Comment

Comment by RILEY, MAGGIE and Christine Kemp on February 23, 2010 at 3:47pm

That's "Cryptorchid"...Sorry!

Comment by RILEY, MAGGIE and Christine Kemp on February 23, 2010 at 3:46pm

Any comments on "Cryptochid" surgery?

Comment by Sheila Lynch on December 22, 2009 at 9:27am

Ok read this stuff and MY view is I am a stud and looking for a gal in heat for me to mate with. Next as you can see I am tri-colored and handsome if I do say so myself, actually my owner says I am. I live in the southeast region of these United States (Georgia). so let me know gals if your interested.

Comment by Sue & Rocky on December 21, 2009 at 9:40pm

Thank you all for your comments & thoughts. We are not planning on breeding our pup and there is only one dog in our neighborhood & it is a male that we never see(once in awhile in the doorway). We never let our dogs outside without one of us there & they are fenced in or on a run. During the years that we have had dogs (about 25 yrs.)only one (a golden retriever) got loose one time. I just didn't know if there was a reason why males should be neutered if they haven't any other health issues. again thanks for your comments

Comment by Joanna Kimball on December 21, 2009 at 1:48pm

While I still come down firmly on the side of spaying, I did want to say that, as a breeder, I've had intact males and females for decades now in every kind of living environment. Very, very urban to very, very rural. I've *never* had a male dog show up when one of my girls was in heat. And the girls may get marginally more clingy but most of them don't change at all during a heat cycle. On the whole, a heat cycle (when you're not breeding, and don't have an intact male of your own) is a giant snooze-fest.

The only kind of behavior problems neutering is going to solve is very specific male-to-male aggression when there is an in-heat female around. Neutering doesn't solve issues that are related to dominance or personality or training. It's the most commonly recommended intervention purely because of that anti-intact-male bias and because it's obvious and easy. Got nuts? Cut 'em off.

But remember that most vets are no more experienced at being a dog OWNER than you are. They have one or two neutered/spayed pets at home and that's all they have ever had or are going to have. They're not behaviorists and they're generally not breeders. If you talk to someone who has owned the breed in numbers for years and years, you'll get a better picture of what actually happens, and the fact is that neutering is not a magic behavioral switch. Well-trained intact males are a joy to own, as are well-trained neutered males. Poorly trained boys are going to be a big issue, twig-n-berries or not.

Please note that I am talking about neuter or not, NOT breed or not. The decision to breed is totally apart from the decision to neuter, and requires an enormous amount of forethought and is a responsibility most people do NOT want.

Comment by Alice on December 21, 2009 at 11:22am

We chose to neuter to avoid certain health issues as well as to possibly avoid dominance issues and because we like to take our dog places such as the dog park and I don't want to be concerned about my dog accidentally producing a litter with someone's intact female. As a whole, it was the best option. Finn ended up being a cryptorchid which only reinforced the decision as that put him at greater risk for cancer.

When we one day get a female, she will certainly be spayed. I have seen intact females develop serious health problems and I don't think it's worth the risk.

Growing up my family had an intact female (for some reason my parents always neutered our males but did not spay the females) and we had a young male who was almost due to be neutered. When the female was in heat we made sure she wasn't around him but accidents do happen and she ended up pregnant.

As much as I adore my dog and think he would produce beautiful offspring, I would never choose to breed. It's a personal decision everyone has to make but I believe there are enough experienced breeders doing great jobs and my breeding my pets would only contribute to the overpopulation problem. Some people will argue that no one (breeders included) should breed dogs and that everyone should adopt from the pound. I personally believe that without breeders, we would not be able to preserve different breeds. Mutts are wonderful but I can appreciate pure breds as well and the breeders have their place, I will leave the preservation of the breed to them and always spay and neuter my dogs.

Comment by Bev Levy on December 21, 2009 at 7:29am

I always neuter. I do not believe raising puppies should entered into lightly. Females in season are quite driven to find a guy and that is often a dangerous time for them. Males are going to find a female in heat if there is one around.

Comment by Beth on December 21, 2009 at 7:07am

I would always neuter simply because I live in an area with heavy dog traffic. My neutered male is still very fascinated with intact females, even if they are not in heat (since he does not encounter them regularly, he is amazed that anything could be so lovely). When there is a female in heat, he is very distracted, and as I said he's neutered. I simply could not guarantee that he would not find a way to escape if there were an intact female in season wandering by, had I kept him intact.

Not all female dog owners are responsible and as it turns out, there is an intact female boxer who lives just a few houses down who escapes whenever she is in season. So I am very happy with my decision to neuter. I can leave my dog off-leash when hiking or playing with other dogs, and it's just one fewer thing to worry about.

And while every dog is different and I have known several sweet intact males, the fact is that as a general rule, Corgis can tend to be very territorial with strange dogs and cats, and SOME (not all) intact males are more aggressive with other males and also more likely to mark. I just don't think you know until the dog hits full maturity at around 2 just what he'll be like.

Comment by Bay in TN on December 21, 2009 at 3:42am

Y'know what? I'm just torn in general. I read your post to see what other people are saying, and I'm going to keep an eye on this thread. Doris Daylily is a year and almost two months old. I keep changing my mind about whether or not to breed her. I have the open registration with the AKC, and I could breed some AKC puppies if I could find a nearby AKC corgi stud.... And honestly, I think any potential corgi owner would be lucky, *blessed* to get Doris Daylily's offspring.

At the same time, I am conscious of the concerns that people have about unwanted puppies ending up in shelters. That would break my heart totally.

And yet -- part of my soul rails against the idea that people who love puppies need to be deprived because other, less good people will abuse puppies. Who are these lesser-than puppy abusers? How do they find their way to puppies? I am stern and forbidding! I could face them off and they would not buy my gorgeous corgi puppies, should I choose to let Doris Daylily have them!

... I'm still waffling. Thanks, Sue & Rocky, for starting this thread. :)

--Bay

Comment by Joanna Kimball on December 21, 2009 at 2:10am

Females should pretty much always be spayed if they are not breeding quality. If they are kept intact but not bred they run a pretty hefty risk of having a uterine infection and that's a very dangerous situation (an emergency spay and often that doesn't save them). However, we like to wait until after our girls have their first heat cycles to make sure their growth plates have closed and they are done growing. There's some good evidence that delaying the spay protects against certain bone cancers and injuries.

Males being neutered is a different story. There's not a clear health benefit to neuter and in fact it seems to be detrimental to them over time. Neutering avoids some rare health problems and causes some more common ones, so on balance it's beneficial to them to leave them intact. HOWEVER, their individual health doesn't trump everything. You have to be ready to make sure he never breeds a female, and you are going to have to deal with a major anti-intact-male bias everywhere. Intact males are often not allowed in dog parks or other gathering places, trainers and vets will blame every issue on the fact that they're not neutered, and you'll get dirty looks from a lot of people. And, as shallow as this is, most people have never seen the "undercarriage" of an intact male. They think that male dogs are supposed to look neutered and the normal anatomy of a male is "gross."

For those reasons, many people neuter simply because it's easier. And that's fine. It's going to continue to be a choice made by most owners and it's something I want my puppy buyers to do too if they cannot SWEAR they're not going to ever make puppies with this dog (and my contract has a major liquidated damages clause that says they owe me thousands if he does). But it's a choice of convenience and not necessarily of health.

The females, like I said, really should be spayed if they will not be bred and they should be spayed when they are done being bred.

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