Neuturing My Spaniel

by Cierra
(San Diego)

I am a first-time dog owner of a cocker spaniel and my husband isn't sold on getting him neutered. We don't have any plans of breeding him or anything of that nature, but our vet insists that we should get him neutered.

Any advice from fellow dog owners?

Reply From Pauline (Web Owner)

Hello Cierra, It doesn't surprise me that your husband isn't sold on the idea of having your male Cocker castrated - most men are a bit squeamish about this, but then, who can blame them!?

On a more serious note, there are many arguments for and against neutering dogs and rather than duplicate content, you can find an outline here, in this article listing 10 good reasons for neutering your dog.

If your vet is 'insisting' that you have your Cocker Spaniel castrated, then there may be a more pressing medical problem. If there isn't, then the decision is entirely yours.

If your dog is okay with other male dogs, ie he doesn't behave aggressively towards them and is generally a happy, friendly Cocker, there's no real need.

(NB: Having a dog castrated to remedy aggressive tendencies is not always successful. You need to understand what is causing the aggression in order to find the correct solution as it may simply be a behavioural problem).

Personally, I regret having my Cocker Spaniel castrated as within 3 months, he'd lost his beautiful, glossy top coat - it had been replaced with a thick, woolly, curly coat which now has to be clipped back quite fiercely.

Of course, I love him now just as much as I always have, but given the choice again, my decision would be to leave well alone unless there's an urgent medical need.

It will be interesting to hear our visitor's views.