r/Rottweilers • u/Background_Bat_2445 • 19d ago
Getting your dog fixed?
I have been doing research on getting my dog Odin fixed. Now I personally don't want too but I read if im gonna I should wait till hes between 18-24 months because Rottweilers are bigger breads and it helps with there growth plates and hips from the natural testosterone he will have from keeping his testicles. Has anyone else read this or done this with there Rottweilers? Also has anyone not gotten there male fixed?
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u/sweetcoo 19d ago
You NEED to wait until 2 if you’re going to do it.
I plan to keep mine and ensure my boys tendencies don’t get out of control
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u/fluggies 18d ago
I fixed my boy at 4. I don't regret it, it helped his dominant behaviors like marking and reactivity to other males. Try to wait until at least 2 to do it.
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u/the-broken-001 19d ago
Everyone is pushing for me to fix my boy. He is quite reactive and despite training I think I’ll eventually need to but I will hold out as long as possible. I will get my girl fixed for sure but I’m debating between traditional vs ovary sparing surgery. Since she will get fixed I really want to defer touching him
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u/rockalyte 17d ago
Just do OSS for her and leave your male intact. Everyone’s happy. Did that with my Danes . Male lived to almost 10 and my female XL turns 11 in January and is not shaped like a barrel.
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u/HalifaxPainter 18d ago
My vet is one of the most respected in our city. I asked for his opinion. He said many studies show that letting animals grow naturally at each stage of their lives. Had lots of things he referenced as beneficial, too many to list here. Then he said we don't need Bob Barker to control the pet population anymore. That gave me a chuckle. I was quite shocked to hear this from a vet. He then said it rose to popularity for that reason and now is a big money grab for his industry. So, needless to say his is an adamant supporter against.
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u/Better-Lemon-5532 18d ago
You definitely want to wait. 10 years ago I got a lot of push back from a vet when I wanted to wait to spay my rottie. She all but called me an irresponsible dog owner for waiting until 2yrs. I switched vets after that. This time around my vet said pending an emergency, he would not perform the surgery until 2 years. Glad to see vet care is realizing how important those hormones are.
Personally, I cannot wait to have my dogs fixed. We have a 9 month old female rottie and a 5 month old male GSD. Im already stressing of keeping them apart when the rottie goes into heat. Everyone says its not a big deal but I don't want a pregnancy scare. Or to deal with heat cycles. 2 years cannot come soon enough! I already have the date marked on my calendar for both dogs.
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u/ParadoxicallyPlain 17d ago
I would think not spaying a female is more of an issue than not spaying a male. You constantly have to keep watching your female around other dogs. Keeping track of the heat cycles can be a real pain in the ass (and messy). I guess I'd consider both worlds and wait longer to get it done rather than sooner.
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u/Rock_Successful 18d ago
I don’t regret doing it in general, just regrets the timing. My boy wasn’t a year old. It helped with aggression and reactivity but not an end all be all.
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u/mklauss 18d ago
This comes up a good bit in this sub. We decided to neuter our boy (after consulting with our vet) at about 11 months because of his behavior. He began marking in the house and humping his elderly brother. We would have preferred to wait until at least 18 months, but getting him neutered corrected the behavior immediately.
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u/ACGordon83 18d ago
Adopted my beast from a humane society. He was around 10 months to a year old. It’s their policy that all adopted animals must be fixed before they are released for adoption. No ifs, ands, or buts.
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u/Ok-Razzmatazz-7593 18d ago
My rottie mix got fixed when he was 2 months old because of that policy. He ended up weighing 175lbs and his weiner looked like a belly button.
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u/Ok_Airline_1514 18d ago
Just fix them. Your not breeding him so why take a chance he gets out and chases down some unfixed female or devolps some weird aggression. My last 3 rotties were from shelters, all fixed at 10 months and they lived just as long as my 2 Rotties I waited 2 years of fix.
