Neuter/Spaying Benefits?

Question

I have a labrador/beagle mix. It is way hyper and my parents are thinking about moving to the country. I have heard that one of the benefits of spaying/neutering my animal would make it less hyper. It is so hyper it tears up everything in its path. Would neutering/spaying help. Also name other benefits of spaying/neutering that aren't involved with reproduction. PLEASE

Answer 1

Spaying / neutering will probably help with this, but may not solve the entire problem.
The other benefits of spay/neuter are eliminated risk of some cancers, reduced aggression, reduced roaming, reduced inappropriate peeing / pooping in the house.
Spay/ neuter is one of the most loving things you can do both for your pet, and all the unwanted pets in this country. Especially since your dog is a mix and there is no benefit to having puppies.
If your dog is still hyper after 2 weeks of neutering, ask your vet for some alternatives. Chlomicalm may help, as will obedience training. Some dogs are "hyper" just because they don't know what else to do. Obedience training tells them what TO do, rather than just what NOT to do. Good luck!

Answer 2

I have a labrador and a beagle. Both were hyper under the age of 2. Prior to neutering, the beagle was constantly focused on on marking and seemed unusually stubborn. After neutering, his behavior mellowed out dramatically. He can be turned out and walked (without prior training) without a leash. He stays with people rather than being constantly focused on keeping his nose to the ground, smelling, and marking. Neutering was the best thing for this beagle! He finally can have a lot of freedom rather than being stuck behind a fence or on a leash.
Lab's (if you have a field type in your dog's genes) are high energy dogs. In my experience, if the dog is unneutered, lab's like this stay hyper for years! Expect to exercise it at least twice a day for 45 minutes. Neutering a lab has the same benefits as it does for a beagle.
List of benefits:
-no roaming (it's a real nightmare to deal with this when female dogs are in heat - your dog could leave and that puts the dog in danger of being hit by cars, poisoned, shot, and whatever other disaster that could hurt him)
-zero risk of testicular cancer with a neutered dog
-happier dog - why? no urges to go roam (unless someone is intentionally breeding a dog - it's in the best interest of the animal to neuter it)
-with the dog less focused on marking and roaming behavior, the dog will be more focused on you - makes training easier.

Neutering is such a routine surgery now that it can be done quickly. You can usually drop your dog off at your vet and pick them up later that day. The cost can run from $0 in some places to $75 average in others.

commenting on a former post - you probably don't need to medicate your dog for having high energy. I just don't understand why this would be an option - that would be a last resort for me. It's unlikely that you would need to do such a thing. What dogs need - high energy dogs particularly - is more exercise! ! ! ! duh!

Answer 3

The bad... Early spay neuter can cause excessive growth in the long bones. This can lead to skeletal deformity, and more commonly, things like CCL ruptures. Spaying sometimes leads to incontinence in older females. It's actually called "spay incontinence." Those are the two biggies for me. I haven't found any of the commonly mentioned negative side effects to be particularly valid (such as weight gain, etc.). There are so many benefits to spaying and neutering that I would always have it done, I think. I'd just make very cafeful decisions about the age it's done. For giant breed dogs especially, it's vital it's not done too early.

Answer 4

If it is a male, yes. I don't know about female dogs so much, but by neutering a male, it actually decreases the testosterone level, which makes it less hyper...and less likely to mark its territory every 5 seconds all over the house. Which is good. And of course, spaying and neutering pets really decreases the stray pet population, which is a huge problem in the US.

Answer 5

Benefits:
1. It spares the lives of the puppies. Even if you found homes for them, they would take the place of dogs that the family could have adopted from the shelter/pound/breed rescue group.
2. Yes, it would help the dog be less hyper, because this behavior is probably due to him/her wanting to find a mate and sterilizing reduces this behavior.
3. It has significant health benefits. It protects males against testicular cancer and females against mammary glands tumors and breast cancer.
4. The animals become better pets. Unneutered and unspayed, they constantly roam for mates to relieve their sexual tensions.

Pretty knowledgeable for a 12-year-old, eh? Does my profile say I'm 15? Well I am not. My friend back in fifth grade signed me up and gave me the password; she told me she said I was 13 (it's been a few years). How do you change your age on the form?

Anyhow--DEFINITELY spay/neuter the dog, don't delay, do it today!

Answer 6

I was totally against spaying and neutering and ignored the warnings about chihuahua's getting breast cancer until our little baby got breast cancer,she had been lactating but was a virgin,I know this because she rode in an 18 wheeler with me and my wife 24 hrs a day excpet when we were home and then she was just in the house,and everytime the male tried to mount her she would bite him....but we had her spade during her masectomy...and she quit bleeding all over the bed from her periods and male dogs used to spray our address pole when she was in heat and our male chihuahua would go nuts when she was in heat and that stopped,as for the male he was peeing in the house to mark his territory and wouldn't eat especially when the girl dogs were in heat ...i was totally against spay and neuter,also our first dog got pregnant and died in birth due to a breech birth and then her only surviving puppy died at 6 mths old,and although her puppy was my favorite dog i ever had,she would still be alive today if i had her spade rather than bred...

Answer 7

You did not say how old is your dog. If your dog is older than 6 months then the behavior benefits are going to be greatly reduced. Behaviors are hormone driven, instinctive, or learned. So if you spay/neuter yours dog early before it is sexually mature you can eliminate hormones that will create some behaviors. After the dog has displayed those hormonal behaviors then they become learned behaviors and removing the hormones has little effect. So if your dog is sexually mature then spaying/neuter now is not going to calm it down and you will have to apply other behavior correction methods. The other benefits are health related and always make it extremely worthwhile to spay/neuter your dog.

Answer 8

I have heard that getting the dog fixed(any breed) before they are out of puppyhood will "make it not grow up" by this I mean it could remain hyper and anxious for the rest of it life.Get it spayed/neutered later, if that works for you.
Labs are very active loyal breeds and beagle are active as well, maybe your dog just needs trained.

Answer 9

well, my mom has a 6 and a half year old am. bulldog that is not neutered. about a week ago his nipple suddenly got really swollen and when she took him to the vet she was told that he has a mammary tumor. they don't usually happen in female dogs, as it is breast cancer, and that if he had been fixed within the first year, he probably wouldn't have this problem. the tumor is probably cancerous, so even though it's scheduled to be removed, the tumor could come back. as far as being hyper, my dog was fixed and it didn't calm him down any.

Answer 10

DO IT.

Spaying and neutering prevents further disease. You will be SO happy you did it. My dogs and cats are spayed and neutered except for my old family dog. He is 15 now and has testicular cancer so to try to get rid of it, he has to be neutered now and it's harder at old age. He might not be able to handle it and might have to be put to sleep. Seriously, do it. Your dog will be greatful and live longer.