meat. Males destined for
the latter two categories were castrated. But the operation was
performed much later to create an ox rather than a steer. Bulls
castrated as calves become steers, destined for the table. Those
castrated later in life (common in the old days, rare today)
become oxen, destined for hard labor.
A comparable note can be made regarding horses. Today most geldings
result from cutting colts. (As noted "fixing" a filly
on a mare is virtually unheard of.) But years ago it was common
the cut mature stallions in order to make captured horses more
manageable and the range ponies which may have remained intact
until they were four or five years of age were noted for their
toughness and endurance.
So you may choose to give that some consideration. But the urges
and habits that an unaltered sex drive may have implanted in
a mature dog aren't likely to be irradiated by surgery. So if
you seek docility and a laid back nature in a male dog, counting
on castration to avoid fights and male aggressiveness, take it
out of him early.
Should a spayed female best fit your needs and life style, you
will also want to consult your vet, even though there is much
more conventional wisdom floating around "fixing" females
than canine males. You will find that most prefer to spay before
the female ever experiences a heat period, sometimes as early
as five months of age, but at least prior to the 9-16 month original
estrus.
The procedure is rated simpler and safer with immature bitches,
a professional opinion laymen, can't dispute. While that goes
unquestioned, a contention that real or imagines complaints about
physical or temperamental changes following spaying are more
likely to occur when older bitches are spayed might be disputed.
The some time complaint of a slow-down when a middle-aged bitch
is spayed may be only a matter of aging. When the spaying is
done before maturity, if it does cause an alteration in activity
or attitude, no one ever knows because there has been no opportunity
to plumb the potential.
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Thus, while early spaying
may be the route for one-dog-at-a-time owners, persons more involved
with a gun dog or dogs may opt to wait until after one, or possibly
several, heat periods before making the decision to have the
irrevocable operation.
By the time a bitch is a year or more old, the owner will have
a good line on what kind of hunter she can be, given the right
training and experiences. If she shows outstanding qualities,
consideration may be given to raising a litter of pups for personal
reasons before having her spayed. Should she produce pups of
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