Why does 'fixing' a dog help with issues?

Question

Why does it help if they are aggressive or other issues they may have?

Answer 1

It doesn't eliminate all issues but it does help a lot on many issues because it eliminates hormone driven behaviors. It eliminates a dogs need to fight with other dogs over potential mates, it helps curb the need to mark territory or to advertise 'availability", it helps a dog remain focused during training instead of looking around for a potential mate, being interested in a female in heat, etc.

***Greekman, you are way off base 1) people don't have the same propensity to testicular cancer or mammary cancer from being "intact" that dogs/cats do 2) dogs/cats do not have sex to fill emotional needs and closeness like humans, they only have sex to procreate 3) dogs/cats do not get fat, lazy, less protective or any other such nonsense from being neutered. 4) neutering does NOT affect physical or mental development*****

Answer 2

Ask your self this question, whose life becomes easier when you fix the dog? Yours, or the dog's? If everything said here is true, why don't we also fix humans? Males would stop acting the way they do as far as chasing women and females would be happy and would not chase men. Why is it that people do not look at the opposite side of the coin too, the rest of the story of fixing a dog? How about the no energy factor, the fat the dog accumulates, the loss of aggression and protectiveness, the loss of drive, the physical lack of development the mental or emotional lack of development? What about those things? Who really benefits from these procedures? When was the last time you heard a human male tell his friends he will have his balls cut off because he is worried about cancer? How about a woman? In this day and age we, as humans are taking hormones to INCREASE our vigor and fertility and sexual prowess and yet we are hypocritical enough to fix our dogs. How about if WE payed more attention to what the dogs are doing and not allow any behavior that is not wanted through REALISTIC training? How about if WE were careful enough to NOT allow our dogs to gt pregnant if we did not want a litter? I am getting tired of listening to the same old argument of fixing dogs. I have had hundreds of dogs in the past 27 years, none were fixed and none ever mated accidentaly. So, who is really benefiting from all this fixing?


Dane Lover. What you so casualy call non sense, I call reality. I have seen and experienced the effects of fixing a dog first hand. Yes, they do get fat and lazy and lose drive. As far as sexual satisfaction and emotional closeness, I agree, dogs do not have these feelings, but, that is NOt the reason people fix them. They do it because of other reasons that are opennly talked about here. And lastly, while humans may not have the same propensity for cancer, it is still a weak argument to fix a dog and face the problems that I mentioned earlier. I, personaly, have never had a problem with any of my intact dogs in 27 years. Thank you for your comments.

Answer 3

Neutering or spaying your dog removes the hormone that causes the aggression and territorial issues they have.When the hormone is removed, or the source of that hormone, they are less apt to feel they must fight, or run off to protect their territories. And it is best to do so while they are young, before they start the aggressive behaviors. It is also healthier for them. There are more dogs, male and female that are afflicted with cancer, either testicular, or mammary in females, that have not been spayed or neutered. I hope this answers your question...

Answer 4

For males is to reduce the temptation of marking territory. It doesnt mean they will stop but it will reduce the need of wanting to.

I have a male chihuahua, I fixed him wen he was 4 months where some male dogs still squat to pee. i fixed him and he has no interest in marking territory. Better yet he stil squats to pee!

I also fixed his sister at the same time so that I dont have to mess with the bloody periods that comes a whole month at a time, heat diapers, and chances of her getting pregnant like the mom hehe. The lil sis is fixed now but she still seduces her dad(my sisters chihuhua) whose not neutered... but yeah.

Answer 5

In male dogs the testosterone is alot of what makes them agressive. It is natural and has to do with mating, territory etc...so by ridding them of the parts that cause this behavior they are not so agressive.
Females are the same way, they can be agressive when in heat, protecting themselves from the boys...and when they are fixed they do not go into heat.

Answer 6

It removes their testosterone (sex hormones) which in turn decreases territoriality, and any unwanted behaviour associated with wanting to find a mate, as they no longer have the urge to find one.

Castration only helps with behaviour issues tho - the best way to tackle them is through appropriate training. The biggest benefits to neuterings are health benefits - in male dogs, it prevents them getting prostate problems/cancer in later life.

Chalice

Answer 7

well it will calm a male dog down if you fix him at a young age, it really doesn't do much once they have alreafy tapped into their instincts, and if its a female dog then you don't have to worry about having puppies all the time, and fixing a female will make her put on weight, so if it is a female you may need to change her diet, obesity is very unhealthy for dogs

Answer 8

Because mainly aggression is caused but hormones. If you get them fixed the hormones stop producing and then they become more passive

Hope this helps

Answer 9

It does help with aggression to humans and other dogs b/c they don't have the urge to "reproduce" but it also helps protect your dog from cancer and other diseases. Actions that occur during mating season with non-fixed dogs does not occur with fixed dogs.

Answer 10

The advantage of spaying or neutering is that it makes better pets, reducing spraying by males and eliminating the estrous cycle in females.

Spayed/neutered pets are prone to laziness and weight gain. Pets that are spayed or neutered don't require as much food--therefore, pet owners should reduce their pet's food intake according to their veterinarian's recommendations.

Neutering reduces male behaviors. but its not eliminated. Because the brain behavior waves are formed before the animal is even born. The presence of testosterone prompts sexual behavior in males. But because of this, the elimination of the hormone--after neutering, for instance--does not guarantee that these behaviors will be eliminated.

From my own expierence with "male" dogs, if you fix them before they hike their leg or before they do things to stuffed animals they will never develop this behavior