Snip the Spanky

Dear Dog Lady,
There are two sweethearts in my life besides my wife and three daughters. They are my two pit bull terriers, Spanky, a black and white male going on five years old, and Tyson, a slightly smaller brown and white terrier who is three. Tyson was neutered when he was very young. However, Spanky never had the operation. He is not aggressive and very well adjusted.

I have spoken to several doctors who advise me to have the procedure. But I don’t want to hurt or traumatize my dog at his age. Is it possible to share any opinions you may have in helping me to make this important decision. Many thanks for your interest and wisdom.

Ron, Appleton St.

Ron, be a mon, and neuter your dog. Dog Lady in all her wisdom must side with the doctors. Overall, it would be better for you to snip Spanky.

Although Spanky seems happy and well-behaved, you never know when the hormones will kick into high gear and Spanky, the pitbull, will act out aggressively according to instinct. Neutering your dog is the only responsible thing to do -- for the dog and for you.

We anthropomophize our pets. We imagine they have human feelings about these things. Men, especially, wince when they think of neutering their male dogs. Trust Dog Lady. Spanky will never know what hit him -- or snipped him. The neutering procedure is an easy outpatient surgery at the veterinarian’s office. Spanky will be a little tipsy afterward from the anesthesia and will need a couple of days to recover fully, but then your dog will be a better adjusted animal.

Ron, it’s not fair for Spanky -- an animal in the prime of life at five years old -- to remain unneutered in surroundings that do not encourage his frisky instincts. He’s got the hormonal drive to do what comes naturally. Do you want Spanky roaming your city neighborhood looking for conquests? Of course not. Do you want Spanky sublimating all that sexual energy into some other vicious pursuit? Of course not. Keeping him intact is not helping him whole.

Dog Lady remembers when her own dog went into the vet to be neutered. Yes, it was hard to leave him there and know that he would emerge as “it.” Yes, I went through all that anthropomophizing rationale about how my handsome dog would make such a great father, and how it would be a shame to shut down his genes. I also worried about the surgery -- would he die under anesthesia? Neuter Day was a dark day for Dog Lady.

Yet, in 48 hours, we’d both forgotten about it. My pet was as frisky as ever. He was still “he” to me. He even managed to exhibit a little sexual excitement, if you know what I mean -- much to Dog Lady’s amazement (the vet explained there’s still a residue of hormones in the system long after neutering).

Bite the bullet, Ron, and disarm Spanky.

Castration appears to be a hot, albeit indelicate, topic for Dog Lady. A few weeks ago, Dog Lady heard from “Carl” in Cambridge who wrote about Larry, his unruly Rottweiler. Carl complained that Larry was a mess ever since the dog had been moved from Washington D.C. to Cambridge. Among Larry’s many problems, the dog was not nice to children, attacked staffers, messed when he ate his food and slobbered. Carl wondered if “castration would help.”

Dog Lady, who cheekily surmised that Larry must be a Democrat since his problems started when he left Washington, rapped Carl’s knuckles for keeping an unneutered Rottweiler and urged Carl to fix his pet immediately, if not sooner, rather than risk a multi-million dollar negligence suit if Larry mauls a staffer. Dog Lady also urged “sit/stay” training.

Dog Lady got much reaction to this column about Larry, including a very informative email from Julie, who keeps a “sweet as pie” neutered 110 lb. Rottweiler. Julie volunteers at the Rottweiler Connection, a non-profit organization based in New England (www.therottweilerconnection.org).

Julie, in turn, rapped Dog Lady’s knuckles for not being tougher on Carl: “I was quite perturbed by your lack of insistence regarding the ignorance of this family. POOR LARRY!!! . . .A Rottweiler is not a dog for everyone and a lot of thought and research should go into a a family’s decision before taking home a dog. A Rottweiler is “A LOT OF DOG”. They can be the most loving, loyal and faithful family companions when properly trained and nurtured and cared for medically. . .Oh, and by the way, most of them are slobbery. That’s part of the breed and if this family had done some homework before getting Larry, they might have known that when they are full grown, they slobber!. . .Hopefully, this family will not fail Larry.”

Dog Lady also hopes the fate of Larry, the slobbery Rottweiler, is a happy one.

Posted by Dog Lady at March 18, 2003 10:05 PM