| He'll be fine and as I see it, you don't have much choice.
Most dog people say that the earlier you have this done to a dog, the
less effect it has on them. I had my dog snipped last summer and he
was 4 years old. My observation is that he hasn't changed too much.
He'll still try to mate a bitch in heat. He is not the least bit
lethargic as I had feared.
In fact, he is a more intense hunter. Before, he had three interests:
hunting, food and bitches (possibly in that order. Now he is only
interested in hunting and food.
You may want to watch his diet. I found my dog put on a lb or two, so
I really cracked down on his intake for about 6 months. People told
me that once he was castrated he's stop roaming because he wouldn't
be interested in mating. I suppose this is true. But he still roams
every now and then because I have him on a diet most of the time and
now he's on the prowl for food.
My advice is not to worry. I f you were castrated, do you think you'd
have more or less interest in hunting????
;-)
/brett
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| Thanks Brett....You know what I'm thinking about then..Dog getting fat,
lethargic etc..Another question, I am currently feeding him a mixture
of Eukanuba(SP) and Nutra; Did you change the diet? I'm not to worried
about him getting out of shape, I work him everyday(a must) or he is
intollerable; and I work him on pheasants at least 3 times a month.
I'm just real anxious about what may or may not happen; Alot of time
and money has gone into him, and after 1 good year of hunting behind
him; I'd like to have a couple more, or I'll give him away....
Sorry, about being HARDCORE...But I don't need nor want JUST a house
dog or pet.
Jeff
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| No, I didn't want a housedog or a pet either (explicitly). I wanted
dogs that hunt or out they go (tough after you develop a 5 year
relationship in the field, huh?) I was very concerned about my dog's
ability to hunt after the big day last spring...(I had to have mine
done because he was mono-testicular and had a greater chance of
cancer). Opening day this year put me at ease. He hunted as well
as ever for 5 hours. I couldn't notice any difference. Getting out
of the truck that morning, he was more hyped up for the hunt than ever!
As for food, my dog hates Iams and Eukanuba. He would just rather
starve than eat it (don't ask me why). I can alternate between Nature's
Recipe and Nutro Max (he likes these just fine and my other dog would
eat mud if you put it in her bowl. What I've found is that Nutro Max is
much more efficient than Nature's Recipe (ie less food fills them up = less
money; same result). I din't change food (like dogfood for seniors, I
just feed him less).
At first, he wanted to eat more. It wasn't hunting season and he
seemed to have nothing else to occupy his time besides food. So we
cut off table scraps *completely*. This really pi$$ed him off! I also
cut him back on dog food. The reason is that I watched him put on
about 10% more weight in a month. I got him down to a reasonable level
of food and worked him pretty hard. After about 5 months, he was back
to his fightin weight. Now, almost a year later, he's fine. In fact,
I feed him before I go to work in the morning and I often find left
over food in his bowl when I get home at night. His weight is good
and his demeanor is just fine. Still loves to work!
For *me*, the trick was to not give in to his insatiable appetite. My
opinion is that it was mental......not physical hunger.
The other thing that happened was that he learned every place in the
neighborhood where people would put out cat food for their cats...
he learned that my neighbor kept their dogfood on the floor of the
garage in an easily accessable bag and rarely closed the door.....
So I had to crack down on him disappearing for 5 minutes and filling up
on between meal snacks. I believe we've cured this.
The bottom line is not to worry. My advice is to do what's best for
your dog's health and then observe his new habits. If you know your
dog well, which I'm sure you do, you'll notice his change in habits
if there are any. Just think smarter than him and don't let him pull
the wool over on you.
One suggestion is not to starve your dog when he gets home but to watch
and see what happens before you do anything drastic. Remember, he's
gonna need a friend after his sex life is ruined. I had my wife take
my dog down so he wouldn't think I was the bad guy :-)
Good luck.
/brett
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