Boy or girl?

lotsahostas · Post by **lotsahostas** » May 19, 2006 1:41 pm

Hi folks!

We have been looking for a female puppy, but we're finding many more males available than girls in the small breeds we're interested in. We're getting conflicting information about male dogs and "leg lifting", including advice from one vet who told us that any male dog may do this, even neutered male dogs. Other people have told us that marking the territory is a sexual behavior and that neutered male dogs won't do it. We've only had female spayed dogs, so this is a complete unknown for us. Please help! What are your experiences with neutered male dogs?

Thanks!

Jackie H.

newtohosta-no more · Post by **newtohosta-no more** » May 19, 2006 7:02 pm

Hi Jackie! Welcome to Hallson's.

I've just thrown out a post for you in the Welcome Forum!

Your question sounds like something right up OED's (Old Earth Dog) alley, so sit tight and I'm sure he'll pipe in soon with his answer to your question. We consider him one of our dog experts.

Old earth dog · Post by **Old earth dog** » May 20, 2006 12:59 am

Hey Jackie, Welcome!
IF the pup is neutered before it's 6 monthsa old, it MAY not lift it's leg, ever. So much depends on the individual personality of the dog. My JRT wasn't neutered until he had fatherd a litter,and he was 3 yrs old. At 10, he still thinks he can wiz higher, farther and more often then my intact male GSD.
Of all the things that are attibuted to nuetering, I think reduction in dog aggression is about the only one that is fact. Even that depends on the individual dog.
Of the 20 or so dogs I've had in my lifetime, I've only had 5 females.
Not much info for you, but, again it's all about the individual dog's personality.
ps. As much as I admire and respect veterinarians, I haven't seen to many that truely understood dog behaviour, or knew to much about training. JMHO!

Ginger · Post by **Ginger** » May 25, 2006 11:15 am

I have only had female dogs until we got Doc. He is not neutered and he does lift his leg on everything and everybody, including his dog sisters

If you should decide to get a male, I would have him nuetuered as soon as it is safe to do so,for many reasons other than just the marking issue. You won't have to worry about him getting some neighbor girl pregnant

Good luck! I think girl dogs are smarter and learn faster than boy dogs (OED will get me on this one I am sure

but Thunder is an exception! ), but no matter which sex, be sure to have them neutered unless you plan to breed them.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum!

Ginger

Old earth dog · Post by **Old earth dog** » May 26, 2006 3:04 am

Ginger wrote:I have only had female dogs until we got Doc. He is not neutered and he does lift his leg on everything and everybody, including his dog sisters If you should decide to get a male, I would have him nuetuered as soon as it is safe to do so,for many reasons other than just the marking issue. You won't have to worry about him getting some neighbor girl pregnant
Good luck! I think girl dogs are smarter and learn faster than boy dogs (OED will get me on this one I am sure but Thunder is an exception! ), but no matter which sex, be sure to have them neutered unless you plan to breed them.

Good luck, and welcome to the forum.

Ginger

Ginger, I'll agree with you to a point. Yes, it's sometimes easier to keep the attention of the females, it's also who/how they are trained.

Thunder is the exception to ANY dog I've ever owned.

Although I'm not pro or against spay/nueter, I think its more personel then "be sure to have them neutered unless you plan to breed them".
It's been found that as many problems are created by spay/neuter as not.
To me it's all about being responsible owners. More so if you decide not to spay/neuter.
Interesting article. http://cebp.aacrjournals.org/cgi/conten ... 11/11/1434

Justme · Post by **Justme** » May 26, 2006 6:28 pm

I have only had one female dog and the rest have been males. None have ever sprayed. The beagle mix (as a kid), and Golden Retriever weren't neutered. The Lab was at about one year and the current dust mop, was neutered as a pup. Of course we can't get him completely house broken

Tami

Zeddicus · Post by **Zeddicus** » May 27, 2006 11:20 am

We have two Shih Tzu male and female. The female was much easier to house train and is decidedly quieter,it took around five weeks to get the male to go on his pad.

Ron

wild4flowers · Post by **wild4flowers** » Jul 25, 2006 1:52 pm

This is quite a bit late, but, our boy boxer (neutered at an acceptable young age), did not lift his leg to pee for over 3 years because he was never around any male dogs to pattern his behvior after. The first time he was around a dominant male dog who lifted his leg, was when our boxer started it. You know, sort of like a big brother. He was pretty shaky about it at first, but got better with practice. It is amusing to watch him and my sons female take turns pee'ing on the same spot in the yard. They'll go back to the same spot 2-3 times in a row, just to make sure it is marked sufficiently. CHAR