# Have you had or do you live with an intact male shepherd?



## Cobe914 (Sep 29, 2014)

For a long time I was involved in rescue, and I was heavy on the "spay and neuter the second you can" bandwagon. Any time I saw an intact dog with behaviour issues, I jumped to the conclusion that it was because they hadn't gotten him the snip. My dog at the time was promptly neutered at four months old.
Well, years have passed, and I've learned. Before acquiring Cobe I spend months doing research, speaking to holistic veterinarians, and getting every bit of information I could. My 13 month old Dutch Shepherd is still intact, and I intend to keep him that way for a bit longer, if not indefinitely. 
As I've poked around the boards, I've seen plenty of posts of people mentioning their intact males. So far, I haven't experienced a lot with Cobe that my early neuter male didn't do. In fact, my intact dog (against what many would say) has better focus and is less inclined to wander off then my previous boy. However, he is still young. So what I really want to ask is:
What are your experiences with owning an intact male? Did you find any significant differences between them and their neutered counterparts? Did they change when they were neutered?

While I'm aware that these questions are answered to varying degrees all over the internet, I'd love to hear from shepherd owners who've chosen a similar path as myself. I'm hoping to continue to learn more about this, since this is the first intact dog I've ever had any experience with.

Thanks so much, everyone!


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## Carriesue (Aug 13, 2012)

I have an almost 3 year old intact male GSD, it's not totally fair to compare him to my neutered males because they are different breeds. To me it's more about training than whether the dog is intact or not. Mine doesn't do ANY of the stereotypical behaviors, he's extremely biddable and focused on me, has never showed any inclination to want to escape the yard(we have 6ft privacy fence and because he's intact I never leave him unattended out there).

The only difference(and again this may just be a breed difference) from my other dogs is that he is extremely dominant with dogs and he no longer likes or gets along with strange dogs. He's a GSD though and I was prepared for that. Other than that I've never had an issue with him because hes intact.


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## llombardo (Dec 11, 2011)

I'm giving it a shot and keeping my male intact until 18-24 months. He is about 9 months now. I'm not seeing any different behaviors, no marking and no humping as of now. I am still getting him neutered just later. I do think that waiting for the growth plates is in the best interest of the dog. I also think that neutering still can help with testicular cancer.


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## Findlay (Jan 8, 2015)

My pup is 10 months old. His trainer said not to neuter before 2yrs or older...growth plates need to close (as llombardo mentioned). 
And the trainer also said that a GSD's head isn't full grown till 2 yrs old (which I don't know if he was joking ab that).

Thanks for bringing up this topic.
I'm also interested in what male GSD owners say about their intact dogs. Especially in re to behavioral changes. 
Hope you get lots of posts.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I have four male dogs and one female. My female is spayed. One of my males was neutered when he was six years old due to health reasons. The other three are intact. My GSD is the only male I have to crate and rotate. The other three males get along great and I have no problems with them. 

No body marks in the house. With the exception of my GSD, nobody grumbles or argues. Everyone behaves well and are well trained. 

Personally, I see no relative behavior differences between my altered male and those who are intact.


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## GypsyGhost (Dec 29, 2014)

Our 7 month old GSD is intact, and while I know he still has a lot of growing and maturing to do, I don't think him being intact makes him difficult to live with. I will say that he is no more insane than the already neutered puppies in his training classes.


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## Liesje (Mar 4, 2007)

I own one intact male, two neutered males, and one spayed female. The only differences I have with my intact male are he's more interested in sniffing and marking when out on walks (but this can be prevented with some basic training) and I cannot have another intact male in my house/"pack". He is fine with my neutered males (one is his son), but he is not good with other intact males that are not puppies. My male has bred a few times but has never tried to break out or wander off. I can't remember the last time he's had any sort of accident indoors...he doesn't go around marking everything inside and out. I have no plans to neuter him unless he starts having prostate trouble.


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## MacD (Feb 8, 2014)

My 23 month old GSD isn't neutered and he is totally focused on me or my husband - never humps .. is sweet, goofy and is totally different than when I got him at 7 months. 

He was leash aggressive to other dogs, some men and people who walked slow with a shuffle. He had no training up to when he came home with us (never was on a leash and ran free). We know from the scar tissue he had injuries, maybe from a dog fight or car accident so maybe that's why he was reactive. Didn't matter - he wasn't allowed to get away with it so he stopped after hours of training - treats involved  Never thought to neuter him to combat/lessen his behaviors. 

