Should my five year old be neutered?

Esperchan

I'm about to go read up on it, but you all seem so knowlegdable so thought i'd put a post up here. I have a shih-tzu who turns 5 on august 10th and he isn't neutered. When we got him we had full intentions to get him neutered, but my parents never did. Now that i have a job of my own, i am getting our pets vetted and am wondering if i should get him neutered. We live in a big house and he pees inside often. I take him out four times a day with usually one walk 45minutes long, so i think he'd be okay. I know i've read a few places that toy dogs are harder to house train, but this is quite ridiculous and i'm wondering if maybe he's marking. We will be moving to a (much) smaller place soon and i hope the smaller area will stop him from peeing but i kinda doubt it. Now my issue with getting him neutered now is his recovery time. I know it would take a bit longer for a five year old to recover than say a six month old, but i don't know how much longer or if there is anything else i should worry about. If any of you have any input, i would be more than happy to hear it. Well, im off to read. Thank you!!

sjp051993

As long as the vet says he is healthy enough for surgery, he should be fine. It could help with the marking in the house.

slkblaze

I don't think 5 is too old to neuter, especially for a small breed. As @sjp051993 said, check with your vet and see what they have to say. Has he always marked inside? Perhaps, if you don't want to neuter him, you could go through a training class with him as maybe his marking is a sign that he is claiming the household as "his".

As with any procedure involving anesthesia, there are always risks involved. A neuter is far less invasive than a spay, however, so recovery-time should be fairly quick .

shibamistress

There's no reason not to neuter him, and it could help with the marking. I was having a lot of problems with my Kai marking indoors (not in our house though thankfully) and he was neutered a few weeks ago. He's still probably got some of the testosterone still, but two weeks out, he went back to class, and he peed maybe 4 times indoors (as in comparison to 20 times before the neutering). So while it may not cure it entirely, it could help.

I know, though, that as a breed, they're kind of notorious for being difficult to housetrain, so it may not cure everything. But it's worth a try, and there is a risk of prostate cancer with intact males so you'd be dealing with that as well.

Esperchan

Yeah, since i probably can, to my knowledge he's right as rain, i amplanning on getting him neutered. I don't think there s a very big chance of him getting a girl pregnant because we are always watching to make sure he's safe, but to protect him from prostate cancer is a big yes.
Though about him peeing inside, i kinda doubt it is marking, cause sometimes he pees as he walks. I've never seen him do this outside and barely in our house, but in new buildings he is more prone to it. So a class or belly band(he used to were doggy diapers and he still knows what they are, it's really funny) may be in order.

Losech

I'd try to find the cause of the peeing first. If its medical I'd get that treated before neutering. If its behavioral, keep a tighter rein on him in the house, take him out more often, etc.