MALE DOGS

At puberty the testicles in your male puppy will drop.  

The influence of the hormone Testoserone will begin to surge

 

Problems are:

Marking behaviour develops, sometimes inside the house 
Exciteable mounting behaviour increases and often develops into forceful mounting of female dogs and people and children

Roaming behaviour develops as the dog seeks a mate

In some breeds territorial aggression develops

Powerful pulling to reach other dogs with overexcited greeting behaviour

 

These behaviours quickly become ingrained and difficult to eradicate.  

Often these dogs are not suitable for class lessons and private lessons are needed.

 

NEUTERING TIMING

Your vet will advise you on this. 

There is an initial additional charge of €100 if your dog is not neutered before 8 months old .  This is because private lessons are usually required even if they are now neutered.  If your dog is suitable for class lessons, then this additional charge will be refunded.

 

FEMALE DOGS

At puberty your female dog will have her first 'season'. This can be anywhere between 5 and 13 months.  As a rough rule, smaller breeds are earlier than larger ones

Watch out for some bleeding.  Bitches are very clean and will wash up regularly!

Seasons last around 21 days, so keep your bitch secure during this time

If you decide to neuter your bitch she should certainly have her first season so that she matures.  

Then around about 4 months after the end of a season is about the right time

Your vet will advise you further

 

ATTITUDES TO NEUTERING

 

It is much more common for the female to be neutered.   It seems that people think that the female is the one that has the puppies.

However, note that an unneutered male dog may father MANY litters of puppies.  Furthermore the behaviour of an unneutered male is much more likely to be problematic (see above).