# Precautions for keeping an intact male



## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

So my boy is sort of becoming a man 

I have never had an intact male before. I wonder if I should be taking more precautions than I am? I would like to know what you guys who have intact males consider to be acceptable husbandry so to speak to prevent him from making accidental babies.

1. He does go in the yard unsupervised but not a lot, I will generally be checking out the windows from time to time. Our fence is 4.5 feet and I do believe he could clear it no problem if he were motivated. He thought about it when I had them in the yard and my husband and I were outside the yard chainsawing firewood (didn't want thd dogs around the chainsaw). Looking at me outside the fence, he contemplated trying to come out and I let him know what I thought about that. So far the only thing that motivates him to want to challenge the fence is me being outside of it, and if I give him a verbal reprimand he stops or if he can't settle I put him inside in his kennel

2. Offleash walking. Yay or nay. He is e collar trained and not ever allowed out of my sight. Most often we would be offleash walking on our own land. I also let them offleash on a straight stretch of road and in a hayfield alongside it, there are no dogs in the vicinity except for two weekenders who have older, cranky, altered females about a quarter mile up from where I let them run

We live on a very rural dirt road, the nearest house one way is about 3/4 of a mile and a spayed female lives there.

There are closer houses in the opposite direction but no dogs. Past the spayed female is a lady with a couple of labs but it is her vacation home. I know she kept her male intact until age 2 and has a new puppy whose gender I don't know so there is a possibility of an unspayed female pup about a mile away, she does not have her property fenced although her dogs do not leave her property without her (she walks on the road offleash like everyone does around here)

I could find out what gender her new pup is to sort of asses our risk level although I know at this time that pup would be too young to have a heat.

So that is our basic lifestyle. We also go to rally trials and practices for dock diving and tracking but in those cases everyone is on a leash so not counting those.


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## car2ner (Apr 9, 2014)

Sounds like you have a good head for this. It really hasn't been too hard for us. If your dog starts drooling over "the perfume of some sweet young thing" along the roadside while you walk, you can leash him. If you are interested in keeping the hormones but not breeding, you could consider a vasectomy. You may have to search a bit but there are vets who will do this.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

He drools over the perfume of the two senior girls he lives with LOL

He will be 2 next June, and will be having at leastvthe retained testicle removed. So my dilemma till then is whether to let him keep his one for his health? Or whether that lifestyle is too much of a hassle for us. So far him being intact has not been a problem for me.


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## Bramble (Oct 23, 2011)

I live in a rural area, yard is not fenced, neighbors all along the road I am on have dogs. I know one has an intact female GSD, but they are a good ways down the road, almost a mile and the owner doesn't let he run loose at all. I don't let him loose outside alone for extended periods, usually just one last potty break at night. Otherwise I am always out there with them. If I knew there was an intact female nearby I probably would be extra vigilant, I've read females can be just as determined about seeking out a mate as males.

My boy will also be two in June and so far I haven't noticed any behavior that makes me think he looking for ladies. There was a week where he was obsessed with my spayed female and any where she peed, I think she may have had a low grade UTI. I ended up having to keep them separate because he would not leave her alone, even had to crate him at night and cover up one side so he could not see her, because if made him more restless and whiny. Fortunately after about a week it stopped, thank God, lol. Funny thing is I've had intact females in to be groomed that were in heat and he never reacted that way.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

I live across the street from two intact females and there is another one the other direction across the street and three doors down. There are too many to list intact males in the neighborhood including two right next door.

I own four intact males and those females are a non issue. They don't moan and groan, they don't try to get out of the yard, they don't fight amongst themselves, or exhibit any other bad behaviors when those females are in heat. 

The other intact males in the neighborhood are a non issue to them as well.

Now when my two bitches come into heat, it is a whole other ball game. 

When loose intact males come to my fence to fight, yes, my males react.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> I live across the street from two intact females and there is another one the other direction across the street and three doors down. There are too many to list intact males in the neighborhood including two right next door.
> 
> I own four intact males and those females are a non issue. They don't moan and groan, they don't try to get out of the yard, they don't fight amongst themselves, or exhibit any other bad behaviors when those females are in heat.
> 
> ...


Just out of curiosity, MAWL...how do you prevent your females from getting bred when they are in heat, crate and rotate? And how do all of your same sexes get along? ? How much time out together do they have?


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Thecowboysgirl said:


> Just out of curiosity, MAWL...how do you prevent your females from getting bred when they are in heat, crate and rotate? And how do all of your same sexes get along? ? How much time out together do they have?


There is a lot of crate and rotate for all of them starting approximately day 7. Things are manageable prior to that. The males let me know when things are winding down 7-10 days later. One male is too rambunctious and must be kept separated another 3 days beyond that point.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

I don't find having an intact male an issue. Sure, there are some dogs he doesn't like. But it's manageable, he can still be around them. He runs and plays with lots of intact dogs of all ages, we hike off leash, we compete. He lives with a senior intact female, and yes, he lets me know when she comes into season. But crate and rotate for a week and he comes to work with me for a week. 

If I am home and they are out together, around that time, I can tell him "leave her alone" and 90% of the time he will. The other 10%, he gets crated. 

It has really not been that big of a deal. It's really about the training and understanding what you are dealing with. He is a more serious dog than males that are neutered. Just more intense. But he has a silly side. He is a blast to be around.


