Neutered Today -- what to expect

[Sam's Mommy]

Hello,

I'm new to the forum. I've been reading posts for about a week and you all seem so knowledgeable and caring. I hope to get to know you all.

I recently rescued a male Rottie 9 -12 mo. old. I currently have a female yellow lab and I've never owned a male dog. My Sam is an absolute angel -- After getting him acquainted with his new surroundings and me, I had him neutered today. He has been home for a couple of hrs. I gave him a little food, which he promptly threw up -- he is very groggy and listless, which I know, is to be expected.
My question is how will the neuter change his behavior/habits/personality? I apologize for the very basic, probably somewhat dumb, question. Again, I've never owned a male dog before and I'm just curious if the neuter will affect his love of marking territory, *interest* in my female lab (and any other female in his sight), etc....

Thanks in advance to all of you experts! I am so grateful to have found such an awesome forum and wealth of rottie info!!

Laura

[WorkinDogz]

Hi Laura and welcome to our little corner of the world :D

First of all..... I'm sorry your vet dropped the ball and didn't tell you not to feed your boy tonight :(

Nothing per oral (NPO) for the rest of the day...... he will survive until morning and won't puke his guts out.

Neutering renders a dog unable to reproduce. Nothing more, nothing less.

If your boy was a chewer before the neuter.....he'll chew afterwards too ;) Same with obedience..... if he blew off commands prior... don't expect a sit/stay because he's neutered. Training makes a well mannered, happy dog...... :)

Testosterone can stay in the system for 6 months post neutering...... but generally will tone down desire to "mark territory" somewhat.....and obviously, he won't be as hell-bent on looking for that female in season

Keep him away from stairs tonight and leash walk him to go potty...... sleeping in his crate is a very good idea as the effects of anesthesia makes depth perception a little off......and they are at a greater risk of falling off of places like the bed or couch.....

Licking the area is probably the biggest deal over the next week..... if you see him licking..... stop him and call your vet and ask for an Elizabethan collar.

They are usually "raring to go" in a couple of day :)

Good luck with your new boy!

[Carina43]

Hi Laura...
Yep, throwing up is normal, don't worry about it!

Chances are, he will be absolutely fine within a day or two. I have had...maybe a dozen dogs neutered, and only one (just a few weeks ago, a 3-4 year old adult) kept licking his personal area so I had to get an E-collar for him.

WD is right...you most likely won't see any difference, especially at his age. In the future, he won't go crazy if there's a bitch in hea in your neighborhood, otherwise he'll act like a regular boy dog...he'll probably always hike his leg to pee, go through a little teenage snottieness, and with a bit of guidance continue to be a perfectly Good Dog! :)

Welcome, thanks for rescuing a Rottie!

[babydungeon]

like WD said only a little different. my advice is not to watch for licking and then get an e-collar, it's to get an e-collar NOW!!! don't even let him begin to lick. you might find yourself saving time and money by doing this. i had my boy neutered about 2 weeks ago and he's still recovering from the infection. i watched him lick, tried to stop it, couldn't watch him while i was at work. it got infected and i found myself buying anti-biotics, spray and an e-collar. but i still messed up. the e-collar i got was a piece of crap and made me so paranoid that it was going to choke him that i wouldn't leave it on him while i was away and he continued to lick. i bought a different kind that actually hooks onto his existing collar and can't choke him unless his collar is too tight. so if i were you i would get him one like this immediately and put it on him 24 hours a day until his sutures have been removed and you feel he either will not lick at it or even if he does a few times it won't do any harm, like licking it raw or infecting it. i can't stress this enough, get an e-collar today before he starts licking. if you want to see what happens when they lick i will e-mail you some pics.

p.s.-welcome to the forum!!!-kevin

[whitney greenway]

Kevin,

I went through all that with Cam, boy, your post could be mine....VERBATIM!

The only difference is I did not take pictures of the infection.

[Sam's Mommy]

Thank you all so much!!

I will go out and get an e-coller first thing tomorrow! Thanks again so much!

He has absolutely no energy and is perfectly down for the night -- or more... poor thing threw up 3 times all over our main room carpet -- I thought we would need to get a prof. carpet cleaner out here tomorrow, but I think my hubby has gotten it all out. What a night!

I appreciate all of your advice so much!! Thank you!!