He is a sweet heart today (with a few exceptions).


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## osito23 (Feb 17, 2014)

My 19 month old male GSD is intact and we have no issues nor plans to neuter. He is well behaved inside the house, marks only on walks (which I allow), gets along well with my 3 other dogs (spayed females), has never humped anything, and has never tried to escape. I do not allow him to interact with any dogs other than my pack and my parents' dogs, but he trains weekly around other dogs. We do off leash obedience and agility, even around the occassional in heat female, without issue. He would not do well in a dog park environment or make friends with other intact males, but I imagine that would be the same even if he were neutered.


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## Lilie (Feb 3, 2010)

I want to add that my intact males do not mark when we are walking on a leash. Only because it's a pet peeve of mine. Unless I'm taking them out to specifically go potty. If that's the case, I'll tell them "Go Potty" and I'll remain standing while they circle and do their business. Off leash, outside, I don't care. They can sign away.


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## Dunkirk (May 7, 2015)

I was delaying desexing my boy for as long as possible. It was a condition of sale he be desexed. My next door neighbours bought a female beagle puppy in April. He was desexed last week at 16 months, just to avoid any potential problems if the beagle had an early heat.


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## dogfaeries (Feb 22, 2010)

Russell was 2 in February and he's intact. I have no intention of neutering him, unless it's necessary medically. He can be obnoxious when one of the girls is in heat, but it's manageable. He's a pretty agreeable dog, and gets along well with bitches. I don't know about males, since he hasn't been around any since he was a puppy. Overall he's a really good boy.


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## gsdsar (May 21, 2002)

My male is 2yo and some months. Intact. No marking, social, happy boy. He can be a jerk in certain situations with other dogs. But nothing that keeps me from taking him to dog centered events. Never had an issue. 

My last male was intact until about 18 mo. I did have behavioral issues with him and decided to neuter him. But honestly, the behavior was a training deficit on my part. I knew it even then, I just came to the realization that I was not going to breed him, he was showing some big time rank issues so I did it. I have not made the same mistake.


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## Mikelia (Aug 29, 2012)

I have an almost 6yo and almost 9yo intact male with no stereotypical intact male issues. Neither will wander off, they do not leave the property or wherever I am. I do not leave them unattended together but they get along fine, both will get along with other intact males so long as the other dog is not aggressive. I also have two spayed females (different breeds) and one intact 1yo gsd female. I have noticed no difference between my altered and intact dogs so long as they are well trained.


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## zyppi (Jun 2, 2006)

Jack is going on 8 and still intact. Never had a problem but we don't take him to dog parks or around other dogs.


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## Sabis mom (Mar 20, 2014)

Cobe914 said:


> For a long time I was involved in rescue, and I was heavy on the "spay and neuter the second you can" bandwagon. Any time I saw an intact dog with behaviour issues, I jumped to the conclusion that it was because they hadn't gotten him the snip. My dog at the time was promptly neutered at four months old.
> Well, years have passed, and I've learned. Before acquiring Cobe I spend months doing research, speaking to holistic veterinarians, and getting every bit of information I could. My 13 month old Dutch Shepherd is still intact, and I intend to keep him that way for a bit longer, if not indefinitely.
> As I've poked around the boards, I've seen plenty of posts of people mentioning their intact males. So far, I haven't experienced a lot with Cobe that my early neuter male didn't do. In fact, my intact dog (against what many would say) has better focus and is less inclined to wander off then my previous boy. However, he is still young. So what I really want to ask is:
> What are your experiences with owning an intact male? Did you find any significant differences between them and their neutered counterparts? Did they change when they were neutered?
> ...


 Bud will be 13 years old in a month or so. He is intact and since I used to rescue, he has lived with other shepherds of all ages and both sexes, intact and not. He is bad for marking in the house, he had never been in a house until I got him at 11 months and he needed a lot of rehab when I brought him home so it wasn't something I noticed or dealt with right away.
He was fine with other dogs all his life, I had much more trouble with the girls then I ever did with him. It was only after Sabi died that he got dog aggressive.
When he was younger he and I had a few disputes about him trying to romance the girls, they were short lived and easily handled.
He marks on walks with my husband, not with me, I don't like it and don't allow it.
He took to obedience like a star and has great focus when working. He is independent by nature but much more biddable then the girls.
He lives with my 4 year old intact female, we have no problems. Crate and rotate. I do not allow them unsupervised together ever.
In the last while we have started seeing some issues, dribbling, and leaking on himself, penis falling out lots, etc. At his age there are not any viable options so I just keep him clean, monitor him and let him be his goofy self.
I am not fond of boy dogs in general, but I doubt I would neuter if I did get another one.