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

Max was intact till two there was no ill side affects of being not neutered such as no trying to escape to get to a female, no humping anything and no urinating in house. Did not seem affected being in a room where a dog that was previously in heat was kept and he was not distracted at all during a nose work session. I would of kept him intact if I could of. He has not changed since he was neutered at all -still very intense. Our last German shepherd was not neutered either and we had no issues with him either trying to get to any females or seemingly interested. Growing up we had a male poodle that was not neutered he always would try to get out to the unspayed poodle two houses away (little Susie) my experience was different have little dogs that were not neutered.


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Just wanted to add I never had an intact male hump inappropriately or to mark inside the house.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> Just wanted to add I never had an intact male hump inappropriately or to mark inside the house.



You have no idea how much I wish I could say that! When my girls are in heat my younger boys will mark. Thank God for belly bands and how small my toy dogs are! At least it's not a lake like a GSD would leave me.


I've never had a problem with my large intact males and jumping fences. I didn't spay my Dobe until she was two and had been through three seasons. I had to watch her like a hawk as she'd sail over the fence in search of a boyfriend if she thought I wasn't paying attention when she was in season.


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## InControlK9 (Sep 23, 2013)

I'm new to this.. what does it mean when he marks when a girl is in heat? only time I've heard that word was when referring to urinating on something


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Deb said:


> You have no idea how much I wish I could say that! When my girls are in heat my younger boys will mark. Thank God for belly bands and how small my toy dogs are! At least it's not a lake like a GSD would leave me.
> 
> 
> I've never had a problem with my large intact males and jumping fences. I didn't spay my Dobe until she was two and had been through three seasons. I had to watch her like a hawk as she'd sail over the fence in search of a boyfriend if she thought I wasn't paying attention when she was in season.


That seems to be a common problem in toy or small breeds. It is not a large breed thing.


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## selzer (May 7, 2005)

A 4.5" fence will not stop your boy, or a female if she happens along, lost and in heat. And yes, people will drop a bitch off when they are in heat, out in the country, abandoning them, because they just can't take the messy or bothersome heat cycle. 

And they think the dog has a better chance being picked up and finding a home than in taken to a shelter. And maybe that is true, consider a lot of shelters put down owner-turn-ins the day they are turned in. 

Impregnating a bitch is not what you want your dog to do, but frankly, there are worse dangers out there for a lose dog, especially in the country. Farmers are quick to shoot dogs, especially if they've had a dog killing live stock. Hunters will shoot dogs running deer -- it is expected and encouraged. Trappers are out there, and if they find they've trapped a GSD, who knows what they will do. They might try to help it or release it injured, they may flat out kill it. Who knows. And some traps set under water will kill a dog. Cars in the country tend to go 30 - 50 mph faster than cars in the city, so even if the driver really doesn't want to hit your dog, they may not be able to avoid the dog. And all of these are possibilities when your dog is following his nose to a prospective score. 

I'd put the boy in his kennel if I was not out there with him. Use the yard for play/enjoyment together.


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## Deb (Nov 20, 2010)

InControlK9 said:


> I'm new to this.. what does it mean when he marks when a girl is in heat? only time I've heard that word was when referring to urinating on something



Yes, they lift their leg and 'mark' things with their urine. They'll mark their territory outside as they get older just to let other males know it's their property even when no females are in season.


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## Thecowboysgirl (Nov 30, 2006)

selzer said:


> A 4.5" fence will not stop your boy, or a female if she happens along, lost and in heat. And yes, people will drop a bitch off when they are in heat, out in the country, abandoning them, because they just can't take the messy or bothersome heat cycle.
> 
> And they think the dog has a better chance being picked up and finding a home than in taken to a shelter. And maybe that is true, consider a lot of shelters put down owner-turn-ins the day they are turned in.
> 
> ...


Good points Selzer. I thought even as I wrote it...he doesn't HAVE to be outside unsupervised. Probably 90 percent of the time they are out I am out there too. It is just easier to vacuum and mop if they go out to play but he can be kennelled instead and play while I am out there with him. I really do not think he would ever jump the fence if I were there. 

I had a boarder try to jump the fence one time and I ran at warp speed across the yard to stop her lol. Oh yeah a detached kennel with 6' fencing is in the works thank god and knock on wood nobody has escaped.

There is a lot of undeveloped land around us and National Forest beyond that...hunting is HUGE around here. My dogs have not been outside the yard without their orange capes since season opened.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

A strong and determined dog can climb those 6' cyclone fence kennels. They climb in the corners. I have wired mine over the tops with chicken wire. They will also dig under and escape. I had a whippet do that once. Found her collar with ID tags caught on the bottom wire of the kennel and she was never seen again. Hog panels (a type of fence panel) can be laid down around the edges and the kennel placed so if the dog digs it will encounter wire. 

I prefer female dogs for many reasons.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Male dogs are completely misunderstood and described (often by vets!) as some kind of monster, just out there to fight, run away and breed whatever they can get a hold of.
It is no big deal having an intact male dog. The only thing that requires attention is that I don't allow marking while working with them or when on leash. Everything else is just the same as when they were neutered. 
Europe is so much more relaxed in this.


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## Traveler's Mom (Sep 24, 2012)

I have a 4' chain link suburban backyard. My 10 year old intact boy has never had any interaction with any ladies. The only way I know there is a female in heat is when we are walking. He'll give a spot a serious sniff then lay down and continue giving the area deep huffs. It takes all I can do to pull him off the spot. Pretty embarrassing having the neighbors see me yanking on this 90 lb. lover boy yelling Get Up!! Get Up!!!

Can you say doggie catnip?:blush:


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