We will begin with this….All American German Shepherds and mixed breed dogs should be spayed and neutered. However, True European German Shepherd Males should NEVER be neutered, and Females never spayed unless post 7 years of age. This because Mammals have to have their hormones for normal cognitive and physiological functioning and development. Spaying and Neutering dogs and cats began in the 1960’s as a push to control the pet population.
However this was also a time when most pet Owners allowed their animals to roam free wherever they lived. However these procedures became a major source of income for the American Vet, with no regard for the damage it was causing dogs. The primary reason that middle aged Humans begin to loose their hair color, muscle and bone volume, energy, skin thickness, immune system responses, and experience a decrease in cognitive functioning is due to a decrease of Hormone production. In Humans this is called Andropause or Menopause.
When a dog is neutered or spayed, the hormones are taken away, and you just caused a host of mental and physical deficiencies for your dog. Immune system deficiency is automatic and instantaneously. The bone, muscle, color, and protective instincts will NEVER develop or are taken away. In a Euro GSD, you have just taken the German Shepherd out of the dog. You have also altered the dogs emotional, psychological, and cognitive development/functioning.
So why do American Veterinarians NOT tell you this? – Two reasons…. #1 U.S. Vets receive a large portion of their income by spaying and neutering. #2 Most U.S. Vets are simply uneducated regarding Hormone production and its roles physiologically in the Mammal body. U.S. Vets encourage dog Owners to allow them to do these procedures by mentioning the risk of Ovarian and Testicular Cancer, as well as other benefits of Spaying and Neutering. Yes dogs can’t acquire Cancer in these organs because they have been removed, however the chance of overall bodily Cancer has just been increased 4-5x. Keep in mind also that U.S. Veterinarians know very little about European German Shepherds and most have NEVER even seen one. Spaying and neutering is also the culprit of many joint problems in dogs as it alters bone and soft tissue development. This butchering of dogs in this country, also vastly slows a dogs metabolism, thus leading to more health issues including obesity. If you were to walk into a Veterinary Clinic in Europe and ask to have your dog spayed or neutered, you may get the same response as if you took a Human child into a medical clinic and asked to have a castration or hysterectomy performed.
As stated earlier on this website, Authentic European German Shepherds are very pure Mammals that are the result of 100+ years of very select breeding. Their bodies depend on hormone production for normal functioning, so when you take away the hormones, you have damaged their bodies. These procedures being done to European German Shepherds in America, are part of the exploitation and ignorance that plague these dogs in this country.
Why do many so called German Shepherd Breeders in the U.S. want their dog Owners to spay and Neuter? So you can’t start breeding and become competition to them!
Breeding German Shepherds should only be done by very experienced breeding professionals. However neutering and spaying these dogs should never be done unless a life or death situation, or unless an older dog.