What is obnoxious? Timing of neutering....

[Sandy]

Toby, at last check, still only had one testicle descended. He is almost 6 months old. The vet told us to wait until he was 8 months to neuter him, to give it a chance to come down, unless he gets "obnoxious". So, what is obnoxious? Humping? Marking? What should I watch for?

[Adina P]

LOL...vets really need to widen their vocabulary. Yeah...probably things like humping, marking, etc...LOL

[Sandy]

Thanks for the response. Toby doesn't lift his leg to pee yet, and doesn't hump at all. I guess as soon as he does, it's time. I will be a bundle of nerves that day, for sure.

[AndySharon BoomerShaynaMariner]

Sandy - We neutered Mariner when he was 10 months. We waited because Mariner had a skull fracture @ 7-8 weeks and was blind at the time. The vet believes that the hormones aid in brain development and wanted to wait as long as possible. We had him neutered when he started being a little aggressive. After he was neutered the aggression went away. He also has regained much of his eyesight. So, I think we made the right decision. I don't think that there is any harm in waiting but for us the decision was he aggression.

[Jacquie Yorke (DRC)]

Hi Sandy...Please see this discussion from the other day....
http://doodlekisses.com/forum/topics/to-breeders-in-regards-to-esn?...

Also males usually won't start lifting their legs to pee till they are 18 months to 2 years old.....Neutered or not.....My neutered 2 year old just started doing this....

[Linda and Murphy]

Interesting. I had Murphy neutered at about 10 months. He will be 3 in May and I don't think he has ever lifted his leg. I did see him humping one of his stuffed bears recently though...

[Leslie, Dexter & Kirby]

Hi Sandy...Kirby had an undescended testicle when we adopted him (he was 13 months old). Just wanted to let you know the surgery was not that much worse (in terms of recovery) than a typical neuter in case you do have to go that way.

[Ellen]

My dog Riley also had cryptorchidism (1 testicle descended). My vet also suggested checking again at 8 months, but I went ahead and got Riley neutered at 7 months, partly because I was concerned about the risk of testicular cancer....but I think that I was just paranoid. He was also humping everything in sight ....his dog bed, my leg, his stuffed toys, etc. That all stopped when he was neutered.

Just a heads up: the neutering procedure may be a lot more expensive than you expected, esp. if the testicle is in the abdomen or if the vet can't find it initially. Our vet couldn't find Riley's abdomen by pressing around and so she had to make a small incision before finding it hidden in the abdomen. She had to make a larger incision on the abdomen (about 2-1/2 inches long) to remove the missing testicle -- The procedure ended up costing $650 -- ouch!

[Sandy]

I think we're having him neutered at six and a half months, mostly because we're going back for more training classes in March, and I think we should get it over with before we do that. My vet told me it would be about $100 more if he has to "go in" for the second testicle. That would make the surgery $350 or so. We're in Ontario, Canada - I'm not sure where you are. Last time we were in the vet thought she might have felt it "high up" meaning it could be caught up somehow, and coaxed down through the simple incision. I guess we'll see.