Most pet owners know the importance of neutering their German Shorthaired Pointer puppies because they are particular dog breeds. But many people are unsure when to get them fixed or if waiting for their dog to become an adult is a better idea.
After doing some research for our male German Shorthaired Pointer and speaking with a veterinarian locally, we will share what we learned. This guide will discuss what you need to consider depending if you have a male dog or a female dog, along with the pros and cons of getting each one neutered.
As you are reading, please remember that neutering is primarily safe, but you should still understand there will be significant changes in how your dog behaves when you return home. For example, some canines will seem sad, get anxious over trivial situations, and feel more clingy when all you want is some time alone.
Lastly, we will share what you need to expect after the operation and what you can do to improve your German Shorthaired Pointer’s transition.
What is the Best Time To Neuter A German Shorthaired Pointer?
Every vet has their own opinion, but most feel neutering your GSP anywhere from 4 years old to 9 months as a puppy is appropriate.
You probably think that four and nine months of age is a massive gap in time, but the reason is that it hinges on your German Shorthaired Pointers gender. A male GSP and a female react differently behaviorally depending on the age you spay or neuter them.
There is no one size fits all answer, but the traditional advice is to do it when both genders arrive at adolescence before deciding on neutering them.
If every pet owner with a younger dog follows this suggestion, their best friend should have no health problems and will require less health care over the long term. Lastly, your GSP puppies will behave better after the procedure and be less aggressive.
Why Should You Neuter German Shorthaired Pointer Puppies?
There is a long list of reasons why you should get your dog neutered. However, the most important one is because of the long-term health benefits and a better quality of life for your canine.
The sections below will cover some great advice. Still, after you read them all, we recommend this American Kennel Association article to learn more about getting German Shorthaired Pointers spayed or neutered by certified vets.
What To Consider After Your Dog Is Neutered?
The first thing to know is that you will have peace of mind knowing your German Shorthaired Pointer is feeling better with a smaller chance of getting heart disease, elbow dysplasia, and testicular cancer.
The diseases above are the most common to kill German Shorthaired pointers, so getting them spayed or neutered decreases the chances of this happening. Getting male German Shorthaired Pointers fixed also helps them behave better and be less moody. This procedure reduces violent actions and territorial behavior, ensuring their sex hormones won’t cause them to act erratically with female dogs. We can tell you from first-hand experience is the last thing you want is your male dog performing inappropriate acts with female dogs in your local park.
By preventing them from reproducing, you are saving the lives of many puppies born without anyone to love them because the market is saturated. When this happens, dog pounds euthanize them to control the population, and it’s tragic.
And if you decide to keep the puppies your German Shorthaired Pointer is parenting, it will be expensive for you. The best way to prevent this scenario is to get them neutered to lower their sex drive.
Like most successful surgical procedures, neutering does have its drawbacks because it initiates new behavioral problems that you have never witnessed your dog display before. For example, instead of being hyperactive, your pet might have a lower energy level and come off as grumpy sometimes. But despite the cons, having spay or neuter surgery has many more advantages, so it is still worth doing.
What Are Some Side Effects?
As mentioned above, when you spay or neuter your male dog, the advantages are many. Still, the most valuable are decreasing the risk of weakening their immune system and improving health conditions.
After male dogs are spayed or neutered, they momentarily become very aggressive for the first few months. The good news is that they become less violent with time, so it’s a temporary drawback. In the long run, your purebred dog will live a prosperous and healthy life without mast cell tumors.
Considering your male dog’s breed is one of the most important things to find so you can understand the aggressiveness you must deal with after the surgery. This advice makes sense because some breeds display more aggressive behavior naturally than others, and the hormone imbalance your canine experiences after getting neutered makes them worse.
When your male dog’s testes get removed during the procedure, the scar will not look good initially, but with time it heals and starts to fade. Not having testicles prevents testicular cancer, so you can have them in your life for as long as possible.
There are some other changes to prepare for after your dog gets neutered. Again, these are positive traits, but you should still know about them.
Below is the list of changes male dogs deal with after having surgery:
- They have lesser urges to hump other dogs when you go to the park or other public places
- They will urinate less inside and outside your house
- Violent behavior decreases
- Other behavioral problems include being frightened easily, hyperarousal, and having erratic habits.
Why Should You Neuter At A Young Age?
The age of your German Shorthaired Pointer is not something you need to worry about. As long as you have a competent vet, they will decide when your dog isn’t too young to get spayed or neutered at the local pet hospital.
Larger male breeds, like German Pointers, can start reproducing after only 6 months of age. But no matter what, no spaying and neutering can occur until after they are 14 months old, so keep your dog away from the opposite sex until then. The reason why most vets won’t allow it before the age of 14 months is that spaying and neutering your pet earlier than this will take away the sex hormones necessary for growth. Without these hormones, skeletal development is weakened, and they will have frail bones.
Lastly, premature spay or neuter surgeries will make your dog’s growth plates take double the time to close properly.
Summing It Up
At the end of the day, spaying and neutering is a must if you want to decrease the number of unadopted dogs on the street that are eventually euthanized tragically in dog pounds. However, before deciding about spaying or neutering your best friend, you have all the information you need in this guide to make an educated decision, along with the well-researched article we shared with you in the previous section. Then, after you know enough about the pros and cons of this surgery, we recommend you have a final talk with your veterinarian, who will tell you when it is time to come back.
