# Vasectomy worth the trouble?



## Craig Caughlin (Oct 17, 2007)

I personally think the O.S.S. procedure makes a lot of sense if you have a Female, but I'm not sure if the vasectomy for Males makes any sense.

My veterinarian says the same thing. She says, "what do you gain? O.K., you have a dog that can't impregnate another Female, but beyond that...how does it benefit the dog and you still have the expense of the procedure...?"

I sort of agree.

Has anyone had a vasectomy performed on their Male(s)? Feedback?

Thank you,
Craig


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## MineAreWorkingline (May 2, 2015)

Are you talking vasectomy vs leaving a dog intact or are you talking a vasectomy vs neutering?


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

I question the benefit of neutering. That said, when there are medical reason (existing issues), go for it. If the dog is healthy, has a good prostate, I would opt for the vasectomy if I was worried about my dog knocking up a female. If you only have a male, and are a responsible dog owner, you shouldn't worry about your dog mating unless you intend for him to mate. 

People have this notion that has been perpetuated by veterinarians that neutering will take care of all the issues they have with their poorly bred and untrained dogs. Issues like humping, marking in the house, aggression, etc. So, they run out and have the dogs "fixed" and surprise, it doesn't really change much of anything. 

About 10 months ago my boy had blood in his urine. Vet determined he had an enlarged/infected prostate. Several rounds of medications did not help enough. His prostate was still enlarged. We decided to neuter him and not risk further medical issues. I would have kept him intact for ever. His behavior and energy level did not change one iota. He still marks outside as he always did. He still has his hyper behaviors, not as relaxed or "calmed" down as vet said he would be.


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## Nurse Bishop (Nov 20, 2016)

I once had a very shy, timid and gentle male Russian Wolfhound that was caught by the county pound. They would not let me bail him out without him getting neutered. I knew that Ivan Putski needed every bit of testosterone he could possibly make. So I took him to my own vet who performed a vasectomy and wrote on the papers "sterilized". The operation was basically a bandaid operation and Ivan kept his family jewels.

In places where all dogs have to be spayed or neutered because of overpopulation this could work for the male dogs.


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## Craig Caughlin (Oct 17, 2007)

MineAreWorkingline said:


> Are you talking vasectomy vs leaving a dog intact or are you talking a vasectomy vs neutering?


I'm sorry...thank you for the clarification.

I'm talking vasectomy vs leaving a dog intact.



Craig


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

My next pup will be a male. I plan to leave Deja intact and the best option for that future male pup is a vasectomy. I once had a mutt who had a vasectomy because of the shelter's requirement of neutering but they OK-ed a vasectomy. And a GSD with a retained testicle: removed the retained and a vasectomy on the other one,. The vasectomy just because he was under anesthesia already. 
For a single male dog I don't see the need for a vasectomy if you manage him well.


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## Kyrielle (Jun 28, 2016)

Craig Caughlin said:


> I'm sorry...thank you for the clarification.
> 
> I'm talking vasectomy vs leaving a dog intact.
> 
> ...


I could see someone giving their dog a vasectomy if they were a bit of an escape artist. There are some dogs that just manage to wriggle out of their fences/houses/whatever so they can go explore.

Otherwise, I don't see the point.


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## kelbonc (Aug 25, 2014)

Sometimes a breeder may include a clause in the contract to purchase that requires neutering the dog by a certain age (eg. 8 months). I can see a vasectomy being a good option in that case if you were hoping to keep dog intact for the benefit of the hormones. With the vasectomy the dog could no longer reproduce but could maintain those hormones.


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## voodoolamb (Jun 21, 2015)

I plan on getting a bitch in the near(ish) future. My current male will probably get a vasectomy if his vet OKs him for the surgery.

I have had intact male and females living under the same household and have never had a pregnancy, but I am not so naive to think that accidents can't happen. Who knows? I might get into a car crash and be hospitalized for weeks on end and need to leave the care of my dogs to someone else...

Normally I wouldn't bother with the snip and just take that (very small) risk. However, my boy has a pretty severe medical problem that is very very likely to have a genetic component. If an accidental pregnancy were to happen I would be wracked with guilt worrying if those pups and their future owners would be put through the same heart ache. 

