Originally posted elsewhere April ‘08
In the dog world, if you own a purebred show dog, they must remain unaltered/NOT spayed or neutered, so they are referred to as a ‘Bitch’ for Females and a ‘Dog’ for Males. Although it’s taken me a while, I finally found a program that is helping me with the cost to have Toby neutered by his own vet, which I am very pleased with, because its close, and they know Toby since they are his regular doctors.
His appointment is Tuesday morning.
He is half Chihuahua and half Miniature Pinscher, he has an amazing personality for a ’small dog’, he loves people, isn’t shy or yappy or nippy or weird and I have been asked a few times if I am going to breed him. No.
He IS a great dog, but since he’s turned one I have noticed a little change in his attitude/behavior and its typical male, testosterone induced behavior. He’ll be much happier and more relaxed being neutered, and healthier. Dogs don’t live in their minds like humans do, so he won’t be mourning the ‘loss of his manhood’ or anything, he’ll just not have that hormonal distraction. He’ll be happier enjoying our walks without his little distractions, and won’t have to worry about certain cancers as he ages.
The only downside I can see from his being neutered is that he is already a bit top (front) heavy. He runs down the stairs so fast his rear legs sometimes never touch the ground. He doodies sometimes and his whole back end comes right up off the ground! He’s run to the end of his leash and almost went end over end because he jerked to a stop and his back end is so light it just comes off the ground & goes airborne, keeps on going. So if I need to I’ll have to have his little scrawny back legs fitted with weights to balance him out.
But seriously, yeah, he might make cute and well tempered babies, but trust me, there are more than enough cool puppies & dogs out there who need a home right now.
Not to mention the cats & kittens (kittens are even harder than puppies to find GOOD homes for!). I have 3 cats and all of them are ‘fixed’.
And it’s Spring, so the Canines & Felines will be out en force, so PLEASE either keep their fluffy butts indoors or get them fixed. And if you find yourself furry-friendless, consider adopting a stress reliever/best friend who never cares how you look, what you wear, what you drive, how much money you have (as long as there’s enough for kibble) if you showered today, if you pass gas too much, if you don’t go to church, if you are OCD… you get the idea. And they’re always insanely happy to see you even if you just go to the mail box and back! Even cats, they just don’t like to show it, it’ll ruin their reputation.
