diseases, such as testicular cancer and most prostate diseases.
• He will be calmer with less testosterone in his system, and thus you'll be calmer too.
• He'll mark less, inside and out, since he has less incentive to announce his presence.
• The lower level of testosterone can improve if not eliminate roaming, aggression, humping, and other dominance-related behaviors. (He still might want to hump, but mounting after neutering has more to do with dominance than sex. He can still show interest in females in heat or hump your knee.)
• In the case of senior dogs, neutering reduces the size of an enlarged prostate.
• The health and behavioral benefits occur whether your boy is a wee puppy or distinguished senior citizen.

When to neuter

A male dog can be neutered any time after eight weeks of age. A few years ago, most veterinarians advised waiting until puberty hit at about six months, and some still make that recommendation. Talk to your veterinarian about what's best for your dog.

In general, dogs neutered before they go into puberty grow a bit bigger than those neutered after puberty because testosterone is involved in bone growth; sometimes that growth is preferable and sometimes it's  [Continued]