neutering and macho fiancee

Question
I have a 7 week old beagle puppy and I know he needs to be neutered for health, socialization, and training reasons, but my fiancee is very against it because he thinks that its mean and unnatural. I am having a lot of difficulty convincing him. I have been paying for most of the dog's stuff and I am his primary caretaker- but he is both of ours... should I just do it? how involved is the procedure? is the surgery something that would be really noticeable after its done? Do you think I could get away with doing it and hope he won't notice? Also, what would happen if I just leave him as is? is there a big difference in the behavior if I don't have it done?

Answer
Hi Lena,  This is a very common problem with men until the dog starts hiking its leg on all his stuff, which will happen.  But then it becomes a habit and very hard to break whereas if the dog had been neutered at 6 months old, it would never have happened.  Tell him you cannot train a dog not to hike it's leg, as that is nature telling it to mark his turf.  Here's the pros and cons for neutering:

Pros:
1.  He can't produce puppies
2.  Will live up to 5 years longer (they have proven this in studies)
3.  Will not get testicular cancer (very common especially in Beagles & a horrible death)
4.  Lowers the odds of Prostrate cancer dramatically
5.  Won't hike his leg
6.  Everytime a female comes in heat within a 1 mile radius, he won't try to get out of the yard to breed (you won't be able to stop that desire, again it is nature).  He's a beagle, he will dig to China to get out and possibly get hit by a car.
7.  When a female comes in heat within a 1 mile radius, he won't be baying to the moon to communicate with her.  They are already barkers, and unneutered dogs are the worst.
8.  Won't produce a smell that you can't wash away.
9.  Will be a lot less stubborn because the testosterone will be gone (easier to train).


Cons:
1. He can produce puppies

There are no other cons.  And I'm a breeder, so I'm not one of those don't breed anything advocates.  I just know reality, and this is reality.  Neutering is the most basic surgery in the world, the dog doesn't even know anything happened.  Unfortunately, he is a beagle so he doesn't have hair to hide it back there if you did the surgery secretly.  But I have had clients get the surgery without the man's consent and the man not even notice for months.  LOL

Hope this helps, and good luck.

Dawn