neutering....when is best?

The Standard Schnauzer is a working or utility dog and is the original breed of the three sizes. Standard Schnauzers are generally a robust, squarely built, medium-sized dog with aristocratic bearings.
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NewbieStandardOwner
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Joined: 04 Mar 2021, 15:41
First Name: NewbieOwner

neutering....when is best?

Post by NewbieStandardOwner »

Hi all,
This is my first post and our first Schnauzer.....so hello all!
I have an 11 month old boy Standard called Chester. He is as you'd expect, quick to learn, very stubborn, very funny, sulks when he doesn't get his way but is absolutely great. He has most definitely hit a very hormonal phase and is really struggling swinging between wanting to jump and then hump everything, being extra "jumpy and highly strung" or he starts trying to "herd" the humans in his pack, nipping at heals etc and getting very boysterous attempting to climb up the ladder of dominance in the family.

We are managing just about with complete lack of eye contact during poor behaviour, calm ignoring, clear and consistent boundaries and engaging in appropriate activities, nice walks etc but he is really not balanced at the moment cause of his hormones.

We are not planning to breed him and will neuter him, so my question to you all is when? There's so much differing info out there. We want to do the right thing, allowing him to grow and develop, but don't want to delay and make him stay in this hormonal struggle longer than he needs....any thoughts or experience greatly received.
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zeta1454
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Re: neutering....when is best?

Post by zeta1454 »

Hi - adolescence is a phase and dogs do grow out of much of the behaviour that you describe quite naturally as they mature. Keep going with what you are doing and as much focus work and training as you can and try not to become downhearted if it doesn’t seem to be having results immediately. The more you continue with the routine the better for Chester as his hormones begin to settle.

Depending on your individual situation, there is no hurry necessarily to neuter a male dog for health reasons but if you are going to have him castrated then the longer you can leave this the better and certainly not until he has reached full physical and mental maturity. Both physical and emotional development (behaviour included) can be affected by neutering a very young dog.

There are some links here to more information re neutering which may give you some guidance but I would think no younger than 18 months to 2 years old for a standard schnauzer:

https://www.wolftucker.co.uk/blog/neute ... -decision/

https://veterinary-practice.com/article ... ral-debate

https://www.psychologytoday.com/gb/blog ... r-neutered

We currently have three male dogs of which 2 are neutered - one was 7 years old when he had the op. and one was just over a year old (toy breed). The neutered dogs - now 7 years old and almost 14 years old - still show interest when one of our girls are in season and will follow them round and try to hump her. Even the girls who are actually spayed still have hormonal changes periodically. In my experience neutering will remove the possibility of breeding but little else is certain and hormones will still affect behaviour in male and female dogs post-neutering to some extent. There is an excellent authoritative booklet on the subject which is very interesting to read if you want a good overview of the subject. A free online view of the booklet should be available online until the end of May:

https://shoppuppyculture.com/products/p ... er-booklet
Dogs are not our whole life, but they make our lives whole. ~Roger Caras

Magic - Silversocks Sharade at Darksprite
Trilby - Darksprite Rosa Bud


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