Pros and Cons of neutering??

[Rylie, Crystal and Marcel]

I am trying to decide whether or not to neuter my 5 month old doodle. Currently, neither of his testicles have descended. If they don't ever descend, then I know I will have to neuter him because he will be more at risk for testicular cancer. (Btw, does anyone know what the timeframe is for testicles to descend) However, if they do descend, should i still neuter him? I am having a hard time feeling comfortable with the idea of castration, anyone have helpful information?? Thanks!! :)

[Mustard Seed Ranch]

There really are no "cons" for a non breeder. His chances of testicular and other cancers will greatly be reduced. As Kyoko said rectal tumors are not uncommon in intact males, and they keep growing back until the dog is neutered. And yes, you will hear stories from others about how their intact pet dog does not mark, is not agressive, does not hump, etc. But for every one of those you will get at least two peope who will say how theirs did until they got him fixed. Psychologically though as an intact dog he is constantly at the mercy of his hormones. The scent of females in the area or at the vets or even at a dog park. They are driven to attract, seek, mate and to prove themselves. If the dog will not be used for breeding its pretty much psychological torture to them. Once altered they are more relaxed as the desires and urges no longer "totally" control them.

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

I believe in neutering. We adopted Kirby when he was 13 months and he was not yet neutered. He definitely had some aggressive behavior. We neutered him ~4 weeks later and slowly his behavior drastically improved. I'm not sure if the neuter was the cause of the improvement in behavior, but I believe it was.

Kirby also had an undescenced testicle. The surgery was a little more invasive, but overall he did great and 2 days later you would never know anything happened to him.

I would neuter a male dog by ~6 months, but that's just me and you should ask your vet for the best time (especially for your specific case with the undescended testicles).

Good luck.