I'd just feel a lot better having an intact female under my roof if I knew my guy was sterile.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

eddie1976E said:


> I question the benefit of neutering. That said, when there are medical reason (existing issues), go for it. If the dog is healthy, has a good prostate, I would opt for the vasectomy if I was worried about my dog knocking up a female. If you only have a male, and are a responsible dog owner, you shouldn't worry about your dog mating unless you intend for him to mate.
> 
> People have this notion that has been perpetuated by veterinarians that neutering will take care of all the issues they have with their poorly bred and untrained dogs. Issues like humping, marking in the house, aggression, etc. So, they run out and have the dogs "fixed" and surprise, it doesn't really change much of anything.
> 
> About 10 months ago my boy had blood in his urine. Vet determined he had an enlarged/infected prostate. Several rounds of medications did not help enough. His prostate was still enlarged. We decided to neuter him and not risk further medical issues. I would have kept him intact for ever. His behavior and energy level did not change one iota. He still marks outside as he always did. He still has his hyper behaviors, not as relaxed or "calmed" down as vet said he would be.


I didn't notice much change within the first year with our male either, but into the second year I began seeing attention seeking behavoir that wasn't there before. He had always been indifferent to strangers in the past. His serious side has softened as well. I won't do it again unless medically need such as your situation.


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## eddie1976E (Nov 7, 2010)

Nigel said:


> I didn't notice much change within the first year with our male either, but into the second year I began seeing attention seeking behavoir that wasn't there before. He had always been indifferent to strangers in the past. His serious side has softened as well. I won't do it again unless medically need such as your situation.


That is terrible... I have not noticed that yet, but it has only been about a year (10 months). 

Nothing I hate more in dogs then seeking attention from strangers. I love serious dogs (indifferent, level headed, not serious in the sense of aggressive). I want a dog to look at strangers with a gaze that puts them on notice. Send chills down their spine, without a single bark or aggressive movement. That would be a perfect dog. Of course, he better be able to back that gaze up with appropriate action if needed.


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## Nigel (Jul 10, 2012)

eddie1976E said:


> That is terrible... I have not noticed that yet, but it has only been about a year (10 months).
> 
> Nothing I hate more in dogs then seeking attention from strangers. I love serious dogs (indifferent, level headed, not serious in the sense of aggressive). I want a dog to look at strangers with a gaze that puts them on notice. Send chills down their spine, without a single bark or aggressive movement. That would be a perfect dog. Of course, he better be able to back that gaze up with appropriate action if needed.


It's not quite that bad, he's not gone full blown golden retriever. He doesn't run up to strangers looking for attention. It's at the club where he use to be indifferent to others and with visitors to our home. He's much quicker to warm up to them and less suspicious than before. The transition from stranger to friend is much quicker than before if that makes sense.


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## wolfy dog (Aug 1, 2012)

Nigel said:


> It's not quite that bad, he's not gone full blown golden retriever. He doesn't run up to strangers looking for attention. It's at the club where he use to be indifferent to others and with visitors to our home. He's much quicker to warm up to them and less suspicious than before. The transition from stranger to friend is much quicker than before if that makes sense.


I don't know if that is caused by neutering, he could also be more confident about strangers due to training or your responses to him.


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## Muskeg (Jun 15, 2012)

I don't know that it would be a picnic to have a vasectomy dog loose with a female in heat. Mounting, tying, all that fun would still most likely happen. My first dog was neutered when I got him, and ten years after I adopted him, my GSD bitch went into heat and it was a big fiasco. He kept mounting my bitch and would have tied if I hadn't stopped it. And there was still pacing, stress, panting, constant flirting, and increased aggression to other males in the area. 

So while a vasectomy should stop a pregnancy, the really annoying behaviors will certainly be there because the dog will still have a full set of hormones. I don't see much benefit to it. If a person was sick or injured and the dogs were in the care of someone else, it's doubtful that caretaker would want to deal with pacing, mating, tying, and flirting.... dogs locked in a tie can get scared and aggressive with each other and even with people. 

So, except to get around silly early-neutering laws, or neutering laws in general, I don't think a vasectomy solves much of anything as far as keeping a male and female in the same house. You'll still most likely have to separate them during the heat cycle and deal with whining, pacing, lack of appetite, and flirting. 

On the other hand, spaying a female would indeed solve the issue.


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