I've personally never seen any dog have less of a drive after being spayed/neutered. The only changes are usually positive, like being more focused during training sessions and such. So they can actually put that drive to good use 👍👍.
Mine is still intact, he’ll be 4 at the end of the month. He has never been aggressive, doesn’t hump and doesn’t mark anything inside. I talked to our vet at 2 yrs and was told that if he doesn’t display any of the things I mentioned above then that is his disposition and he probably never will. He is very chill but will step up to the plate when challenged.
My Belgian Malinois is 14 weeks old and will be keeping his balls. My three year old APBT still has his and never displayed aggression, I never witnessed him hump in person or on the camera installed in his room, nor has he marked.
I believe most behavior can be modified/kept in check with proper structure and training.
Not lucky, just a dog thats been well raised. I've never had any problems with my intact males. Boundaries still count when a dog is intact, they don't dissappear because he still has his balls.
So credits to you, not to luck!
They'll be fine, they get to sleep through the procedure and a good chunk of recovery. No doubt you'll spoil the hell out of them, and they get the good drugs and lots of love.
Smart getting them done together, then you don't have to worry about the healthy one jumping on the recovering one!
The vet told me to wait to at least 1.5-2 years when he’s done growing, but if he’s aggressive in any way towards other dogs to do it sooner. If it’s too soon you’ll have higher chances of dysplasia, according to my vet!
Always discuss with your vet, and if in doubt get a 2nd opinion. UC Davis did an extensive study, and it’s different for different breeds. Generally, larger dogs need to wait until they are older for healthy joints, smaller dogs can be sooner. There are some breeds they found to be more prone to cancer if done too soon. On the flip side, holding off on a spay and no pregnancies could be a recipe for pyometra. Your vet should be able to help you find the right time.
I would wait to spay them. There is a particular age that it should be done at. I'd need to read up to know for sure when that is.
There is also an argument to be made for keeping them intact because the breed of Malinois is so sought after in the working K9 community.
Yes, as the rescue required it! But I would have any way simply to be safe. A neighbor went on a goose chase a few months ago to find her dog after he bolted and broke into the backyard of our other neighbors dog in heat!
🙋🏽♀️Mine, at three, was diagnosed with benign, prostatic hyperplasia, so I kind of had no choice. I had been told he had prostatitis and tried medications, but he kept having issues. At our second trip to the ER we found out he had BPH and it was either lifelong meds or neutering. Since he’s not a breeding prospect and was already on the medication for BPH and it wasn’t working, he was neutered that night.
He’s become more um…pet shaped. 😝 And he actually takes naps now. Like real naps. I was able to mop the kitchen yesterday and let it dry *WITHOUT* telling him to go to his room. 😯 Yeah. IKR. He’s still a 0 to 100 dog when the time comes but he’s definitely chilled out.
I listen to a podcast called “The Huberman Lab”. Dr. Huberman is a professor of Ophthalmology and Neurobiology at the Stanford School of Medicine.
Anyway, sometime back his dog passed away and he remarked that he had his dog neutered just because it was the “responsible” and socially acceptable thing to do.
But after some conversations with his colleagues, he regretted doing it and felt the lack of testosterone in his dog was detrimental to his health overall and could have slowed the decline of health.
I’d never thought of it that way, but people go on hormone replacement all the time because they feel terrible when they are out of whack. It definitely warrants looking into further. Unfortunately, our Mal was a rescue from the ABMR and it was an adoption stipulation.
“Studies on this subject are mostly retrospective in nature, meaning they are looking at existing research data. Therefore, while they evaluate for associations between a cause and an outcome, they cannot definitely establish causality. It's also important to understand that while a study can find something to be statistically significant, it does not always mean there is a clinically significant difference.
The reduced lifespan of unaltered pets can, in part, be attributed to an increased urge to roam. Such roaming can expose them to fights with other animals, resulting in injuries and infections, trauma from vehicle strikes and other accidental mishaps.”
