Experiences of neutering male dogs

catkins

sangie595 wrote: »

Instead of silly arguments - can we help? Breed, age and what you have done on recall training? Why do you think your dog won't recall - can you see a pattern?

It's not a silly argument, there are plenty of male dogs in this country that have not been neutered.


My dog is a breed that is notorious for bad recall. All the books say you can't let them off lead. Of course that is not true as I have had several that had fantastic recall. This one though just goes completely deaf when off the lead and will just run for miles.


He is almost 4 so I doubt he will change but I do and will keep trying. He has been to classes and I even took him to a dog trainer who said he has never met a dog that he could not teach to come back on command - well he met my dog and didn't manage to teach him.


He won't come back for food or a toy.


I do think some dogs just will not or cannot be taught recall. I know someone who rescues dogs and she was always insistent before she started the rescue that "all dogs" can be taught, it's the owner's fault they don't come back. She know says she realises that not all dogs can be taught. Most of her dogs she has managed to but not all

sheramber

catkins wrote: »

Dogs that are shown cannot be neutered so there are plenty of them around.


My dog has terrible recall and as much as I have worked on it, it just does not improve. The only time is allowed off lead is in a large private fully fenced field I hire

It is not correct that dogs cannot be shown of neutered.

You do need to advise the KC and get a letter of permission to show.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/forms/neutered-dog/

sangie595

catkins wrote: »

It's not a silly argument, there are plenty of male dogs in this country that have not been neutered.


My dog is a breed that is notorious for bad recall. All the books say you can't let them off lead. Of course that is not true as I have had several that had fantastic recall. This one though just goes completely deaf when off the lead and will just run for miles.


He is almost 4 so I doubt he will change but I do and will keep trying. He has been to classes and I even took him to a dog trainer who said he has never met a dog that he could not teach to come back on command - well he met my dog and didn't manage to teach him.


He won't come back for food or a toy.


I do think some dogs just will not or cannot be taught recall. I know someone who rescues dogs and she was always insistent before she started the rescue that "all dogs" can be taught, it's the owner's fault they don't come back. She know says she realises that not all dogs can be taught. Most of her dogs she has managed to but not all

I meant that it had descended into a "you should do as I say because it's what I think" argument, and there is no way that one can reasonably discuss things where someone can't provide a rational argument but won't consider any other viewpoint as legitimate.


I actually quite agree with you - there are some breeds which are very difficult to teach recall to. Siberian huskies are one. It isn't impossible, but it is rare. In their case it is often down to one factor - they are seldom exercised to the degree that they need (which is about 40 miles a day!), so given the chance to get that amount of exercise, they take it. In domestic circumstances, I have only come across one that could ever be exercised off the lead, and even that one had some problems with recall - although a slice of ham appeared to be curative!


If you have a treadmill, have you tried training your dog to use it? If you can do that, then all that excess energy that stimulates the "run for miles" function could be used up, enabling the dog to then enjoy a companiable walk at a calmer pace, and more incentive to come back. I have arthritis, and so I struggle with the long walks that I could previously take my dogs on - I have trained my current dog to use the treadmill, and that enables him to work off a lot of energy. He's a border collie, so training is second nature to him and I haven't had any issues with recall except for a couple of weeks earlier on when he decided he must be grown up enough to make his own decisions, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't need an outlet for that energy until I get my hip replaced (when I hope long walks will be back on the cards).

MallyGirl

sheramber wrote: »

It is not correct that dogs cannot be shown of neutered.

You do need to advise the KC and get a letter of permission to show.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/forms/neutered-dog/

and I have never known KC to not give permission.

catkins

sheramber wrote: »

It is not correct that dogs cannot be shown of neutered.

You do need to advise the KC and get a letter of permission to show.

http://www.thekennelclub.org.uk/forms/neutered-dog/

I didn't know that. I don't show my dog but I know quite a few people that do and they all seem to think that a male dog has to be entire to show.


Not sure if it will change any of their minds but I will let them know.


