In addition to playing your responsible role in keeping the dog population in check, neutering your puppy offers other benefits. Neutered dogs tend to be less aggressive, and they don’t have to deal with horrible health conditions like testicular cancer. Dogs who are neutered also have a reduced risk of benign hyperplasia of the prostate gland and hernias. If it’s time to neuter your dog, which occurs ideally between 6 and 8 months of age, you may be wondering how to prepare your puppy for neutering. There are a few things you’ll want to do, which will support your dog physically and emotionally.
Get a Pre-Neuter Checkup
It’s best to take your puppy for a pre-neuter checkup, to make sure he’s in good health and has a great chance of getting through the procedure okay. Some vets and neuter facilities require a general physical exam before neutering. Others suggest it and they make recommendations for blood panel tests. A blood panel can offer insight into any pre-existing conditions that might make a neutering procedure risky or require extra careful attention on the part of the veterinary professional.
Prepare Your Puppy for Neutering Day
As you prepare your puppy for neutering day, you will need to make sure he’s able to get into a carrier or crate without major problems, and it’s best if he can sit in the carrier or crate for extended periods of time (up to 3 hours is ideal). Many vets require you to bring your puppy to a neuter appointment safely secured in a carrier or crate. Take at least a week to explore dog crate training, which is actually lovingly guiding your puppy to tolerate the crate. If you do this, you should have minimal issues (if any) on neuter day.
Offer Emotional Support
Many puppies’ human companions elect to take the entire day off of work when it’s neuter time. That way complete attention can be given to the puppy from the earliest hours of the morning until evening, when recuperation and comfort are important. On the morning of neuter day, you’ll likely have been advised by your vet to withhold food, staring at midnight or at around 6 a.m. Follow these requirements! Your puppy’s bowels should be empty or near empty. It’s okay to give your puppy a little bit of water or ice chips, but encourage him to empty his bladder right before the appointment. Throughout neuter day, love your little friend through all of the changes in daily routine and the nervous times he might experience.
To best prepare your puppy for neutering, it’s essential you keep your mind on physical and emotional aspects of the experience. Puppies need determined human guidance to get through many times in their crazy lives, so remember to lovingly be firm about what’s best for your dog as you go to vet appointments, crate train, ration food, and have as much quiet time as possible after the procedure. Many of my clients wonder if they should put their puppy through dog obedience training before a neuter appointment. I offer that they absolutely should establish some best puppy practices first, and I am the perfect person to help do that. I am a doggie relationship expert and manager and I can help you guide your pup, through love, to ideal outcomes in many scenarios.