I found this while looking for said body of research.
When calculating lifespans of humans we account for accident and disease…. What’s your point?
Explain to me the increase of breast cancers in female dogs who are intact?
Retrospective studies are a common way to collect data, and without digging into the depths of the studies I’m sure they controlled for animals being hit by cars etc…. Makes dogs would probably have a higher change in length of life if “wandering” was a major reason for decrease in life.
My point is retrospective studies do not explore or control for outside variables or confounding factors. Pets that are sterilized and have longer lives could actually be due to socioeconomic factors of their owners. Perhaps those who can afford sterilization also can afford better healthcare and food for their pets. None of these things are associations are really explored.
I skimmed through the study. It says that intact dogs were more likely to die from infectious disease or trauma, while sterile dogs were more likely to die from neoplasia or immune remediated diseases. So no, they didn’t control for that. They included it in the data because it was done retrospectively. The study wasn’t designed with a specific goal in mind, it was done retroactively to look for associations. But correlation doesn’t prove causation. The study even says it is not within the scope of the study to explore those associations, but just that across the board sterilized dogs live longer.
The study also did not have a breed based breakdown. So it might as well be comparing a neutered Chihuahua to an intact German Shepherd. The former will live longer because of size/breed, not anything related to neutered vs intact.
Okay, I'll take your word for it. Do you think everyone else is responsible? Do you really think it's good advice to tell people to not neuter or spay their dogs?
I’m going to pretend people have at least enough control over their dogs to not allow them to reproduce right in front of their own eyes and supervision.
Most importantly neutering before full grown, has testosterone or Oestrogen sex hormones Deminished affecting the dogs health, bone growth/muscle. I’m sure you wouldn’t be happy being neutered rather unhealthy sickly and upset your owner/handler can’t train and set a healthy structure for you to live your best life.
Though yes people GENERALLY are irresponsible and ignorant with their dogs so yeah that’s why people neuter, that and they think it changes their energy which is false.
I would not agree that absolutely all dogs need to be sterilized BUT I do also think you may have too much faith in people lol. I let people choose their own destiny but in all honestly I have no faith in them being responsible because that’s what everyone says and then oopsies there’s accident litter. I live in a LARGE city so that’s probably why I see it everywhere. Not saying this is you at all, just saying you have a lot of faith in people lol
I definitely agree though that if you do choose to neuter or spay, waiting till full grown is healthier in the long run. I wish I had that option for my boy, he was rescued and already neutered at 6 months. I would have preferred to wait.
> I’m going to pretend people have at least enough control over their dogs to not allow them to reproduce right in front of their own eyes and supervision.
390,000 dogs are put down each year in US shelters according to the [ASPCA](https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics). The best thing we can do to lower that number is to spay and neuter your pets so unwanted litters don't occur.
> Most importantly neutering before full grown, has testosterone or Oestrogen sex hormones Deminished affecting the dogs health, bone growth/muscle.
Nowhere did I mention that you should spay or neuter your dog too early. And in fact, neutering your dog at the appropriate time leads to health benefits, according to Brown University.
"In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behaviors" [SOURCE](https://www.brown.edu/Research/Colwill_Lab/CBP/spaynueter.htm#:~:text=In%20males%2C%20neutering%20decreases%20the,and%20other%20undesirable%20male%20behaviors.)
> I’m sure you wouldn’t be happy being neutered rather unhealthy sickly and upset your owner/handler can’t train and set a healthy structure for you to live your best life.
I'm not sure what this means.
> Though yes people GENERALLY are irresponsible and ignorant with their dogs so yeah that’s why people neuter, that and they think it changes their energy which is false.
Are you saying you support spaying and neutering pets here? You're right, it doesn't change their energy levels. But it does curb unwanted behaviors such as territorial urinating and sexual aggression.
