I have gotten so much good information off this forum in the past weeks i thought I would ask some of you pros this question.

I am getting a new lab pup in ten days, He's a chocolate & i plan to hunt waterfowl with him. The breeder ask me last night if i had plans to breed this dog in the future,,she thinks at 6 weeks he has some unusual good conformation & temperment but im only interested in the dog hunting,,and being a house dog,,,i have no plans of showing the dog or going to field trials(i wish i could but i just dont have that kind of time).
so for a hunting dog, that will also be a house buddy as well,,,should i neuter him or not

thanx for any help in advance
Mike

If you're sure that you won't breed the dog, I'd suggest neutering him It markedly reduces the chances of certain cancers.

I agree with Doc on this one. If you have no plans of breeding your dog, neuter him. Besides the health benefits there are other benefits.. such as not havng to deal with a box of Lab / Poodle mixes when the neighbors dog goes into heat.

It turned my lab from a wandering fool ,out to find any bitch in heat 5 miles up wind dog.
Into a single minded waterfowel and upland dog .
He now smells a dog in heat and keeps hunting.

Johnch

I agree with Doc E.....had I neutered my Coppernose Beagle he would not have died of Testicle cancer at 16 years old perhaps. My rule of thumb is that if I am not going to breed have them neutered if male, and spayed if female. It makes for a more stable and settled dog that can focus better in hunting situations....just MHO and we all know what those are like.

Thanx everyone for your help! im gonna get him cut. I want his mind on nothing but ducks

I would agree with everyone above except. What if you get him trained and he is such a great dog that you would become interested in breeding him? If you are absolutely positive you will not breed him then go for it. If you have any doubt you may consider waiting for a few years before having it done. You can always get it done later but you can't put them back on if you have it done now, just something to think about.

thats a good point! and i have been thinking about it all day, the breeder was only going to give me a limited registration so it would be hard for me to breed him(shes really into the lab breed and does'nt want just anyone breeding due to health issues) but she is so happy with this litter of 2 pups 1 male 1 female that shes goint to give me a full registration and even offered to show him a few times to get him titled. so he would be worth more in the breeding world. I hope i wrote this correctly because she was winging so many terms out that i did'nt really know what she was saying at 1st,,,like i said before,,,all i really wanted to do was just hunt him.

thanx again
Mike

I have a verry well bred female english setter after having a few monthe to evaluate her i have decided to have her fixed im not shure she will do a lot to help the breed

I have a one year old Original Mountain Cur that I haven't had neutered and I don't think I will. He just might cut it out to be a good stud one day. He is a little small for the OMCBA bench standards, but squirrel dog registries are a little different than, say AKC or something like that. For example, even if a male doesn't meat bench weight standards, they can still place and win the competition hunts and be bred for good squirrel dog pups. Now my pup seems to have everything except some size, that is, conformation, structure, grit, and "tree-mindedness, but his strain is known to be smaller than the others of the same breed, anyway. What I am getting at is if you think he might make a stud one day, and the breeder who knows labs thinks so, too, and if you think you'd like to have a pup out of him one day to keep around, maybe you should wait. You can always make the decision later when you know one way or the other if he really will help the breed in the way of hunting. I wouldn't breed him if he just had "the look," though. Good luck.