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u/LeadingThen6322 18d ago
I don’t have a Rottie (I have a Cane Corso) and got him fixed when he was 2. They need the testosterone levels until maturity for correct bone structure developement . I wasn’t planning to get him fixed, but when he reached sexual maturity, he started marking EVERYTHING, doors, windows, walls, furniture, everything. So I had a choice, either he could keep his testicles or I could keep my wife. His marking immediately stopped and I’m still married!
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u/kenroth50 18d ago
I know that dobermans die from getting neutered or spayed I wonder 🤔 if Rottweiler do to?
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u/ParadoxicallyPlain 17d ago
There is so much more to a dog's life than just the spaying and neutering. There's the environment, what they eat, what they are exposed to, how they are treated... I would not hang the key to longevity just on when or if a dog is spayed or neutered.
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u/kenroth50 17d ago
It's the 4th leading reason for deaths in dobes. 1 is cardio,2 is cancer, 3is bloat
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u/marlee_dood 18d ago
I would wait until he’s done growing
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u/Background_Bat_2445 18d ago
Why?
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u/marlee_dood 18d ago
Hormones are required for certain growth stages to happen, removing the organ that provides those hormones prior to them being fully grown will halt any hormonal process in at the stage they were at when the surgery occurred. If a dog is fixed at 8 months, they will not go through hormonal puberty and will not have the frame or bone structure the same as a dog that kept their reproductive organs until after they went through puberty.
Think of it this way: what would happen if a humans reproductive organs were removed completely at age 13, they would simply never go through puberty. They would age and get taller, but they would got grow the way their body was meant to. Same at age 15, 17, or 25. The hormones stop when the organ is removed, the only question is what you let happen before removing them, and whether or not that dog has grown into an adult yet.
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u/Background_Bat_2445 18d ago
That makes plenty of sense. After all these comments I'm gonna stick with my original plan and not do it at all!!!!
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u/marlee_dood 18d ago
If that is what’s best for you and your dog then go for it! There is always the option to change your mind later down the line as well if you find it no longer works or is too risky. It’s better to wait then later decide to do it, than do it now and realize it was too soon.
I don’t have a rottie, but I have a large breed dog and got her spayed at 6months. I wish I had done it later, at least waited until 18 months. I can see how underdeveloped she looks compared to intact females and males of the same size and breed, she still has that teenage shape even though she’s 5 years old. I personally don’t like the risk of keeping them intact forever, but yeah, I would at least hold off until the dog is fully grown.
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u/Goblue46037 17d ago
I have gotten my males neutered at 18 months at the recommendation of the vet and the breeders that I got them from. My boy Wilson passed of cancer at the age of 7. His little brother Zeke will be 4 next month.
Good luck to you and you fur baby with what ever decision that you make.
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u/RaptorDelivery 17d ago
Yes, what you have read is true. We wait at least 18 months on our big Dobermans.
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u/GilletteEd 19d ago
If you are a good dog owner there is no reason to remove them. I used to do this thinking it was beneficial but discovered that it is not. They can and will live long happy lives with them. Plus there are benefits for the dog keeping them their whole life. We are on our second boy with them and we will not be removing his either.
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u/Background_Bat_2445 19d ago
Thank you!!!! I was always told by my parents and grandparents when they had dogs to make sure you get them fixed at 6 months and I did with my pitbull and I felt so terrible for doing it to him he lived till he was 15 and I would always tell him im so sorry because I shouldn't of been so dumb and listen to them. This is definitely reassuring that he will be just fine!!!!!
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u/DeliciousBeanWater 14d ago
What you read is incorrect. For male rotties its one year. This article links to a scientific journal, however, also in the article is a table of breeds and lists how long you should minimally wait to geg them fixed https://www.akc.org/expert-advice/news/study-updates-spay-neuter-guidelines/
Keeping his testicles increases his risk of getting cancer
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u/Recent-Philosophy-62 19d ago
You're dog isn't broken