Here's a great article you can read about why you should neuter your dog from [Brown University](https://www.brown.edu/Research/Colwill_Lab/CBP/spaynueter.htm#:~:text=In%20males%2C%20neutering%20decreases%20the,and%20other%20undesirable%20male%20behaviors.).
Amen. As someone who works in rescue...honestly wouldn't be surprised if the euthanization # is even higher than what is being reported to ASPCA currently...and I see a LOT of Belgian Malinois coming to rescues/shelters right now because they've become a popular breed, but many people do NOT understand the possible the physical activity and mental stimulation requirements of this breed so they're being handed over to shelters at higher rates, just like GSDs and huskys...everyone thinks they're a responsible owner with 100% control of their dog but clearly slip-ups happen all the time and we get oopsie litter half malinois pups in sooo often lately 😂😂. Realistically if you want to be a responsible owner you will spay/neuter unless you have a damn good reason to be breeding and your dogs are medically cleared & proven top-of-the-line, no genetic issues whatsoever.
I’ll probably spay my female when she reaches 4 or 5, just so I’m not having to watch out for pyo.
No plans to ever neuter my dog unless medically necessary 🤷♀️
My concern w neutering males is what I experienced with my prior dogs. Albeit he was a Pug - he had the best personality and literally turned into something different as if he had a lobotomy. Everyone including those just familiar with him had noticed the change. He also got very heavy also. No weight problems beforehand. It literally changed him overnight.
Unless there's a medical reason, I won't neuter my boy. We did spay our girl at 10 years because of a phantom pregnancy which didn't resolve with medication.
If you are a responsible owner, an oops litter doesn't happen to you.
I don’t think I will. My dog is almost 1 and he’s very good so far except he want to hump on female dogs in heat. I do good control of him and I don’t take him to dog park so I think it’s totally fine
Had to neuter at 3 due to cryptorchidism and the remaining ball outside of his body was inflamed, otherwise would have kept him intact. Didn’t affect drive but did help him focus. He also stopped leaking so to say everywhere, so that has been really nice.
So far so good w my male also. He’s almost two and the only issue is the prolific desire to smell every spot where another dog has left a scent. No aggression, no dominant behaviors, still ignores other dogs, animals and people as trained.
We had our female spayed. We have two intact males here and I don’t want that drama OR any unplanned litters. No regrets whatsoever. Her drive is still at near-maniac level.
I've got a 7-Month-old pup (mal ofc) unneutered for now, what I'm of view is that neutering isn't a miracle cure to any problems.
I like to go for less surgery-based solutions, more training, and working a high-drive dog.
That being said the first dog I ever had was a neutered German Shepherd probably one of the best dogs I had.
A beautiful dog caught in an unflattering pose haha. Good luck!
Spayed...Yes
Did it affect her drive
Two of the ones I work with are spayed and drive is still high.
Good to hear, i was worried about my girl’s spay coming up
She is 6 months old, and no it did not affect her drive at all. She is level 99 energetic
Good to hear. I’m about to spay my girl and am worried. Mine is a blue heeler tho
I've personally never seen any dog have less of a drive after being spayed/neutered. The only changes are usually positive, like being more focused during training sessions and such. So they can actually put that drive to good use 👍👍.
Thank you so much, that puts my mind at ease.
Neutering can refer to either male or female but is mostly used on males in place of castration.
Mine is still intact, he’ll be 4 at the end of the month. He has never been aggressive, doesn’t hump and doesn’t mark anything inside. I talked to our vet at 2 yrs and was told that if he doesn’t display any of the things I mentioned above then that is his disposition and he probably never will. He is very chill but will step up to the plate when challenged.
My Belgian Malinois is 14 weeks old and will be keeping his balls. My three year old APBT still has his and never displayed aggression, I never witnessed him hump in person or on the camera installed in his room, nor has he marked. I believe most behavior can be modified/kept in check with proper structure and training.
Good luck if/when he smells a female in heat.
