Posted on Nextdoor: “Four shepsky (German shepherd, husky, malamute, wolfdog) puppies need forever homes ASAP.”
Complete mongrels that even a cutsey name may not keep from a kill shelter. It really has to stop.
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Yes, I just saw one looking for immediate foster homes for nine 9-week old Cane Curso / Mastiff puppies. Jesus, those poor pups!
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Just saw a sign in a neighborhood advertising “Shepadoodle” pups. Not sure if they meant Australian shepherd or German, but my gawd…
I found out today that it’s 3x as expensive to register an intact (non-neutered) dog here in my state in Oz, so naturally these dingbats don’t register them. 
Which also means we have hundreds of male dogs with their nuts hanging out who can’t go to the dog park and just… be a dog. The selfish anthropomorphizing by owners (“It’s cruel to neuter, you’re mutilating them!” ) just ceases to amaze me.
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That is pretty funny.
There are some in my part of the world (men, primarily), who argue that the dog won’t be a good watchdog without them.
When I interact with these types, I counter with “Actually, a neutered dog is a BETTER watchdog, because he isn’t thinking about roaming all the land looking for girls! He will be staying home, taking care of his house.”
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They are English Sheepdog/Poodle crosses. My daughter works in a doggie daycare and they have one come in regularly. FWIW she hates all doodles with a purple passion. She likes most breeds but “dumber than a box of rocks” is the nicest thing she says about them. And we have poodles, so it’s not from that side 
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Actually, neutering is not really good for the dog other than to prevent breeding. Neutered dogs are significantly more likely to have hip dysplasia, torn canine cruiciate ligaments. They’re 3 times more likely to have pancreatitis. There’s a study of spayed Rottweilers that showed a shortened lifespan of about 30% as well.
I’d consider either an ovary sparing spay or a vasectomy rather than remove a dog’s hormones.
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Not that the dumb cutesy names matter, but we have a Shepadoodle (ugh), which is a GSD x Poodle. I am pretty sure the Sheepdog crosses are called Sheepadoodles.
I mentioned our boy up-thread, and we found out he was that mix because we did a DNA test. He’s a very lowrent, poorly-bred, mildly idiotic, Amish puppy mill rescue, so we call him our Shoodle.
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Good catch; I’ve only heard it pronounced, never seen it written, and I missed the missing “e.” 
Neither makes sense to me…
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Do you have a source for the claim that neutered dogs having hip dysplasia? I would be interested in seeing that - and whether or not it is causal. Most people spay/neuter pets, but people who breed dogs do not spay/neuter. And good breeders also xray to identify whether parents are dysplastic.
So it sounds very likely that the reason more neutered dogs have dysplasia is because they are pet quality dogs who may not have had health tested parents. Not that it is caused by neutering.
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There is a statistical correlation between neutering and increased incidence of HD and cruciate tears according to several retrospective studies.
There are a lot of threads that need to be teased out of the knot and followed to elucidate exactly what’s going on, but the numbers are there.
Now, they will differ with breeds, and there is an effect of age at neuter on some of them.
There’s also the risk/benefit analysis to do, as well as weighing the decreased incidence of pyometra and prostate disease.
Few things in life are black and white.
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Here’s one:
There have been several over the years. Basically (and I’m not a vet,) neutering or spaying earlier than maturity causes changes to a dog’s growth, delaying the closure of growth plates and the long bones growing past where they normally would have. This can change the angulation of the joints and increase risk of dysplasia and injuries. Of course, there’s also increased weight that can add stress, so multiple factors contribute to HD, but there’s definitely evidence that spaying and neutering is not a good thing for large dogs before they are fully grown.
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Not to be picky, but that’s a bit different from what you were saying originally (that spaying and neutering wasn’t good for all dogs, full stop).
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Yeah… no. It doesn’t work that way 
Unless medically necessary, altering your dog can do more harm than good.
My unaltered dogs have no issue with roaming or any other of the BS that gets spouted by the “must fix your dog” crowd
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It’s not. It’s something we do because it’s convenient for humans, it’s not better for the dog. It may be less harmful for smaller dogs, but that doesn’t mean it’s a good thing.
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[quote=“FrittSkritt, post:826, topic:769326, full:true”]
Which also means we have hundreds of male dogs with their nuts hanging out who can’t go to the dog park and just… be a dog. The selfish anthropomorphizing by owners (“It’s cruel to neuter, you’re mutilating them!” ) just ceases to amaze me.
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Yeah, because not wanting to bring your dog to a disease ridden, dog-fight club is a bad thing
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I get it, dog parks aren’t ideal. But a lack of green space and people who want to keep pets in an urban environment make them attractive. If you have a healthy, friendly, non-aggressive dog, it’s a life saver. And if you’re an attentive and responsible owner who makes sure your dog isn’t getting into scuffles, then all the better.
I’m more annoyed with the idiots that are refusing to neuter their male dogs because they’re anthropomorphizing them, because they’re some of the ones responsible for the many dogs that are in shelters. Some dingbat in my neighborhood put up a flyer wanting to breed his mutt that was about to die of cancer because “he has such a good temperament and I want to have another one like him.” How about memorializing him by adopting a dog, rather than making more mutts? 
The increased registration fee is a double-edged sword in the sense that these owners simply don’t register their unfixed dogs, which means they’re usually not UTD on shots or microchipped.
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I understand; I’ve just never heard the connection to hip dysplasia. I guess it always can be a factor, especially the age of maturity.
I do agree that just looking at cases is really difficult - with both cruciate and HD. I know so many people whose dogs are at risk for cruciate rupture without even looking to see if they are intact. It would be hard to really conduct a really accurate study of similar dogs - in terms of structure, fitness, and then tease out intact/neutered.
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I think most people should fix their dog. Most people are not in a reasonable position to have intact dogs and bitches in their homes, and yet make fabulous homes for pet dogs.
I don’t think it’s unreasonable to wait - ideally 24 months, but I am not against pet quality dogs being neutered earlier. I understand that there are risks, but there are also benefits. I’m pretty happy that people don’t dump their litters of unwanted puppies in my area like they do in some areas. (Personally I do not support neutering before 6 months, that is a far higher risk and should never be necessary).
While there may be some risk associated to specific dogs because they are neutered, I believe the general benefit to animals and people is higher.
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Random thought - are there similar (but obviously different) risks with gelding colts/stallions early? That is also done for convenience, really…
