Early neutering and behaviour problems

Re: Early neutering and behaviour problems

Steph Smith BSc(hons) RVN — Wed, 04 Jun 2014 21:36:38 GMT

Hi Clare, we had a 6mo male collie scheduled for castration who I had seen before a few times at puppy checks for advice on socialising/desensitising, as he was a bag of nerves in general. The owner agreed previously to see a dog trainer and we made a plan for desensitising him to general noise etc.

I was there to admit him on the day of his castration. He was still very anxious to have strangers pass him in the waiting area (even past the window to the pavement outside) and the owner and I agreed to delay his castration for a couple of months and reassess him then. The owners since took on a terrier pup, and the collie's confidence has really improved.

But.. if it wasn't me who had been admitting him for his op, he would have been castrated that day. After chatting with the vet it turns out they thought the recommendation for dogs with behaviour probs was that they should be neutered early(??).

I think like all areas of veterinary nursing, there will be some which you are more interested in than others, and generally your colleagues will recognise this give you certain cases.

It would be nice in the very distant future if behavioural medicine played a part in every consultation, where relevant! At least internal referral if time does not allow. I think nurses have a huge scope for providing behavioural/training advice but it's so hard/expensive to get good post-grad qualifications.

Re: Early neutering and behaviour problems

Ems — Tue, 27 May 2014 19:00:16 GMT

I personally prefer neutering before first season for bitches due to the health benefits. For boys, I say 6 months unless they are fearful/anxious.

I am unaware of any behavioural problems neutering may be causing but feel it may be due to badly run "puppy parties" instead. At a recent behaviour CPD I attended, the behaviourist noticed a vast increase in young, fear aggressive dogs months after a few local practises started running these. It's easy to mistake certain behaviours as playful or play-fighting when in actual fact one of the puppies may be the victim of bullying.

Without proper training/knowledge I feel these puppy parties can cause more problems than they solve, but that's just my opinion!

Re: Early neutering and behaviour problems

Beavis — Tue, 27 May 2014 17:56:26 GMT

Hi Clare, I find your post interesting. I have an interest in behaviour and dogs in particular. I've not done any courses or hold any certificates but I work alongside 2 behaviourists and have done many a session with them about dogs and their behaviour. I run puppy parties which are different to most as have the behaviour background. When I talk to the clients regarding neutering we recommend bitches to be spay before first seasons due to lowered risk of mammary tumours later in life. large breed bitches we now recommend waiting until after 1st or 2nd season as studies have shown with some I.e rotties spaying before season can increase risk of osteosarcomas. So behaviour doesn't really come in to it for the girls as we concentrate more on health risks which I think most practices do. For the boys however it's different. Behaviourists now see that there can be more behavioural issues with dogs who are nervous ( for what ever reason) who have been castrated at a young age. We now advise if the client has a very confident 'happy' pup but is marking everything, humping running off etc we will castrate at 7-9 months. However any puppies who are a bit more timid and not quite an all round confident dog then We recommend waiting. Most puppies get over these issues as testosterone helps their confidence. Obviously some need help with their issues which is a different matter. We say to clients to leave pups who aren't causing any issues with humping etc or who aren't quite confident to not get them done until 18 months to 2 years. Health wise the prostrate shrinks once testicles removed and once testicles gone they've gone and can't cause any health related problems. Although saying this is always to the individual and is different in different cases. We've been advising this for about 18 months now and I've seen the difference in puppies who we've said best to wait as quite nervous... A few months later they seem to have grown in confidence and ready to be done! Obviously I can't say whether that would have been any difference if we had done them in their not confident stage but puppies that the owners have wanted castrated even though for a behavioural point of view we've said wait still have nervous puppies. Hope this helps?! Would be interested to know what course you're doing and where and interested to know outcome of this. Thanks Soph