DS: Why is spaying and neutering such a hard concept for some dogs owners to understand? and Negativity...?

Most people who are adamant about not s/n is because they have plans to breed their dog, or at least want to keep that option open.

Some are men who think that neutering will somehow make their dog "less of a man".. these kind dont typically have an issue with spaying a female tho, they just cant bring themselves to neuter their male.

Some people project their "rights to reproduce" thru their dogs. They dont think its right to "take that right" away from their dog. *rolling eyes*

Some people are convinced that its a dangerous surgury, and they dont want to put their dog thru that.. or dont want to put the dog thru the pain/discomfort of post-surgury.

Some just simply don't want to spend the money at the vet.. "its just a dog"

If someone has done the research, understands the pros and cons to both s/n and leaving a dog intact, and they are responsible enough to prevent an unwanted litter, then that is certainly their choice. Most people are not responsible enough to deal with an intact animal.

Not enough!!! Every average pet owner should spay/ neuter. Far too many people think they'll earn some money by having puppies or just do it for the fun of it without realizing how to breed for temperment, health, pet quality and breed standard. They do no tests, and no research about the sire. Then, they sell the puppies for near nothing and tell new owners nothing about what they're getting into. Afterwards- nothing. They don't check up on their dogs, email owners or anything. Only knowledgable, responsible and educated AKC breeders should be allowed to breed dogs. All regular owners should be required to spay or neuter. It's sad, because some people just won't listen. My best friend got her pug just last spring, and her mom refuses to spay her even though me (and their vet) continually tell her all the advantages of spaying. But no, "That's just what Maddie says" well ya know maddie knows these things!!! Lol I'll step off my soap box now. Probably around 20-25% of dog owners who are smart LABRADOODLE: Pets have no desire to breed if they are fixed. They don't think the same way we do. If no one fixed their pets, then the over population of homeless pets would be even worse! It would be like you going around and "doing it" with the first 10 people you saw. Eww. It's a fairly painless procedure and it saves a place in shelters for dogs that already here.

It's simple. Spaying and neutering is not natural. So of course there will be negativity asscociated with it. There are other ways to prevent mating. You watch your dog. You take care of your dog and not just leave it in the backyard to escape and go mate with another dog. You keep your female in heat away from other dogs for 3 weeks. Why put your animal through the risk of anesthetic to do something that is not necessary? Approx. 50 000 pets in the United States either die or are injured due to being put under for one reason or another. The risk is real. The risk is there. It is not hard to understand the concept of spaying and neutering, rather, it is hard to understand the concept of so many people doing something so unnatural to animals and thinking there will not be bad effects. There are bad effects. Spaying or neutering your animal puts it at higher risk for certain cancers. Animals die from anesthetic or surgical wound infection. Not to mention the extremely painful after effects of surgery. My dog had an infection a month later and was in extreme pain! The Vet would not admit it and I had to go to another Vet to get antibiotics. If I had not been such an attentive owner, I wouldn't have known he had such a severe infection from the surgery a month before and he would have died! I would never have put him through that had I known the truth about neutering and I regret it wholeheartedly. I will never tell anyone to spay or neuter their pet. Never ever.

People who spay or neuter their pets are being responsible pet owners.

I find it is usually men who choose not to neuter their male dogs because they are obviously identifying the dog's balls with their own!

Funny how Rottweilers always seem to be intact, but men with Yorkshire terriers have no problem neutering the animal, and passing their beloved pet off as 'the wife's' LOL!

It does well to remember that a neutered animal (especially a non breeding ***** or dog) is less likely to be territorial, and in the case of female dogs will not suffer the terror of being in heat and being attacked by all creatures great and small! A Chihuahua on a chair with a Greyhound ***** is not a pretty sight!

All jokes aside...

Spay or neuter your animal. Millions of unwanted puppies and kittens are killed or neglected every day.

Human beings have dominion over the beasts, we can ease their suffering, or add to it. If you truly loved your pet, you would neuter or spay it.

My pets, listed below, were mistreated, or dumped by people who refused to desex their pets, and now live a great life. Puddy was rescued from a bag on the side of the road, thrown from a car. His brothers and sisters were already dead. He is 22 and has lived a good life so far.

DESEX YOUR PETS!

