Neutering and Head size

[Ollieboy]

Can someone give a definite answer if neutering a rottie prior to a certain age they will eventually lack in full confirmation. ie. smaller head. I do plan on neutering my dog, i just want to make sure it doesn't take away any great physical traits he may have.

[spidey]

Neutering a dog before maturity does tend to affect their physical appearance. If you are able to be a truly responsible dog owner (i.e. your dog is never out of your control, and you take extra precautions to ensure that any females he comes into contact with are either not intact or not in season if they are intact), there is no reason not to allow him to mature before you neuter him. Delaying neutering until after 18 months or so also carries health benefits (do a search here for "neutering osteosarcoma" and you'll find a study posted here about this).

[Ollieboy]

Thanks for the info spidey.!

[brunie's mom]

It depends on the breeding also. If the dog comes from poor lines, they may never get a larger head...or be tall and leggy. We had many mature intact males come into rescue....that were poorly bred and they looked it.

Also that Osteo study that we keep talking about....that with later neutering there is less of a chance of dogs getting osteo...I am starting to wonder about it.
Most dogs come into rescue are intact and they are mature...often dumped anywhere from the age of 18 months to 10 years of age. Rescue has them neutered before they are adopted....yet they are still dying of osteo.
Usually by the age of 7 or 8.

It would be interesting if dogs that came into rescue were studied...but of course then blood-lines and pedigree's could not be followed.

Gina

[Maverick]

I was told specifically by a couple breeders that neutering should not be done until at least 12-18 months of age. Neutering any earlier will make a difference in the pysical attributes of the dog.... and I can explain at least one major reason why...

Testosterone is the male sex hormone and production of it is reduced when you have your dog neutered. Testosterone is responsible for a lot of the body's functions and having lower levels of it will have an effect on many things. Lower levels of testosterone will lead to less muscle growth, less aggression, increased chance of carrying bodyfat, etc. This hormone is the reason that a dog who is neutered young will most likely not grow to be as large or as muscular as it would have been had it had a chance to finish growing first. Compare a young 22 year old man to a middle aged man of say 45. Even with all variables the same, those two people will act differently and there bodyies will be different. This is due to the fact that the older mans testosterone is steadily dropping as he gets older. He will not be as muscular, he may not have as much energy, his sex drive will start to lag, etc etc..... Hope I explained this OK without making you read too much.

[Ollieboy]

Thanks all for the info. Looks like i'll have to train the little fella not to hump my leg when he reaches that stage or until he's 2yrs. Looks like twice as many walks around the block and an extra 30 mins of fetch is in my future.

[Judi W]

It is actually what is inside the head that is most important.

[rottnkidd]

Originally Posted by Judi W

It is actually what is inside the head that is most important.

Isn't that statement the truth!!! Reminds me of that old adage:
"Big things come in small packages"!
kathy

[spidey]

My intact male dog is almost two and has tried humping exactly twice. A verbal correction ("ah-ah") the first time and a single verbal reminder when he thought about doing it again were all that are required. As I have mentioned here before, my intact dog does not hump because he understands it is undesirable behaviour (because I have told him so), my friend's neutered-since-six-months dog humps everything because nobody ever told him not to. Humping or lack thereof often has nothing at all to do with testicles, it's a behaviour like any other, and like any other, it can be managed.

[Judi W]

It should be noted however, that a comparison with human development is not possible as we do not do gonadectomies on humans at an early age (or ever baring unusual accident or disease). A more appropriate comparison could be made with the difference in appearance between geldings and stallions where the desexing most commonly takes place before sexual characteristics are fully developed.

[Diva'sOwner]

Are there similar benefits for delaying spaying your female Rottie? I've been reading that it's okay to spay before the first cycle but I do wonder if this will affect physical maturity.

[Judi W]

The physical maturation of the genitorurinary tract is influenced by the sexual hormones both in males and females. Spay incontinence might be one of the more obvious signs in a bitch (although it can be seen with bitches spayed at an older age as well because the hormones can have influence on bladder and spincter tone and it certainly does not always occur. Mental and emotional maturation (or lack of) is also influenced. The degree of influence is perhaps more subtle in bitches but is there non-the-less. The importance of these factors will vary with the owner.

[Maverick]

Originally Posted by Judi W

It should be noted however, that a comparison with human development is not possible as we do not do gonadectomies on humans at an early age (or ever baring unusual accident or disease). A more appropriate comparison could be made with the difference in appearance between geldings and stallions where the desexing most commonly takes place before sexual characteristics are fully developed.

I'm assuming this response was for me.... I understand that we can't directly compare the devlopment of humans to dogs. I wasn't meaning to do so... Rather I was actually just trying to use humans as an example to explain what actions testosterone has, and it should be noted that the hormone has the same actions in dogs as it does in humans.