Does neutering actually help male dogs to live longer, healthier lives?
Not something I’m personally worried about. I’ve had only one male neutered. He was done at about 4½ years and lived to 12½. So did his un-neutered dam and her un-neutered litter-brother. My longest-lived GSD was a bit.ch who had an emergency “spaying” at about 10 years old, because of a closed pyometritis. She lived to 15½ before needing to be p.t.s. because a pressure sore on her left hip wouldn’t heal. The only guaranteed result of neutering is that the pooch cannot be involved in the production of litters. And that is all the reason needed for neutering a pooch that isn’t winning in one or more types of competition ring, and/or has not been certificated in the full range of “health certificates” appropriate for that breed.. But a statistical study has been conducted relating the odds of various side-effects happening, based on the age at which the neutering was done. Another was still under way, last time I looked, relating the risk of HD to the age at which neutering was done. • A
