# Schutzhund and spaying/neutering



## blas's girl (Apr 21, 2009)

IMG]http://i589.photobucket.com/albums/ss335/blassgirl/gsd%20pictures/IMG_3845_stack_800x600.jpg[/IMG]

Here is a picture of my beautiful boy that just passed away. I bought him with the idea of getting into Schutzhund. Unfortunately i wasn't able to find a club close enough to where we lived until he was about 5 yrs old. We started training then and trained about 9 months before he passed. He was doing amazingly well and i LOVED it! I currently have 2 gsd's both girls...both 12 yrs old and healthy and happy as oxes. In fact, 1 of my bitches was a pet quality Grunenfeld blk dog. She is wonderful and i love her dearly. Anyway..i will get to the point. I had my female gsd's spayed and had not neutered my boy, and when we started getting into Schutzhund i was encouraged not to neuter him because it could make him a "softer" dog. Well I will be getting a male dog when the time is right...and after my girls go i will be getting a girl. The thing is..my husband wants to get a rhodesian ridgeback which was one of the dogs he grew up with. so we were going to have an r/r and a shepherd eventually. My plan was to have my bitch spayed and leave my male intact. but he would like the r/r to be our male and the female to be our shepherd. So my question is...in order to train/compete in Schutzhund should i leave my female shepherd intact and neuter the r/r or does it not matter? r/r's dont have the temperment for Schutzhund...they like the lure coursing and agility more. anyway..im sorry for making this soooo long, but i was just starting when my boy got sick and i still have a lot of questions and want to make sure when i start looking for both dogs, I go the right direction from the very beginning.

Blas's girl

Mom to Darla and Delilah...and my boy Fantom


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## blas's girl (Apr 21, 2009)

*oops here's the picture to my boy*


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## blas's girl (Apr 21, 2009)

*And here's another picture of him*


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## Chris Wild (Dec 14, 2001)

*Re: And here's another picture of him*

If you wait until maturity (18-24 months for females, 2-3 years for males) than spaying/neutering usually won't have any effect on personality, drive or ability to do SchH. Early spaying/neutering before the hormones have been able to do their part in helping the dog reach true mental and physical maturity can.


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## Sarah'sSita (Oct 27, 2001)

*Re: And here's another picture of him*

My dog is neutered. Does not make a dog softer or affect drive. Studies on early neutering (less than six months) show significant health problems in regard to structure and bone development. Most studies have been on dogs neutered at eight weeks.
Sorry about your loss. Good luck!


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