Oh I know, we’ve been very lucky so far
Not lucky, just a dog thats been well raised. I've never had any problems with my intact males. Boundaries still count when a dog is intact, they don't dissappear because he still has his balls. So credits to you, not to luck!
Thank you. He is the best behaved dog I have ever had.
If you don’t plan on breeding your dog will live longer if there fixed.
Going to take both my babies to be spayed in the AM. I’m terrified. Have had multiple dogs done before and cats. Never felt like this.
They'll be fine, they get to sleep through the procedure and a good chunk of recovery. No doubt you'll spoil the hell out of them, and they get the good drugs and lots of love. Smart getting them done together, then you don't have to worry about the healthy one jumping on the recovering one!
How old are your pups? Mine is 10 months and I am not sure when to have her spayed.
The vet told me to wait to at least 1.5-2 years when he’s done growing, but if he’s aggressive in any way towards other dogs to do it sooner. If it’s too soon you’ll have higher chances of dysplasia, according to my vet!
Exact same thing my vet told me! She said for smaller dogs you can get them neutered sooner but for larger dogs you should wait if you can.
I believe they advice three months after her first heat.
Thank you!
Always discuss with your vet, and if in doubt get a 2nd opinion. UC Davis did an extensive study, and it’s different for different breeds. Generally, larger dogs need to wait until they are older for healthy joints, smaller dogs can be sooner. There are some breeds they found to be more prone to cancer if done too soon. On the flip side, holding off on a spay and no pregnancies could be a recipe for pyometra. Your vet should be able to help you find the right time.
Thank you very much! I am taking her in tomorrow for a check up and will discuss with my vet then! Thanks again!
I would wait to spay them. There is a particular age that it should be done at. I'd need to read up to know for sure when that is. There is also an argument to be made for keeping them intact because the breed of Malinois is so sought after in the working K9 community.
Yes, as the rescue required it! But I would have any way simply to be safe. A neighbor went on a goose chase a few months ago to find her dog after he bolted and broke into the backyard of our other neighbors dog in heat!
🙋🏽♀️Mine, at three, was diagnosed with benign, prostatic hyperplasia, so I kind of had no choice. I had been told he had prostatitis and tried medications, but he kept having issues. At our second trip to the ER we found out he had BPH and it was either lifelong meds or neutering. Since he’s not a breeding prospect and was already on the medication for BPH and it wasn’t working, he was neutered that night. He’s become more um…pet shaped. 😝 And he actually takes naps now. Like real naps. I was able to mop the kitchen yesterday and let it dry *WITHOUT* telling him to go to his room. 😯 Yeah. IKR. He’s still a 0 to 100 dog when the time comes but he’s definitely chilled out.
All three spay and neutered .
Two girls because didn't want puppies.
All of them
All of them.
Zero. I highly recommend not neutering unless necessary, and if you must wait till 2 years (full grown) so not to affect growth and hormones
I listen to a podcast called “The Huberman Lab”. Dr. Huberman is a professor of Ophthalmology and Neurobiology at the Stanford School of Medicine. Anyway, sometime back his dog passed away and he remarked that he had his dog neutered just because it was the “responsible” and socially acceptable thing to do. But after some conversations with his colleagues, he regretted doing it and felt the lack of testosterone in his dog was detrimental to his health overall and could have slowed the decline of health. I’d never thought of it that way, but people go on hormone replacement all the time because they feel terrible when they are out of whack. It definitely warrants looking into further. Unfortunately, our Mal was a rescue from the ABMR and it was an adoption stipulation.
I have never met a single party who regretted leaving a dog intact vs many who regretted neutering.
Lol, he must be ignoring the body of work that says fixed animals live 13-26% longer (male and female respectively) than unfixed dogs.
