desexing a dog

[glinley 0]

Very simple question. Does desexing a dog effect its performance when hunting?

 

Thanks

[Lennard 10]

Someone on this forum wrote once: "a dog doesn't catch hares with its testicles"...it seems that dogs loose vigour when you castrate them but they might still catch anyway? For bitches I don't think a well done castration is a problem, it might even be a plus as her performance will not be affected by heath or worse false pregnancy.

 

L.

[skycat 6,173]

It doesn't affect their desire to chase/catch, but in my limited experience (had 2 bitches spayed for medical reasons only) their muscles do lose a bit of power and it is very difficult to keep them lean and fit. Not for the first couple of years after it has been done, but after then the fat settles on to them and is virtually impossible to shift: like I said, I've only had the 2 it was done to, and I would never do it unless it was a medical necessity. It altered the temperaments of my 2 as well: but that could be as they were part of a pack: they both turned very dodgy with other bitches: I think their status had been altered and they felt at odds with the entire bitches. Castrating a dog doesn't have that temperment effect, though again I've only known 2 working lurchers that had been 'done': they ran to fat very quickly as well, despite almost starvation rations.