Hi everyone, I have read the entire thread but I still have doubts regarding the best course of action with doggies my family keep. I would be grateful if someone could offer some advice as I would like to make sure they have the best possible lives and the least possible harm done to them.
There are three doggies, a mommy who's about 10 and two 4-month-old babies of hers, a boy and a girl. The girls are small doggies, especially the baby one. The boy is much larger and stronger than both his mom and sister. We have two separate yards, the front yard where we normally spend time and a backyard where tools and equipment that doesn't get used often is kept. Currently, the two female doggies are with us in the front yard where all the fun is. They all love being around their humans a lot and they really dislike being in the back yard. If they're left in that area there's lots of crying and howling that sad doggie faces.
However, the male dog must be permanently separated from the girls. He's not only bigger than them, he clearly has no issue with incest, to put it diplomatically. His hormones must be at some really impressive levels as neither of the ladies are in heat. In order to protect the ladies from his advances we had to separate them by leaving Frankie in the backyard on his own. This means he's away from other doggies and from the people he's really attached to. He can see the front yard all the time and he stares longingly at it all the time, howling and barking often. I go and play with him a few times a day but it's nowhere near enough for that sweet, playful and super cuddly fella.
We've been talking about having him neutered to put a stop to the hormonal storm but from what I've read it's much too early for that. Yet the quality of his life isn't particularly good, it's heartbreaking to see him so unhappy.
My questions therefore are: what's the earliest we can safely have him neutered? What are the risks of doing it around now, at 4ish months of age? And what is the lesser fo two evils: having him live away from the ladies until he's old enough to be neutered? Or having him neutered now so he can join the ladies and his humans?