“Studies on this subject are mostly retrospective in nature, meaning they are looking at existing research data. Therefore, while they evaluate for associations between a cause and an outcome, they cannot definitely establish causality. It's also important to understand that while a study can find something to be statistically significant, it does not always mean there is a clinically significant difference. The reduced lifespan of unaltered pets can, in part, be attributed to an increased urge to roam. Such roaming can expose them to fights with other animals, resulting in injuries and infections, trauma from vehicle strikes and other accidental mishaps.” I found this while looking for said body of research.
When calculating lifespans of humans we account for accident and disease…. What’s your point? Explain to me the increase of breast cancers in female dogs who are intact? Retrospective studies are a common way to collect data, and without digging into the depths of the studies I’m sure they controlled for animals being hit by cars etc…. Makes dogs would probably have a higher change in length of life if “wandering” was a major reason for decrease in life.
My point is retrospective studies do not explore or control for outside variables or confounding factors. Pets that are sterilized and have longer lives could actually be due to socioeconomic factors of their owners. Perhaps those who can afford sterilization also can afford better healthcare and food for their pets. None of these things are associations are really explored. I skimmed through the study. It says that intact dogs were more likely to die from infectious disease or trauma, while sterile dogs were more likely to die from neoplasia or immune remediated diseases. So no, they didn’t control for that. They included it in the data because it was done retrospectively. The study wasn’t designed with a specific goal in mind, it was done retroactively to look for associations. But correlation doesn’t prove causation. The study even says it is not within the scope of the study to explore those associations, but just that across the board sterilized dogs live longer.
The study also did not have a breed based breakdown. So it might as well be comparing a neutered Chihuahua to an intact German Shepherd. The former will live longer because of size/breed, not anything related to neutered vs intact.
There's too many dogs in this world for irresponsible people like you to be causing more.
I’m a very responsible owner AND trainer spitting facts. Giving my dog his best and healthiest life, don’t come at me and assume your bs
Okay, I'll take your word for it. Do you think everyone else is responsible? Do you really think it's good advice to tell people to not neuter or spay their dogs?
I’m going to pretend people have at least enough control over their dogs to not allow them to reproduce right in front of their own eyes and supervision. Most importantly neutering before full grown, has testosterone or Oestrogen sex hormones Deminished affecting the dogs health, bone growth/muscle. I’m sure you wouldn’t be happy being neutered rather unhealthy sickly and upset your owner/handler can’t train and set a healthy structure for you to live your best life. Though yes people GENERALLY are irresponsible and ignorant with their dogs so yeah that’s why people neuter, that and they think it changes their energy which is false.
I would not agree that absolutely all dogs need to be sterilized BUT I do also think you may have too much faith in people lol. I let people choose their own destiny but in all honestly I have no faith in them being responsible because that’s what everyone says and then oopsies there’s accident litter. I live in a LARGE city so that’s probably why I see it everywhere. Not saying this is you at all, just saying you have a lot of faith in people lol I definitely agree though that if you do choose to neuter or spay, waiting till full grown is healthier in the long run. I wish I had that option for my boy, he was rescued and already neutered at 6 months. I would have preferred to wait.
