The perils of an early snip

One of the best things about my line of work is the variety. I see so many different dogs and handlers, facing a vast array of problems and challenges. It is rare to feel like things are getting stale or boring. However, one problem that I see time and time again is nervous, anxious, fearful and reactive dogs.

Now, while this is not necessarily an uncommon problem, more than 84% of the dogs arriving with this problem have one common denominator — they’ve all been castrated or spayed before 12 months of age. I had a look back at all the dogs I had seen in the near 20 years I have been working for myself and they were nearly all the same. So, I started to do a little research into the topic.

The vast majority of veterinarians (particularly in previous years) have strongly recommended castration or spaying to be done as soon as possible. It is not unheard of for some charities and rescues to castrate puppies at six