Neutering behavior

[Amy Mullen]

I have a 6 month old double doodle that was neutered 4 weeks ago. Everything went great his incision is healed perfectly but he hasn't been himself since then. His eating behavior has changed. He doesn't eat until around 10:00 am or later and at night he won't eat until late. Before the surgery it was 6:30 am and 5:00 pm on the dot and he gobbled his food down. He doesn't act like he is starving, he will go and sniff it and walk away. I have started adding probiotics to his food thinking it might be something with his stomach but no change. I called the vet and he said sometimes their metabolism slows down after being neutered, but it should pick back up in the next couple of weeks. Has anyone expierced this with their dog?

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Great info, thanks Karen.

Teddy has to do some heartworm test so I will ask about the neutering in-depth more at that time.  We really haven't spent any time previously -- maybe 15 seconds, tops. 

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

HW test is a simple blood test. 

And neutering is very simple procedure. There's a small incision in the scrotum, that's it.

[Nancy & Echo]

I spayed Echo at 6 months because I was required to by my purchase contract.  I probably would have waited some if I had independent choice.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Interesting that the breeder would want something like that done at a certain time even though they no longer have the dog.  I guess they think that's the best time to do it and that waiting has bad effects which could hurt the reputation of the breeder ?

[Karen, Jasper and Jackdoodle]

Reputable, responsible breeders don't want people breeding their dogs. Or selling them to puppy mills and backyard breeders for breeding purposes. That's what could hurt the reputation of the breeder. No reputable breeder sells a dog without a spay/neuter contract. It's a requirement for membership in the doodle breeding associations. And in fact, while most of us here don't agree with it, Australian Labradoodles are usually spayed/neutered at 6 weeks old, before they even go home. 

The 6 month deadline is commonly used because that's the age the average female goes into heat.

[Frank & TeddyToyDoodle]

Thanks, Karen....now I understand.

[Stella]

There are some really good breeders out there (sadly not of doodles) that are putting it in the contract that the dog isn't spayed / neutered until growth is complete :)

[EJ & Dante]

With our new puppy, we have up until 1 year to neuter per our contract, which my vet supports waiting until that time for Dante.