Only thing with the particular breed they all have is that they are a long haired breed and almost always when a male is neutered the fur changes and not in a good way

sangie595 wrote: »

I meant that it had descended into a "you should do as I say because it's what I think" argument, and there is no way that one can reasonably discuss things where someone can't provide a rational argument but won't consider any other viewpoint as legitimate.


I actually quite agree with you - there are some breeds which are very difficult to teach recall to. Siberian huskies are one. It isn't impossible, but it is rare. In their case it is often down to one factor - they are seldom exercised to the degree that they need (which is about 40 miles a day!), so given the chance to get that amount of exercise, they take it. In domestic circumstances, I have only come across one that could ever be exercised off the lead, and even that one had some problems with recall - although a slice of ham appeared to be curative!


If you have a treadmill, have you tried training your dog to use it? If you can do that, then all that excess energy that stimulates the "run for miles" function could be used up, enabling the dog to then enjoy a companiable walk at a calmer pace, and more incentive to come back. I have arthritis, and so I struggle with the long walks that I could previously take my dogs on - I have trained my current dog to use the treadmill, and that enables him to work off a lot of energy. He's a border collie, so training is second nature to him and I haven't had any issues with recall except for a couple of weeks earlier on when he decided he must be grown up enough to make his own decisions, but that doesn't mean that he doesn't need an outlet for that energy until I get my hip replaced (when I hope long walks will be back on the cards).

Sorry, I thought you were having a dig at me (bad day today so ignore me).


I haven't got a treadmill although have thought about getting one. Only trouble is I don't have a very big house so not sure where it could go. I will think about it though.


I used to walk my dog at least twice a day, usually for an hour and a half on the first walk and just under an hour second walk. I have health problems now which mean I have difficulty walking. I do still walk him for as long as I can but some days that is not very long sadly

sangie595

catkins wrote: »

Sorry, I thought you were having a dig at me (bad day today so ignore me).


I haven't got a treadmill although have thought about getting one. Only trouble is I don't have a very big house so not sure where it could go. I will think about it though.


I used to walk my dog at least twice a day, usually for an hour and a half on the first walk and just under an hour second walk. I have health problems now which mean I have difficulty walking. I do still walk him for as long as I can but some days that is not very long sadly

Oh I get the bad day syndrome. No problem.

As for the treadmill - it needs to be motorised because the dog isn't able to generate the energy/weight to move it themselves, But I got one from Amazon at £129 - and if you are lucky, you could get a collection only or deal on ebay. But I know where you are - there are days when I can't walk that far either. But I cannot, having had a border collie from the moment I was born, imagine life without one. So when my old (and also arthritic), boy died last year, it was no competition. I just had to adapt. Agility training is actually easier than long walks! But he is still young and is limited on what he can do. So the treadmill is ideal. It takes effort on your part to train the dog to the treadmill, but if you want to go for it there are lots of guidance clips on YouTube. Broadly speaking, if the dog is adaptive, you are looking at a few weeks for an adult dog - obviously puppies are easier.

Oh, and the one I bought fold away easily. Takes up little space, so you could look for one like that.

Other options, if your dog likes swimming, include swimming sessions - a lot of hydrotherapy centres offer fun sessions too. Around here the price is £20 -, £25 a session.

Mental stimulation is also as good as physical exercise. It is thought that a 20 minute active mental session equates to an hour walking! There are loads of dog games around now to buy, but you can make up your own for nothing - google and kindle are your friends here.

You obviously haven't had issues training your previous dogs to recall, so you know what you are doing and have succeeded in the past. So it's likely one of two issues - age (there are development stages when dogs just love running away because they are grown up now - NOT!) or fulfilling the need to burn energy. It sounds like age isn't your thing, so it is probably energy burning. Every dog has its own individual need on this - there may be a average breed standard, but each one will have its own place on a spectrum.

sangie595

One other idea - if it suits the breed. Treibball. My dog is learning it now. And there are clips on the internet and courses around the country for it. It combines physical effort and mental stimulation. My little boy collapses on the floor after a session!