Growth Vs. Neutering?

[Murf]

Hey all, new guy here. Got a few questions for you about neutering.

Basically what I'm wanting to know is, Will neutering affect the rate at which my dogs will grow? I'm assuming if it did it would slow the growth rate a bit?

Also will a neutered dog 'fill out' as well as well as an un-neutered dog?

And lastly, how will neutering affect energy levels? Our boys are 6 mos and Malachite is a normal pup, loves to run, play, etc but the Onyx is, in comparison, a little lazy, he just doesn't have the energy that his brother does. and I'd really hate to see him lose any more of the little energy he has.

Onyx, and Malachite just turned 6 mos. a few days ago, and I 'HAD' been considering breeding Malachite, UNTIL I read the Sticky thread in this forum, man I can't tell you how fast that thing made me see the light!

Anyway, thanks in advance for the help!

Murf

[Carina43]

Originally posted by Murf
I 'HAD' been considering breeding Malachite, UNTIL I read the Sticky thread in this forum, man I can't tell you how fast that thing made me see the light!

Murf

(((Murf))) You deserve a hug for that. :)

Neutering/spaying does not energy level, as far as I've ever noticed. Neutering at 6-18 months will pretty much eliminate frustration whenever there's a bitch in heat in the neighborhood. It most likely will decrease dog:dog aggression.

Dogs neutered young may actually get a tiny bit taller & not bulk up quite as much - but IMHO it's to such a minor degree that the average person can't tell.
I have a male neutered at 3-4 yo, and he is taller & leaner than my male neutered at about 10 months. Go figure.

If you do a search on neutering in the vet forum, you'll find quite a few discussions. There was one quite a while back that went on for 30-something pages. :)

[Carol Burke]

I believe neutering before the dog reaches his full growth does make a difference. They do not develop as fully. I like to see males left intact until they are at least two, but with two males living together it may be better for your situation to neuter early. It has not been my experience that it changes the dog's energy level.

[Diane Heller-Vaccaro]

Thanks for rethinking your position on breeding. If you have any doubts you did the right thing visit your local shelter.

[Patty1231]

My breeder said she preferred dogs not be neutered until 12 months, preferably 18, for the purpose of muscle development to support their bones and joints. I've heard differing opinions on this and that actual size difference is negligible with neutering. I had Rocco neutered at 12 months to cover all bases - I wanted to give him the benefit of the doubt with the muscle development but also wanted to make sure I had no accidental litters (there are many in my neighborhood who are not so diligent about spaying (or confining during heat) their females. I've seen no decrease whatsoever in his energy level.:D

[Murf]

Thank you all who replied for the help! Now I just gotta convince the G/F that we need to wait about a year to do the neutering. But that shouldn't be that hard, I'll just send her here! :D

As far as the breeding I was gonna do, I really did have the best intentions in mind. (as I'm sure most ppl do) I mean Malachite even though he is only 6 mos old has a very laid back temperment, and (somehow) I just KNOW he's gonna be a great looking dog, and of course he's registered. So with that I figgered he'd throw some pretty good pups. But man oh man I can't begin to thank whoever put that sticky up there enough! That should be required reading for every new member!

Oh yeah, what is it they say about the road to hell? ;)

Anyway, thanks again

Murf

[rotts and roses]

Murf, you ROCK! If only more people were as smart as you to read that and actually take the advice!

As far as neutering goes, I think there is no real concrete proof or studies as far as growth goes, I'm not sure, but.. In my case, I have the runt from my Bitches litter, he was soooooo tiny, A good friend of mine has what was the biggest male of the bunch,
She had Bear neutered at 5 months, and Ozzy is still intact( for now) Last weekend when I had them all, I could not believe how much bigger Ozzy is in comparison to all 3 other dogs, He is 2 inches taller than Bear and 3 inches taller than both his sisters. Also he is thicker looking as far as body shape goes. Whether or not neutering had anything to do with this, I don't know. But when they were little pups Bear was twice the size of Ozzy.
It could be diet?I feed a lot of raw and Bears owner doesn't.
I plan on having Ozzy neutered at 1 year, and I am very curious to see how they compare when fully grown.

[Murf]

Originally posted by rotts and roses
I feed a lot of raw and Bears owner doesn't.

Pardon my ignernce but what is raw?

Thanks for the kind words to RnR :D

Murf

[rotts and roses]

Raw human food, AKA B.A.R.F(Bones and raw food)

There are tons of threads on the subject, if you do a search in grooming and nutrition.
By the way feel free to call me Amy:)

[Carina43]

Originally posted by Murf
Pardon my ignernce but what is raw?

Mostly raw meat, yes with bones too. :) Few if any grains.
You can check my site (www button) and go to the links page, plenty of info there too.

[Patty1231]

Murf, I'm with you. I originally bought a breed/show quality dog because I thought I might be interested in breeding and showing in the future. Well.....investigation soon proved that there was no way I should be breeding with my minimal lack of knowledge, etc. As for showing, there is also so much involved with that I decided to go for the basics in ongoing training with maybe titling in the future if we get good enough at it. That keeps me and my boy plenty busy and I really just enjoy his company!:D

[Bucky's Mom]

Originally posted by rotts and roses
Murf, you ROCK! If only more people were as smart as you to read that and actually take the advice!

Amen! :)
Lisa (Bucky's Mom)

[Brooke&Ryan]

Good for you Murf! I'm glad that you read the sticky on breeding & listened to the advice. :D

We also have a male Rottweiler who is almost 13 months old. We have decided to wait to neuter Julius because at this time he is showing no signs of humping or raging hormones. He has tested us a few times on walks as far as heeling goes but that's minor stuff that was corrected with some more vigilant training.

We actually made a post about it awhile ago. You might want to have your girlfriend read it. http://www.rottweiler.net/forums/sho...threadid=30098 We're going to wait until Julius is at least 2 to neuter him & maybe even then we'll wait for awhile.

:)
Brooke

[CanadianRotts]

Hi all:

I usually don't neuter dogs, as they're actively showing/breeding, but do recommend it for dogs that are not.

My mother's Rottweiler, is about 18-months old, he's a good 120-lbs, 26-inches tall, and has one of the *nicest* temperaments I have seen in awhile....he was neutered at the age of 5-months old. The only thing that I have noticed is that his head has not filled out as much as an intact dog has, but he still has a beautiful head. (His dam is an Am/Can CH, his sire was a #1 Rottweiler overall).

Ricky is able to live in harmony with other male Rottweilers, play gently with his favourite dog girlfriend, Phoebe (a Pug) and w/o any problems with *any* dog at the Toronto dog parks, and is an wonderful dog to have around.

His link is below:
Ricky @ 13-months old

Dianna

[excellrott]

C/rotts...I had to say uuuweeee! When I clicked the link. That's a gorgous dog