Why is spaying and neutering such a hard concept for some dogs owners to understand? For the same reason so many people think an 8, 10, 12-week-old puppy can be fully potty trained. Sometimes you have to help the people you can help and let the rest go. and Negativity...?So many web dog sites have a half a dozen people who think their way is the only way to train a dog, it is everywhere. There are many ways to train a dog/puppy, what might work for me and my angel dolls, might not work for other people. You have to train in a method that works for you. Come, sit, stay, might work for most people, but if my dog sits when I say popcorn, I am using popcorn. My neighbor calls the ducks with a duck call, I call them by burping. It doesn't have to make sense, it just has to work. I choose to own Shelties so that I have the luxury of using positive training and nothing else. I love having the luxury of using a positive method, so I choose a breed that is easy to train. I could never smack my puppies in the face, so I don't own a breed that would require such methods. You have to do what works for you, and you have to choose breeds that are right for you and your life style, and let other people own the breeds they want to own and train the way they want to train. There are many breeds of dogs I could never own. I trained very many puppies in my life, I have very little sanity left, I could never handle training a pug, I just don't have that much sanity left.

Well I think the idea that everyone has to S/N their dog IS negative. Not a hard concept for me to understand at all, they're my dogs, my choice. I'm not an idiot who can't keep my dog from reproducing. I know the pros, and cons to S/N and have made a decision based on that.

Honestly, think about it, an E collar is often called a shock collar. If you don't understand how it works, of course it seems cruel. A prong collar looks scary, and sharp, like it stabs a dog, again if you don't understand how it works, of course it seems cruel. A choke chain, again, if you don't understand how it works, it sounds cruel. Not to mention a choke chain CAN choke when on the wrong way.

I agree with you, and totally agree that PETA may be a factor for some. As to some of us "bunny huggers', well, I can think of many reasons why not spaying/neutering is harmful to an animal.

Numerous litters decrease an animals lifespan considerably, and some kinds of cancer are far more prevalent in "natural" animals. I can't see why being chewed up in a fight is a good thing.

One of the saddest reasons to leave a male dog unaltered around here is that dogfights are a common place form of amusement. Although our police department takes an active roll in busting these, so far they haven't taken my suggestion about neutering the people who participate.

Wow. Loaded questions.

1.) I've often wondered the spay/neuter thing also and I've come to only two conclusions why people don't spay/neuter. Reason #1 would be that they plan on or want to have the option to breed their dog. Reason #2 would be that the individual thinks by neutering/spaying, the dog is less of a dog. The only reason I think some people think this is from watching the show Pit Boss. There was a black man in the ghetto who didn't want to neuter his Pit because he thought it wouldn't be the same dog if he did. In other words, lack of proper information about the advantages of the surgery.

2.) I don't like choke chains because a lot of people have no idea how to use them and therefore can really harm their dogs. The actual motion of the choke chain does just that, cuts off the air supply by choking the dog. If not used properly, this can damage the larynx and I think most people that use them don't know how to properly use them. Studies have shown that individuals that don't know how to use a choke chain end up causing their dogs to have lacerations on larynx. However, I am a big supporter of the prong collar. I use it on my AmStaff and Dobermann and it works wonders to stop them from pulling. I like that it pinches instead of cuts off the air supply. Studies show that it is far less likely to hard a dogs larynx then the choke chain.

3.) I think raw diets are great. I don't personally do it, but I feed my dog premium foods like Orijen, Evo and Taste of the Wild. At some point I will probably switch to a raw diet.

I think the issue is several things. One, commercial food companies want everyone to think raw diets and premium foods are the devil and they have the money to run those smear campaigns. Secondly, I agree that PETA is partially to blame because they act like dogs are humans when in fact, they are not and even in the wild, animals are punished when they do something undesirable. I've yet to meet a PETA person who has a well trained dog.

First, I am not against spaying and neutering because there are some health benefits such as reducing the risks of uterine cancer and mammary cancer in females and testicular cancer in males; however, there are also some risks involved with neutering/spaying from lack of hormones. Just like a woman goes through many changes through menopause we are essentially removing hormones from our animals when they are very young and there are documented concerns against this. If a person is very vigilant about preventing unwanted pregnancies then I think it is their choice. It's not like women have a hysterectomy just because they don't want to get pregnant.

I agree with you. I used a prong collar on my Jack Russell Terrier, Bulldog and Rottweiler and it fixed almost all there behavior problems. I would walk on the street and people who shoot me dirty looks or comment on how cruel I was for using these torture devises on my animals.

A silver tongued propaganda spitter can convince idiots of about anything: Spaying and neutering is wrong, raw feeding will kill your dog, Prong collars and E-collars are inhumane you should be arrested for animal cruelty.

I convinced my friend with a Chihuahua to get her spayed and even though she knew it was the right thing to do and she did do it. I had to listen to her bullsh*t about how she felt bad because she was taken her dogs, "Reproductive rights away" and how the dog wasn't going to love her anymore.

The average dog owner cannot handle or is responsible enough to keep an intact dog and they fail so we get to listen to the oops litter questions. PETA and the bunnyhuggers are awesome at distorting the truth and they really need to go the hell away.