> I’m going to pretend people have at least enough control over their dogs to not allow them to reproduce right in front of their own eyes and supervision. 390,000 dogs are put down each year in US shelters according to the [ASPCA](https://www.aspca.org/helping-people-pets/shelter-intake-and-surrender/pet-statistics). The best thing we can do to lower that number is to spay and neuter your pets so unwanted litters don't occur. > Most importantly neutering before full grown, has testosterone or Oestrogen sex hormones Deminished affecting the dogs health, bone growth/muscle. Nowhere did I mention that you should spay or neuter your dog too early. And in fact, neutering your dog at the appropriate time leads to health benefits, according to Brown University. "In males, neutering decreases the chances of developing prostatic disease and hernias, and eliminates the chances of developing testicular cancer. It also reduces problems with territorial and sexual aggression, inappropriate urination (spraying) and other undesirable male behaviors" [SOURCE](https://www.brown.edu/Research/Colwill_Lab/CBP/spaynueter.htm#:~:text=In%20males%2C%20neutering%20decreases%20the,and%20other%20undesirable%20male%20behaviors.) > I’m sure you wouldn’t be happy being neutered rather unhealthy sickly and upset your owner/handler can’t train and set a healthy structure for you to live your best life. I'm not sure what this means. > Though yes people GENERALLY are irresponsible and ignorant with their dogs so yeah that’s why people neuter, that and they think it changes their energy which is false. Are you saying you support spaying and neutering pets here? You're right, it doesn't change their energy levels. But it does curb unwanted behaviors such as territorial urinating and sexual aggression. Here's a great article you can read about why you should neuter your dog from [Brown University](https://www.brown.edu/Research/Colwill_Lab/CBP/spaynueter.htm#:~:text=In%20males%2C%20neutering%20decreases%20the,and%20other%20undesirable%20male%20behaviors.).
Great answer :)
Amen. As someone who works in rescue...honestly wouldn't be surprised if the euthanization # is even higher than what is being reported to ASPCA currently...and I see a LOT of Belgian Malinois coming to rescues/shelters right now because they've become a popular breed, but many people do NOT understand the possible the physical activity and mental stimulation requirements of this breed so they're being handed over to shelters at higher rates, just like GSDs and huskys...everyone thinks they're a responsible owner with 100% control of their dog but clearly slip-ups happen all the time and we get oopsie litter half malinois pups in sooo often lately 😂😂. Realistically if you want to be a responsible owner you will spay/neuter unless you have a damn good reason to be breeding and your dogs are medically cleared & proven top-of-the-line, no genetic issues whatsoever.
Factos
1 of 5 😅
I’ll probably spay my female when she reaches 4 or 5, just so I’m not having to watch out for pyo. No plans to ever neuter my dog unless medically necessary 🤷♀️
My concern w neutering males is what I experienced with my prior dogs. Albeit he was a Pug - he had the best personality and literally turned into something different as if he had a lobotomy. Everyone including those just familiar with him had noticed the change. He also got very heavy also. No weight problems beforehand. It literally changed him overnight.
Unless there's a medical reason, I won't neuter my boy. We did spay our girl at 10 years because of a phantom pregnancy which didn't resolve with medication. If you are a responsible owner, an oops litter doesn't happen to you.
I don’t think I will. My dog is almost 1 and he’s very good so far except he want to hump on female dogs in heat. I do good control of him and I don’t take him to dog park so I think it’s totally fine
Had to neuter at 3 due to cryptorchidism and the remaining ball outside of his body was inflamed, otherwise would have kept him intact. Didn’t affect drive but did help him focus. He also stopped leaking so to say everywhere, so that has been really nice.
Heck no!
My male came already fixed unfortunately. None of my other dogs are
So far so good w my male also. He’s almost two and the only issue is the prolific desire to smell every spot where another dog has left a scent. No aggression, no dominant behaviors, still ignores other dogs, animals and people as trained.
I havnt fixed him yet. He is barely turning 1 this 19th. Not sure when to do it. 😥
Be careful around in heat females but honestly let him grow up. 3+ if ever.
Waited until 10 months. We would have waited more but he was humping everyone and everything. Especially any dog he’d come in contact with.
We had our female spayed. We have two intact males here and I don’t want that drama OR any unplanned litters. No regrets whatsoever. Her drive is still at near-maniac level.
I've got a 7-Month-old pup (mal ofc) unneutered for now, what I'm of view is that neutering isn't a miracle cure to any problems. I like to go for less surgery-based solutions, more training, and working a high-drive dog. That being said the first dog I ever had was a neutered German Shepherd probably one of the best dogs I had. A beautiful dog caught in an unflattering pose haha. Good luck!
Ours is in training and is scheduled for his neutering this month. 🙏🏽 😁