neutering 3 yr old dog help potty issues?

[abundance acupuncture]

Anyone know if neutering a dog later in life will help with his incessant pee/marking problems? Or is it way too late? I don't want to neuter him unless it is really going to solve the problem...thanks, radiya

[Vet-To-Pet]

I once adopted a 4-year old intact (not neutered) male yellow lab who had never been even insdie a house, & had always been allowed to run loose on someone's property. When I first brought him into my home, he peed on (marked) my couch, first thing!! I had him neutered within the first week after adopting him, and then I kept him in an outside pen when I wasn't home to let him outside periodically to urinate, but kept him inside when I was home. Once the testosterone was no longer being manufactured (in his former testicles), it took a few weeks to get "that" out of his system (the tendency to mark his territory), but I also had to correct the behavior part of his house-training. He'd never been taught anything about where & when it was appropriate to urinate/defecate during the first four years of his life, so it took some patience to "anticipate" when he might have to "go", and take him outside to do so, but then I'd take him right back inside, praising him & giving him the message that the trip outside had been for "that purpose". Within a few months, he was an excellent, well-behaved, house-broken happy dog. So I suggest you go ahead & have him neutered, since dogs (un-neutered) can develop prostate cancer (or other problems) the same as human males if he keeps on producing testosterone. He'll also be less likely to run away after the 'scent' of a female dog in heat, or get into fights with other male dogs over those same females, or get lost or hit by a car while following the scent of a female in heat---which they can detect from miles away. in addition, he won't be adding to the pet over-population problem by "spreading his seed" & impregnating female dogs.
Smiles,
Vet-To-Pet (Paula)

Anyone know if neutering a dog later in life will help with his incessant pee/marking problems? Or is it way too late? I don't want to neuter him unless it is really going to solve the problem...thanks, radiya

[reverendmichele]

Anyone know if neutering a dog later in life will help with his incessant pee/marking problems? Or is it way too late? I don't want to neuter him unless it is really going to solve the problem...thanks, radiya

I am having a hard time understanding why you wouldn't neuter your dog? There are so many unwanted pets as it is - marking seems to be a small problem compared to the huge number of disposable animals in society -! Neutering your dog may not do much to change marking habits, but it will go a long way toward making your pet a much better member of society (less aggression, no desire to wander while tracking down females, no unwanted pups, etc). Please consider it as part of responsible dog ownership.

["Mad" Miles]

Yeah! Cut their balls off!! That'll fix'em.

Gives additional meaning to, "It's a dog's life."

"M"M

["Mad" Miles]

Dear Waccobb Community,

I have just been flamed privately by another member of our virtual community who shall go unnamed by me. I apologized, speculated as to a possible source of their discomfort (not the best NVC tactic I know!) expressed my own discomfort with some of the focus on animals on this board and explained that the picture they painted of me could not be true.

But, I'd like to say to all who found my quip in poor taste that I did not intend to offend. If I offended you, I apologize.

I love animals. In fact I love all life, albeit in my limited way as a biological creature that also consumes other life forms for survival and pleasure. I once went into vaso-vagal shock while watching a film that made me realize a basic biological fact, life eats life. ("The Hunger" 1983)

I try to be as life affirming as I can, within the constraints of my existence and the world we live in.

Please be assured that I understand and fully embrace the need to neuter pets/companion animals to control their excess population and to reduce and hopefully prevent their unnecessary suffering.

While living in Taipei, Taiwan I was constantly struck to the point of horror and despair at the incredible suffering of abandoned, semi-feral cats and dogs. They could be found everywhere in the city. Particularly at open-air market restaurants and garbage collection sites. This is an unbelievable phenomenon that unfortunately and criminally exists to this day, so far as I know.

My desire to play with language was partial motivation to make the joke. If you read the first line of my dumb joke it is literally a statement of fact couched in the form of a protest that puns on the popular term for neutering, "fixed", and follows in the second line with another pun, "dog's life".

Yes, punning is the lowest form of humor. I sank low to get a laugh. For those of you irritated (or worse) by me doing so please forgive me.

I can't promise never to pun again, but I'll try to avoid it in relation to genitalia of any kind. At least not in a public forum.

Human ownership, control and cohabitation with animals bring up a complex and sensitive set of issues. As a sympathetic and empathetic creature myself (in spite of outward appearances in this case!) I've always seen the compromises, contradictions and complications of living with other animals of a different species. We use them for our sustenance, pleasure and companionship. Yet I recognize that dogs have evolved along with humans, and our symbiotic relationship is a kind of love story. (Cats? Well, I'll save my Chinese proverb about them for another time.)

But we have the power, they don't. (Unless we're talking about the power of love, adoration, pleading and other forms of emotional seduction, in that regard most dogs rule!) We "neuter" them; they don't neuter themselves, or us. (Well the possible ramifications of this question, "do dogs ever neuter people?" are not appropriate here...)

It seems to me that the word "neuter" is a way to emotionally distance ourselves from what is actually being done. For fear of further fanning the flames of outrage I'll resist using my preferred terms. Suffice it to say they are more accurate in describing the operations involved.

My quip intentionally, facetiously touched on the topic of owning pets.

Another part of my motivation in making the joke was, well, I'm a male human being. I was expressing my sympathy for males of another mammalian species as well as my personal discomfort at the prospects of any sentient being being castrated. Us guys, well, our testicles are both important to us and are a sometimes excruciatingly sensitive part of our anatomy. I doubt I need say more.

My understanding that everything is funny, especially the most tragic aspects of life, is sometimes better left unexpressed. This isn't the first time I've offended others with my crude sense of humor, but in the last decade or two it only seems to happen once every few years, or even less. I'm still working on it.

And for those of you who laughed, well only your conscience can deal with you.

Miles Mendenhall

Forestville

[moonrise]

Miles,

I understood. When I think about it most men I know who've been within earshot of the word "neuter" expresses some kind of response: a witty quip, a nervous laugh, a groan, covering themselves, whatever. I think one must be male to fully grasp the meaning of what's running through a guys' mind.

Neuter is a common term used to impart meaning without the cold graphic image you so courageously put forth. Dogs, cats, goats, whatever, my grandfather used to say they were "going to see Dr. Clipoff!"

Cheers!

[SarahBrauer]

Radiya:

Neutering your slightly older dog may help, but each dog reacts differently. My practice is always to spay or neuter for the most part as soon as possible. In this case, I would grab some puppy potty training pads and start from the beginning as if he was a puppy. With consistency and patience, he should get the picture pretty fast.

Sarah
www.myspace.com/sarahs_dogs