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## Ruger Monster (Jan 29, 2015)

Ruger is 7 months this week and intact. I don't notice any issues, but my other 2 dogs are both spayed females. The vet kept bothering me every time I went in to neuter him, I think they finally noted that we're not doing it until _at least_ 1 year old. Our trainer suggested to wait until 12-18 months to let him mature more, and I'd read on here about waiting longer as well.


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## Lobo dog (Sep 19, 2014)

I had never owned a male dog before Lobo but all of the awful behaviors I was expecting from an intact male we seem to have avoided  he is 13 months and is really fantastic with other dogs. My only complaint in that department is he is too interested in them and despite having been in training classes with other dogs since he was 11 weeks, he just can't focus around them; if a dog does a play bow in his direction, just forget it because you won't get his attention back on you no matter what kind of food you wave in his face. So while he is good with other dogs, he is far to interested in them so we are working on that. 

Other than his lack of focus and edgyness around certain people (two of our family friends specifically) he is great  he has never marked in the house, he has never even lifted his leg to pee (to our dismay, since he has begun killing the grass) he is not dog aggressive, his "red flag of manliness" as we call it is rarely out, he doesn't try to escape, and he has literally never humped anything but a crate which contained a female in heat so that's to be expected. He doesn't bark excessively and is very attached to me  We were skeptical of keeping him intact as he is very dominant by nature (when we chose him the breeder warned us he was a very dominant male) and while in certain situations he leaves me hanging my head, i wouldn't change a thing. We have no plans to neuter him though our vet is always telling us "it would probably help calm him down" or "he wouldn't care so much about other dogs if we took the coins out of the change purse." 

I cannot compare his behavior to a neutered male as I have never had one, but I can tell you that never once have I regretted keeping him intact.


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

My intact male is 8.5 years old and has never marked in the house nor humped anyone. I bring him to work every day and he doesn't do that at work either.

I was worried about our 4 foot fence in the back yard but he never tried to dig under it or hop over it.

Never having had a neutered male, I can't say if this behavior is because he is intact but he will seriously sniff the ground where a female in heat has peed. If it's a super fresh spot, I literally have to yank him off it. 

Oh, one other thing- he can and has embarrassed me when he decides to do some inappropriate bathing in public


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## Jenny720 (Nov 21, 2014)

We always had our dogs fixed. Our first German shepherd was 2 years old and not neutered. He was so disciplined I never got him neutered. He never marked in the house and he never tried to run away or act interested in any dog. Never humped anything. He would lift his leg only outside while on walks and yard. He was our only dog at the time and we had 3 cats it just worked out and I left him alone. That was one thing he never paid attention to any dog unless ,they were off leash and came up to him he would want to put his head over their head. He was dominating that way but we never had any issues with dogs with him. One time we went for a walk and a pit bull was barking and scaled the fence charging right over. I had to drop the leash and walk away to look fo help I thought this was it. They smelled each other and the pit bull walked away. My mom had three female spayed dogs and we would visit her and bring our shepherd over. He would not acknowledge them in any way. Which I never seen before. He was a great dog. We plan to neuter my shepherd now only 8 months but want to wait till he is a little older. He has a small hernia that we would get fixed at the same time. We have a neutered male chihuahua and 2 cats. He is not lifting his leg up outside yet. He does occasionally hump his bed that is in his crate but I can easily distract him with a toy. He is not a dominate dog. He is reactive to other dogs but working with him and he is doing really well. I notice certain breeds he is more uneasy then with others. He is a gentle lunatic!!!


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## Stonevintage (Aug 26, 2014)

I've had 2 that were not cut. One was Pure GSD and lived to 14.5 years. The other was GSD & 1/2 Wolf that lived to 13 years. No problems, no marking in the house ever.

What you would expect from an unaltered male though. Some fights with other males through the years.


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## Ace GSD (May 30, 2014)

Ace is 15 months old intact with no humping no aggression and no marking problem.


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