Is 20 months too old for castration

Troythecat

My one regret is not having my lovely Great Dane "done" at 6 months!
He is lively and healthy (thank goodness) but gets hyper at times and chases the cats and my jack russell all over the place amongst other things, I have put it down to loads of hormones!

can anyone advise if it is worth it at this age?

picklepick

Neutering is never a guarantee of calming a male dog. He may still be full of energy and bouncy even if he'd been neutered earlier. It will however reduce the risk of prostatis and undesirable behaviours developing as he matures, such as roaming to find a female on heat, humping and marking etc.

I personally would still get him done now for the health benefits alone.

Raksha

It's never too old, infact, I believe, from a behaviour point of view it's better for the dog to go through the teenage hormones stage and let the dog's maturity settle down before having them castrated. Early castration (or speying) can lead to 'eternal puppy syndrome'.

However, castration isn't a magic 'cure all' and many behaviours which are attributed to hormones will persist after castration and actually need training to redirect the dog onto more acceptable activities.

sarabe

20 months is a good age for neutering.

6 months is waaaay too young, especially for a large breed dog.

Neutering won't help with the problems you descibe but training will.

puppy999

My old boxer was 7yr when he was done I never used him but he had to be castrated ........ my 2yr old Akita will be done soon as I dont
have any probs with him its for health reasons dogs are less likely to get cancer...... and as your vet would say if your not useing him as
a stud dog you should get them done...... also they are less likely to be stolen .......I hav just been pricing it up one vet is £200 and another is £160

hoogervaaner

My MIL had one of her dogs done at 6 on the vet's advice. No harmful effects and he lost the desire to roam looking for nice smelling girls

Caroline_a

No I don't think it's too old at all. He will have done most of his growing by now which is better - I think the 6 month recommendation tends to be for smaller dogs who are just about grown by then. No guarantee he will calm down though. Danes like to do what we used to call Wall of Death round the house, which involves charging in and out of every room they are allowed in whilst the occupants scatter for cover. This stops as suddenly as it starts. My old Dane was still doing it at 10.....

tankgirl1

I agree - although there may not be any immediate behavioral improvement, giant dogs such as danes, bizarrely grow much slower, and age much quicker than your medium sized pooch... so 20mths for a dane is a fine time to castrate, and will prevent any testicular cancer in the future.
I would check with your vets that they have the equipment and manpower to deal with an anaesthatised dane though - a one vet practice without a hydralic table, for example, may find him difficult to deal with when he is a dead weight under ga!

Troythecat

thanks ever so much for all your replies.
I have decided to go ahead, as much for the health benefits as anything else.
I have been quoted £200 plus from my vet so will wait till after Christmas!

Caroline_a, wall of death is extra scary when a cat is being chased hehe

snowman2_2

20 months is a better age to castrate a Great Dane than 6 months. The bigger the dog, the longer they take to mature and the later I would castrate them. Personally, I would have neutered him at 15 months but it is still a good idea now.

Caroline_a

Troythecat wrote: »

Caroline_a, wall of death is extra scary when a cat is being chased hehe

When I got my first Dane, my 2 cats used to sleep on the back of the settee that was at right angles to the fireplace wall, and about 2m in from the back wall (if you see what I mean..). He used to trot in, then systematically knock each cat backwards off the settee in turn with his nose. Both cats scrabbling down the back of the settee trying desperately to maintain some sort of decorum - and the dog almost chortled like Muttley - the look on his face was priceless! :rotfl::rotfl::rotfl: